Book Review - Bible Study: Following the Ways of the Word by Kathleen Buswell Nielson

Bible Study by Kathleen Buswell Nielson is aimed at non-specialist Bible readers i.e. me. The main content of the book focuses on five main questions/claims:

• If the Bible is God speaking ... Then how should we listen?
• Nielson clearly presents that the Bible is God's very word. In light of this she outlines some implications (this is the pattern for each of the five questions - statement of truth followed by implications). For example, an implication is "Bible study is not primarily a matter of learning propositions or getting facts straight; it is a matter of hearing God speak to us" (p. 7). The author also laces some challenges as a result of the truth claim and implication e.g. "Has the focus of many Bible studies become ingrown? How often do we Christians actually view ourselves as being in training to make other disciples, even through our Bible study?" (p. 9).
• If the Bible is powerful ... Then how should we approach it?
• If the Bible is understandable ... Then how should we get it?
• If the Bible is a literary work ... Then what should we expect?
• If the Bible is one whole story ... Then how should we read it?

Most of this material is good and the author provides a few examples of applying the implications to biblical passages. I think the last point, If the Bible is one whole story, is excellent as it is something so few Christians seem to grasp. However, the material is perhaps a little to surface level. I think the target audience would need a lot more worked examples to really drive the lessons home. Also, the section on Bible translations (pp. 17-20) also seemed a little brief and may create some false perceptions in the general reader about certain Bible translations.

I think the last two chapters are the best in the book:

• So ... What is Bible study?
• Looking ahead ... The promise.

Crucially, the author discusses the different baggage each generation can bring to Bible studies. At the risk of simplifying, younger generations like to discuss their way around the passage and older generations are happier being told the meaning and implications of a passage. Nielson is careful though. She claims, accurately I think, that a true understanding of what the Bible is will help minimise the power of the baggage to nullify the helpfulness of any style of Bible study.