Read part one, Basics in Bible Study and part two, Six Rules of Bible Reading

Pitfalls you might fall into when you read the bible: 

1. Don't mistake the bible's depiction of an ugly situation as a biblical endorsement. 

2. Don't assume you know everything about bible culture. For example: Moses gave the new nation of Israel a law commonly called the Eye for an Eye law. It means that if some takes someone else's life, he or she must lose his own. Some people think this law is barbaric…But...the Eye for an Eye law puts a limit on revenge. It also has many biblical loopholes. For instance, the Refuge Cities were created where 'accidental murderers' could live free from punishment.

3. Don't use race, class or cultural prejudice to interpret the bible.

4. Don't use your denomination to interpret the bible. It is best to read the bible for yourself. Then prayerfully decide which denomination best reflects your understanding of the bible.

5. Don't turn bible characters into Sacred Cows or Scapegoats. Many people, for instance, often judge the many prostitutes and divorced women that turn up in the bible…Modern readers don't understand that middle eastern men of that time could easily divorce women for any kind of reason, childlessness, talking back, old age.

6. Try to have a sense of humour. Jesus was the Word, and as such, He could have His puns. He made many jokes. When his disciples wanted to call thunder from heaven, he called them the 'Thunder Boys.'

7. Don't be too quick to think that the bible is contradicting itself. For instance, in one place in the bible we read that Esau had three wives (Basemath, the daughter of Elon; Aholibamah, his uncle Ishmael's daughter, and Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite.) And, in another place, the bible tells us that Esau married Adah whose father owned a well. Someone might say, 'The Bible is making a mistake. Who is Adah? I thought Esau only had three wives. How can God write a book with such a mistake in it?' The simple answer is this: 'beeri' means 'owner of a well.' Judith's father was Beeri (well-man) and Adah's father owned a well. So Judith and Adah are the same person. The Bible has not made a mistake. It never does.

8. Don't read too quickly and try not to assume. Many people believe that three wise men visited Jesus on the night of his birth. But re-read the story: the bible doesn't say how many wise men worshiped Jesus. The wise men were also not present in the inn on the night of Jesus' birth. They arrived at his mother's house two years later.

9. Don't assume that people from another time were not as smart as people living in our age.

10. Try to identify with the biblical character you're reading about. Some people don't like the imprecatory Psalms. But these psalms show an honest relationship between God and His people.

For more potential pitfalls, see part four...

(This article was first published on Bible Reflections in January 2010, in a different format. It has been cut down from a longer version and is used with kind permission)