Dr. James Boyce offered the following notes in his Lay School of Theology class in Spring 2012, “How the Bible Came to Us: Its Writing, Use, and Authority.” 

A ROAD MAP FOR READERS

Read the Bible as a Living Word

• Read with the expectation that understanding is new each day
• Read watching for the surprises or the “speed bumps”
• Read with expectation of complexity and diversity
• Read in light of judgment and promise (law and gospel)
• Read in light of the good news of God’s promise in Jesus Christ (cf. Rom 8: 1, 28-31)

Boyce adds these instructions, what he calls “Some Fruitful Approaches” to approaching Scripture:

• Read devotionally: attend to what you understand, not to what you don’t understand
• Read with others
• Read repeatedly, in different ways, in different translations
• Pay attention to feelings, images, questions evoked by the reading
• Pay attention to experience and memories both personal and communal