Building A Bible Study with five I(s)
By Evangelist Michael P. Howard
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Have you been to a good Bible Study session recently? Experience has taught me over the years that when asking this question, be prepared for varied responses. Some declared that the Catholic Church is very protective of how one interprets God's Word, therefore discouraging the laity from either reading or attending Bible Study. Others may imagine that someone attending weekly Bible Study in another religious denomination is more suited to respond to this inquiry. Many people declare that Catholics do not know the Bible. These comments just mentioned and many more over the years cross my path routinely while teaching Bible Study with the Eat the Scroll Ministry. Let us review some history, and then explore a five step preparation plan for personal and group Bible Study called "The Five I(s)"

Historically speaking, for more than a thousand years the Church did rightfully protect the Bible. Sacred Scriptures were reserved for the pulpit or in libraries during the Middle Ages. The Church protected the Bible from being stolen, damaged and misinterpreted by the faithful worshipers. Illiteracy was a major issue as well during the early development of the Church. Therefore, the Church sought ways to insure the authenticity of one's interpretation of the sacred text. To accomplish this goal, the Church monitored who was interpreting the sacred text. Understanding the Church's goal here is paramount. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #103, teaches us that "The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body." The Catholic Church's only desire is to feed the one Body of Christ with God's Word. The Scriptures provides a foundation for this desire:

But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 3:14-17)

Juxtaposing these thoughts, St. Jerome encourages us that, "Ignorance of Scripture, is ignorance of Christ" Therefore the Church continues to teach jointly with God's Word, that when we remain faithful to the Sacred Scriptures from our mother's womb to the tomb, we will receive wisdom for salvation, which leads to knowing Christ. In this new millennium, one should not be chained to historical practices but to God's Word in our mind, on our lips and in our hearts by studying God's Holy Word.

However, my favorite response to the questions about Bible Study is that Catholics do not know the Bible consequently making them unable to quote the Bible. My thoughts regarding this matter are that when we hear someone quoting a verse like, "John 3:16 said …." we seldom know if that verse is a favorite verse of theirs or if they have just come from church hearing that verse. My position is that when people quote verses, they are quoting a verse that they have studied (memory verse) or the verse is connected to some event that is meaningful to them. Bible Study is a purposeful task that plumbs the depths of God's Word and considers the totality of the call of the Holy Spirit and salvation history.

A good Bible Study includes a lesson plan, some discussion and questions, meditation, and perhaps some journaling, and finally, a call to action. Let us explore a five step program called the Five I(s) for a good Bible Study program. The Five I(s) are Invocation, Investigation, Integration, Interpretation and Implementation. When using this five step approach to Bible Study, one must understand that once you are familiar with these steps you will find yourself utilizing each of the Five I(s) in random order according to your familiarity with the Bible. Now for beginners and experienced readers of God's Word, we must always enter into a prayerful frame of mind.

The first (I) Invocation is prayer to remind us of God's Omnipresence before we open the Bible, while we are reading the Bible, and most certainly when we close the Bible. We always want to feel God's presence. We pray like St. Paul taught the Philippians to offer, "prayer and petition, with thanksgiving," to God. Through prayer, St. Paul reiterated to the Philippians that God's peace, "will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:6, 8). If we avoid this stage we will find ourselves manipulating the Scriptures for our own personal agenda and self-gratification. Our lesson plan will be empty of God's blessing. As they say, "God don't bless any mess." God's Word must first be read by us and change us, as opposed to us reading God's Word to change someone else. Let's honor St. Paul's wish in our first step when studying, "It is my wish, then, that in every place the [men and women] should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument" (1 Tim. 2:8).

Stage two propels us to do some Investigation of the selected text one may be studying. Throughout the selected text it is necessary to do our research. Read the "Introduction," look up unfamiliar words, or phrases by using commentaries or a dictionary on the Bible. Scholars recommend the late John L. McKenzie's Dictionary of the Bible as a good resource tool for personal study. One can use the Catechism of the Catholic Church to understand the Church's teaching on selected Scripture. St. Peter spoke about this Investigation stage when mentioning how the prophets sought to understand God's grace concerning salvation. The prophets "searched and investigated [grace/salvation], investigating the time and circumstances" (1 Pt. 1:10-11). The Catholic Catechism teaches that you should strive to:

…discover the sacred authors' intention … take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current. 'For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression. (CCC 110).

