Lesson 3 | Ask Questions
Study Skill: Sharpen Your Questions
The twin tasks of making careful observations and asking probing questions go hand-in-hand. Each serves and fuels the other. As you see details, questions will arise. Questions about the meaning of words or concepts. Questions concerning related passages or contrasting ideas; concerning historical circumstances or theological issues. Pursuing an answer to these and other questions will then cause you to see even more details as you move toward a full understanding of the text.
Yet let’s not assume that asking probing, insightful questions comes naturally. It is, in fact, hard work and often goes against the grain of our typical habits. John Piper offers the following exhortation:
We must form the habit of being systematically disturbed by things that at first glance don’t make sense. Or to put it a different way, we must relentlessly query the text…
But there are several strong forces which oppose our relentless and systematic interrogating of biblical texts. One is that it consumes a great deal of time and energy on one small portion of Scripture. We have been schooled (quite erroneously) that there is a direct correlation between reading a lot and gaining insight. But in fact there is no positive correlation at all between quantity of pages read and quality of insight gained. Just the reverse. Except for a few geniuses, insight diminishes as we try to read more and more. Insight or understanding is the product of intensive, headache-producing meditation on two or three verses and how they fit together. This kind of reflection and rumination is provoked by asking questions of the text. And you cannot do it if you hurry.
Therefore, we must resist the deceptive urge to carve notches in our bibliographic gun. Take two hours to ask ten questions of Galatians 2:20 and you will gain one hundred times the insight you would have attained by reading thirty pages of the New Testament or any other book. Slow down. Query. Ponder. Chew.
—John Piper
When Piper states, “in fact there is no positive correlation at all between quantity of pages read and quality of insight gained,” is he making an argument against reading whole books of the Bible as we instructed in lesson one? No, for at least two reasons: (1) John Piper elsewhere advocates for reading whole books. (2) What he is arguing against here is reading a large volume of books (Scripture included) only for volume’s sake. (Just to check off the box in the Scripture reading plan, perhaps?)
Moreover, what Piper does argue for is exactly what this and the previous lesson are aiming at, namely, the necessity of slowing down in order to press into a text of Scripture with careful observations and probing questions.
So how can we sharpen our questions?
1. Start with whatever is difficult to understand.
While this may seem obvious, sometimes we are intimidated by the challenging questions and so avoid them. Taking time to probe the hard spots will shed great light on our overall understanding—even when the hard spots remain hard.
2. Expand your inquiry.
Widen your focus to other details. As Piper encourages, be relentlessly curious.
3. Record your questions.
As valuable as it is to record your observations, it is just as important to record your questions—and for the same reasons. First, writing out your questions will force clarity and precision. Second, you will not have trouble remembering your line of inquiry. As with making observations, don’t be afraid to record any and every question that comes to mind. It is always worth asking, just as it is always worth writing the answers you discover. Sometimes just the work of framing a question helps to sort out larger interpretive issues.
4. Ask questions you think you already know the answer to.
We start each study with a host of assumptions and preconceived notions about words, ideas, interpretations, etc., and hopefully much of that is accurate. However, our fundamental approach to Scripture should include a teachable heart and mind, open to correction and reconsideration.
5. Turn one question into three.
This can best be explained with an example. Earlier in this lesson, I suggested a question that might have come to the surface from the previous assignment: What is “the nation that you do not know” in Isaiah 55:5?
The initial question (What is this nation?) is significant but quite difficult to answer on its own. So let’s allow this one question to lead us to another, and another.
- Who does the pronoun “you” refer to in v. 5?
- Is this the same “you” as in v. 3 (“I will make with you an everlasting covenant”)?
- Are these pronouns referring to an individual or a group of people?
- Does “you” in v. 5 refer to the “him” of v. 4? If so, why the switch from third-person to second-person?
- What is the intent behind calling the nation?
- Does the phrase “will run to you” (v. 5) refer to “coming to join with,” “become a part of,” “seek aid from,” or something else?
By turning one question into three (or in this case, six), I have aimed to sharpen my original question by pressing into the details. A sharp question is one that requires a sharp (not vague) answer. It will be specific, clarifying, narrowly focused, and use precise terms. At the very least, pursuing answers to these questions will help narrow the scope of answers to the original.
6. Identify all the potential answers you can think of.
Notice that in the last question above, I suggested a few possible answers. And recognizing that I may not yet be seeing clearly, I added “or something else.”
7. Don’t run too quickly to outside resources to seek answers.
We should be willing to let some of these questions linger and simmer. Over time, we may well discover a sound answer, or it may take some time to refine the question or eliminate incorrect answers. Allowing plenty of time for a question to marinate in your heart and mind will be far more valuable than quickly getting the answer from someone else. Thinking long and well on our own first will also make us much more discerning when we do turn to commentaries, etc. Which leads to the next point...
8. Don’t be afraid to pursue outside help.
We are privileged to have wonderful resources available in print and in the wise counsel of mature believers. We absolutely should avail ourselves of these resources and should not be lone rangers (or worse, mavericks) in our Bible study. So don’t study the Bible in isolation. Bring your questions to the discussion at the family table, over coffee with a friend, and with your small group. Give others the space to affirm, push back, and even correct you (see Proverbs 15:31). Biblearc’s Treasury course explores how to effectively use extra-biblical resources.
9. Finally, know that not every question will have an answer.
And that, for any number of reasons:
- We simply may not be able to overcome the distance between the historical/culture situation in Scripture and our own. What, for example, was Paul referring to when he speaks of “baptism on behalf of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29)? We must honestly say we don’t know for sure.
- Scripture may be intentionally ambiguous on a particular point. When Paul says that, “For the love of Christ controls us…” does he mean Christ’s love for him, Christ’s love for the lost, or his love for Christ? Or is the answer to that question simply, “Yes”?
- We may be pressing into things for which we simply will not ever gain an answer, for how can the finite comprehend the infinite? (Ask Job about this one.)
- And furthermore, God very often reveals his wisdom by not answering the questions we want to ask—even the questions that seem most urgent. Consider the prophet Jeremiah. Chapters 18 and 19 give a clear account of the kind of rejection and opposition Jeremiah encountered. In Jer 20:1-6, he is publicly flogged and put in the stocks. When released, he continues his prophesying against the leaders and people of Judah. Then, in 20:7-18, Jeremiah pours out his private lament before God, culminating in his plea, “Why did I come from the womb to see toil and sorrow and spend my days in shame?”
To this desperate, urgent, essential question, God gives no answer. He remains silent. Does he not care? Is the question off base or downright inappropriate? Or is there something Jeremiah (and we!) need to feel the weight of, something that God points to by his wise silence?
