Scripture Study

Confession time:
Typically, I don't enjoy reading the scriptures. I know part of this dislike stems from the way I read: I 'spect all the information I want and need to be given to me on demand. Unfortunately that's not how scripture study works.

Most of the time I make the mistake of taking everything at face value, but it sure makes it irritating every time there is a David, Paul and Sarah. (ie. Biblical figure who irritates me).

It's difficult because teachers (particularly seminary teachers) represent these people like heroes when, in fact, they were very flawed people... tragically flawed (at least some of them were) and at times their insecurities, their passions, their prideful tendencies led them to do and say horrible things to/about people!

Lately I've been trying to look deeper into scripture study, and treat the scriptures more like a manual then a novel. I read almost every night now, and even though my old prejudices still invade my study once in a while (King David...'a man after God's own heart'?...Wow, way to go, Dave!) Having the Joseph Smith Translation of the King James version of the Bible really helps, it's like having a study guide built in to the source material (I wish more books came like this!)

Moral of the story: If you take things at face value, you'll miss a lot.


Up next:
"How to Enjoy a Movie You Don't Like"...