One can be certain that Martin Luther King, Jr. practiced this stage as he referenced many of biblical images in his sermons and writings. While confined to a prison cell in Birmingham, Alabama, in King's Letter from Birmingham Jail he acknowledged that he must respond to the "Macedonian call for aid." With further investigation of what the Macedonian call was we will discover that King understood something about St. Paul. St. Paul stirred by the Holy Spirit in his second missionary journey heard the cry of the Macedonian man, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9) Mirroring St. Paul, King liken his experience to the Macedonian call to the Birmingham, Alabama, call for help against the injustice in there area. King investigated the Macedonian call.

When moving to our next stage; Integration, we must practice listening to that inner voice, so that when clues or markers appear in our text we will let Scripture speak to Scripture. Some people may call this listening to the Holy Spirit, the inner man, or my spirit man. However you may define that sense or gut feeling, this stage is crucial. As a student of God's Word, you must recognize that some verses are repeated which allows for certain passages to bring clarity to a selected text. In certain Bibles there are some letters italicized next to a text or font that is superscript, like an to show that this verse was stated somewhere else in the Bible. You may also find some type of symbol like an asterisk "*" that references the scholars comment about that passage. If you feel the spirit moving you to examine a text through these markers, follow the Spirit because this may lead you to the revelation that God wants you to have.

Imagine you were reading Paul's first letter to Corinthians, chapter two, and you came to verse nine and the text said,

"But, as it is written: 'What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.'"

In this verse alone the words "as it is written" is a sign for you to understand that somewhere else in the Bible someone else had conveyed the same sentiments as St. Paul. Search around your text, you should find some type of marker indicating that in the Old Testament Isaiah proclaimed these words, which are similar to St. Paul's words, "…such as they had not heard of old, no ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him" (Is. 64:3). This Scripture verse helps to give revelation to what St. Paul was telling the Corinthians' community. Isaiah focused on people not seeing a God do the deeds He has done for those who wait on Him. Conversely, St. Paul focused on the Corinthians' community learning to love God. There are many more differences and similarities. The main idea in this stage is to integrate one passage with another. The markers show which Scripture is speaking to Scripture.

The fourth stage, Interpretation, is where we practice what the psalmist heard from God, "Be still and confess that I am God!" (Ps. 46:10). Your interpretation of the scripture should include the facts gathered from your investigation (dates, identity of audience, the outline, author's intent and type of writing), any evidence of other scholarly interpretations from commentaries, and your personal experiences. Here you listen to questions from within, mediate or do some journaling as God reveals truth to you.

Prayerfully consider the three theological virtues of the Church, "What hope, faith, and love am I receiving to give to God's people?" St. Paul gave these words to his understudy Timothy: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Tim. 2:15 NIV) How will you know whether your interpretation is valid, will depend on whether or not you studied. With practice, your inner voice will reveal a truth that will bring life. The Holy Spirit will let you know. You will have to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not." (Pr. 3:5).

Now in this final stage, we must Implement the revelation received from our personal study. To implement is to put into practice, what we have heard from God. James in one of the Epistles said:

Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the [person] who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it he will be blessed in what he does. (Ja. 1:23-25).

James says a lot here! After all, why read God's Word without expecting a change to occur? Why read God's word as a disgruntled individual, drowning in sorrow and not let God's Word pull you out of a dark night of the soul? Let's get real. When studying God's Word, we must look at His Word to gain freedom from Self Inflicting Nonsense, SIN!

In closing, recognize that as Catholics we can and do place God's Word as an important element in our Christian journey. The Church Fathers saw how important God's Word was to the degree that they sought ways s to protect His Word from misinterpretations. Furthermore, the Church, recognizing the importance of God's Word, developed a Liturgy that allows all who attend to hear God's Word through four Scripture readings on every Sunday of the year and three during daily Masses, while reciting several passages within the Liturgy. In all truth, our Catholic Church is truly a Word Church. Here we must answer the call to study God's Word so that we can give witness that we have searched the Scriptures and have found life in them. "Eat the scroll" and "taste the honey" that sweetens God's Word so that we may not be ashamed or ignorant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that God will order your steps in His Word as you draw close to Him. "Now to Him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20).

Evangelist Michael Howard
Eat the Scroll Ministry
Email: etsm@prodigy.net
Home Page: http://pages.prodigy.net/etsm 
P.O. Box 1022
Lanham, Md. 20706
301.552.6551