Basic Concepts of Tracking God^©

Key Assumptions for Successful Bible Study

God is Real and Alive!
       This is is the fundamental key to Christianity

God is infinitely committed to teaching me and increasing my understanding of Him
       When I accept this statement, I will view my study of the Bible in a vastly different way from traditional Bible study methods.  The following questions provide a reality check for our approach to Bible study:

1. "Upon whom does the burden of the revelation of truth lie—on God or on me?"
2. "Must I convince myself that God is real, or is it up to Him to show me that He is real and that He is the one true God of whom the Bible speaks?"
3. "How much about His character does God want me to know?"
4. "If God is committed to having me understand the Bible's message about Him, then what is He doing right now to bring me to a clearer knowledge of His character?"

The Bible: "Take it as it Reads"
       ". . . the starting point is the principle that any text that is deemed worthy of serious study must be assumed to have been written with such care and precision that every word, expression, generalization or exception is significant not so much for what it states as for what it implies.  The content of ideas as well as the diction and phraseology in which they are clothed are to enter into the reasoning.  This method is characteristic of the Tannaitic interpretation of the Bible from earliest times; the belief in the divine origin of the Bible was sufficient justification for attaching importance to its external forms of expression." 
                                              Harry Wolfsen, Talmudic Method, p. 1