The entanglement between spirituality and Bible study

What is the difference between reading the Bible during spiritual practice and reading the Bible during Bible study? Do we need to abandon the study of word meanings, literary techniques, and historical background when we study the Bible? When studying the Bible, do you have to abandon the emotional feeling of "like a deer thirsting for a stream" during spiritual practice? When did spirituality and Bible study become dichotomous? What does this clear distinction mean for believers who seek to approach God through the Bible? Bible study sometimes becomes "too spiritual", and spiritual practice sometimes becomes "too spiritual". Have you ever had this doubt?

The author found that there are two extreme views on dealing with the text of the Bible, which affect our understanding of the above-mentioned issues: (1) Every verse of the Bible can be copied and pasted by modern readers as God’s direct speech to him at the moment; (2) ) The Bible is just a literary work with historical and academic value. To prevent believers from going to extremes, we need to maintain a proper understanding of the Bible.

The Bible records God's words and deeds to his people (especially related to Israel) in a unique historical situation. When believers in 2019 opened the Bible text for spiritual meditation on the way to rework, they were It is to read God's unique actions and words in that history, in order to understand the divine attributes and attributes of the Lord displayed by them, so that we have an expectation of the same God in today's situation. In this case, believers are not looking for "golden sentences" that can cope with the difficulties of the day when they are doing spiritual practice, such as what Jehovah said to Abraham, what Moses said to Pharaoh, what Job said to his friends, what Jesus said to Peter, and what Paul said to Paul. Timothy's speech... All are God's direct speech to him; but believers should not be too detached during spiritual practice, indulge in the study of the literal meaning or syntax of the scriptures, and neglect to present their current state of life to the Lord In front of him, the whole spiritual process does not allow God to intervene in his life.

For a spiritual person, "I" is more important than "them." "who are they? It's a character in the Bible. The level of "spiritual meditation" is often higher than the level of "study of the Bible", just like you have to search dictionaries to interpret a letter from a French relative or friend in French, and you have a difference between the two places that you can generate to your relatives and friends through the text of the letter based on the correct interpretation. The camaraderie that is completely two levels! Yes, we have to be careful and accurate in interpreting the story of "them", but how does the story of "them" become the story of "me"? It is necessary to set up a space in the spiritual practice to be silent, to feel and be aware of one’s physical state, inner emotions, desires, and spiritual situation at the moment. On the basis of being deeply aware of “I”, let “them” The experienced God meets "I" today.