How closely do you study the Bible?
I once had a friend, who had great interest in the Bible but no training in the biblical languages. Her strength as a Bible student came from one obvious and one hidden source. The obvious source was her daily practice of Scripture reading, that beneficial spiritual discipline most Christians at least acknowledge—if only by experiencing a vague (or sharp!) sense of guilt that they’re not doing it. Well, she did it. The hidden source of her strength as a Bible student was that she knew Spanish and frequently read her Spanish Bible, both in church services and in personal devotions. Simply put: She made comparing translations of Scripture a regular part of her Bible study. I’m not sure she saw this as a strength, because she was always coming to me perplexed—and sometimes a little irked—about 1) why her English and Spanish translations sometimes differed, and 2) why she so frequently heard preachers say, “What the Greek says here is . . .” and then go ...