While studying the Bible is an amazingly exhilarating and enlightening experience, it can prove to be a difficult endeavor at times. Understanding God’s will and his teachings is not always an easy thing to do and that is why we sometimes require additional resources or simply some help. Having the right Bible study tools for beginners at hand can completely change the experience.
Bible Chat is an app we developed with you and your needs in mind. But on top of providing you with possibly the ultimate Bible study tool, our mission is to always make sure that you have any resources you require in order to take full advantage of every single Bible study session you go through. Whether you’re studying it out of pure curiosity, to strengthen your faith, or simply to explore your spirituality, we want you to be successful. Here’s what you should know about Bible study tools and which ones can actually improve the experience.
While the definition of Bible study tools may seem pretty straightforward, in the sense that they are quite literally tools for studying the Bible, there is actually a little bit more to the story.
The ideal Bible study tools for beginners differ from one person to another, differ depending on the reader’s ultimate goal, and, of course, differ depending on the reader’s level of understanding when it comes to religion.
There are several important categories to take into account when it comes to choosing the right tools.
Choosing the right tools for studying the Bible or even a mix from the categories above according to your particular needs and preferences can take you several steps closer to reaching your spiritual goals, regardless of what they actually are.
So, let’s dive into the best Bible study tools for beginners and how each one can help you in the process of understanding the Bible and getting more in touch with your spirituality. Studying God’s words and truly grasping the essence of the Bible can take a lifetime, but it can be a significantly quicker process if you are using the right tools.
As a beginner, there is quite a lot that will challenge you when studying the Bible. From the fact that the books have been written literally thousands of years ago to the fact that the topics are sometimes hard to understand, things are certainly not going to be easy the first couple of times when reading the Bible.
Study Bibles are great learning tools for beginners because they contain additional information, side notes, extra explanations, and sometimes even maps and illustrations that make understanding the Bible a whole lot easier.
Depending on the Bible version or translation you prefer, there are quite a lot of study Bibles available out there. Choosing the right one can be challenging, but it will surely pay off in the end.
Sometimes understanding the Bible depends a lot more on the translation in your hand than you might expect. There are hundreds if not thousands of different versions of the Bible, translated in every language in the world.
More often than not, these translations differ significantly from each other and from the original text as well. As a beginner, it is imperative that you understand and adapt to this by always having several Bible versions and translations at hand.
That way, you will be able to simply check the section of the Bible that is unclear in the parallel versions at hand, and more often than not, this will shed some much-needed light on the passages that are causing you trouble.
One thing you can’t and shouldn’t go without when studying the Bible is taking notes. Whether you are just highlighting some parts of the text and adding some notes to the verses that intrigue you or you have bigger plans, a journaling Bible can be a great tool for you.
These Bibles have extra-wide margins, and additional blank pages, or are simply lined and spaced in a way that allows you to take notes. You can use the blank spaces to jot down your own ideas, add commentaries, or whatever else seems appropriate and useful.
This allows you to keep a close eye on what your thoughts were when you first used the journaling Bible and gives you an opportunity to explore your ideas when you pick up the Bible years later.
Another particularly useful Bible study tool for beginners consists of Bible commentaries. These books are a collection of thoughts and explanations from various authors and significant personalities from the theology world.
The greatest minds to have ever walked this Earth have given their two cents on the contents of the Bible throughout the years and some of these commentaries books are simply eye-opening.
Especially for beginners who may have trouble forming their own ideas and opinions on the teachings of the Bible, these commentaries can shed some light on the things that are particularly hard to grasp when you first read the Bible.
As you know, the Bible has been written over the course of centuries, more than 2000 years ago. That means that regardless of the Bible translation you are reading, you are bound to encounter some words or concepts that will go right over your head.
That is where a Bible dictionary becomes one of the best Bible study tools for beginners. It doesn’t only contain the definitions and explanations of particular words you are likely to only find in the Bible.
A Bible dictionary will contain relevant data about particular words, concepts, events, places, and doctrines. It will also refer you to different other passages that can help you understand the things that are unclear. Even though they are quite similar to any other dictionary you saw, the content is a lot more complex and strictly focused on Bible-related vocabulary.
Somewhat similar to dictionaries in the sense that they are organized in alphabetical order, Bible encyclopedias are a lot more complex though.
A Bible dictionary will contain the essential information about certain words or concepts but an encyclopedia is going to provide you with a lot more data and will be a much more vast source of wisdom.
The topics will be explored with a lot more depth and you will gain a much better understanding of the context and concepts in the Bible when using an encyclopedia.
A concordance is a comprehensive index of words used in the Bible. This tool allows you to find where specific words are used throughout the text, which can aid in understanding the full biblical context of a word or theme. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is a popular example, which includes Hebrew and Greek lexicons for understanding the original languages of the Bible.
While it may seem quite similar to a dictionary or encyclopedia, concordance provides a different view and a different experience. It can be an amazingly useful Bible study tool.
Sometimes the events that are described in the Bible take place in remote locations or even places that no longer exist. That is why it can be of great help if we understood the geographical context while reading the Bible.
Bible maps will show you exactly where particular events took place and will help you gain a much better understanding of how history was influenced by the locations. Bible maps can make things a lot clearer for you while reading the Bible and they are an undeniably effective tool.
Bible apps are probably the most complex and useful Bible study tools out there. Whether you want to use them as a way to read the Bible without owning one in physical format or to schedule your study sessions, there is quite literally nothing Bible apps cannot do.
They can be your ultimate study partner and, in some cases, they can even be the guide through spirituality and religion you always needed.
Since we’re on the topic, the best Bible app you can get your hands on is Bible Chat. It was developed with you in mind and comes with a series of unique innovations guaranteed to take your Bible reading experience to a whole new level. Combining the power of artificial intelligence with your needs as a beginner or advanced Bible reader, you get the most powerful tool that will help you better understand God’s teachings.
Here are some of the most important features you can enjoy:
There are also tens of online platforms dedicated to Bible study. Whether you need a source of information you can explore in your own time by yourself or if you prefer a community to interact with and ask Bible-related questions, there are plenty of options available.
These websites are usually free to use and explore and contain a lot more information than you might expect. A simple Google search can reveal dozens of results and you are certainly going to find what you are looking for in no time.
Having the right Bible study tools for beginners is certainly going to make the process of understanding the Bible a whole lot easier. Use Bible Chat for the ultimate learning and exploring experience.
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