Bible and History Lesson Together

"One can always read some kind of meaning into a verse of Scripture. But those who understand that the books of the New Testament were written to specific people, in specific places, nearly two thousand years ago, know that this is not a good idea. If the New Testament texts were written to make sense to people in the first century, then we must try to put ourselves into their places in order to determine what the writers of the New Testament intended their readers to understand by what they wrote. If we try to make sense of the Bible with no knowledge of the people who wrote it, those who read it and the society in which they lived, we will be inclined to read into the Scriptures our own society’s values and ideas. This would be a major mistake since our culture is very different from that of the ancient Romans." [James Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 11.]     One of the biggest problems with the church and Christians today is our lack of understanding the Bible. We tend to use today's meanings for many of the words that are in it, not realizing that today's definitions probably did not come close to their meanings back in the ancient times.     You have to learn which books were written to which people and get past the idea that the entire Bible was for all of us. For instance, the O.T. was written for our learning, not our doing. Think about it. If we had to live under all of the laws/rules that are in Leviticus, there would not be to many people populating this earth today!     Also. The N.T. is not in the order that it was written so one cannot assume that the timeline is correct all of the time. Study the history during Paul's life, for example, and you will see things in a much clearer picture!     Go here for a little more insight on why you should study not just the books of the Bible, but the life and times of the people in it!