How To Learn Spanish With The Bible: Study Techniques Translations To Choose And More
On the first day
You said: Ill get to my Spanish studies tomorrow.
Oh the second day
You said: Yeah, tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow.
Its time to begin your own little Spanish fluency creation story. If youre interested in reading la palabra de Dios , you can combine theological studies and language studies with the Bible in Spanish.
While Spanish-speaking countries are home to a variety of religious practices, Christianity was and is a key player. Mexicos population is about 95 percent Christian, for example, while Spains Christians account for about 79 percent of the population.
More to the point, Christianity is culturally ubiquitous for Spanish speakers, which is observable in the language through common expressions like Vaya con Dios as well as in traditions such as Las Posadas .
The study of religion is a great access point for any culture you care to learn about, and reading the Bible in Spanish is no exception. Its an enriching and direct method of discovering how millions of Spanish speakers worship while improving your language skills by reading a book you may already know.
Well give you everything you need to start learning Spanish with the Bible and get you on the path to fluency.
Just dont expect it to only take seven days.
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.
Study One Chapter At A Time
Going slowly helps you really take in and absorb the meaning and application of what youre studying. One chapter a day is manageable and helps you dig deep without getting overwhelmed. What are the main points of the chapter? What passage of scripture seems to be pivotal here? Read the chapter in different translations.
Reasons To Study The Bible
Why do you want to study the Bible? Pause and consider this. God is drawing you in, prompting you to grow closer to Him. Having some concrete reasons and understanding why this is important to you will help you stay motivated to study long after the initial inspiration has passed. Here are three solid reasons to begin studying the Bible:
To gain insight on who God is. Theologians have described the Bible as Gods love letter to us. It teaches us his likes, dislikes, and about his character. The Bible is a book about God, and it reveals to us a little bit about who God is on every page. How can we truly know him if we dont intently study his word?
To receive wisdom and instruction. The Bible teaches us so much, and studying it helps us grow in wisdom. For example, in the Old Testament, the book of Proverbs is filled with instruction and principles for how best to live our life here on earth. We also find needful insight in the gospels and letters to the New Testament churches. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
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What Are Some Good Bible Studies For First
Over the years, Ive come to realize that Gods Word was meant to be understood by regular people, just like us. Its not meant to confuse us! If you have a Bible, a desire to learn, and the Holy Spirit working in you, begin by simply opening up your Bible you dont need to buy any Bible studies. I have a masters degree, but I didnt need it to begin studying the Bible. I didnt need any degrees or special classes to get started, and you dont either. Take the first stepsimply use the Bible and other tools mentioned in this article, and let the word begin to take root in your heart. God will illuminate His Word to you!
Why Should I Even Care About Going Deeper In Bible Study Isnt Surface Knowledge Enough
No, its definitely not enough! The Bible says that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. If you only study on the surface, you will only gain a surface understanding. But, God has so much he wants to show you. Gods word will literally illuminate your life and bring hope to dark places. But you cannot receive that light and hope if you do not seek for it. Personally, sometimes in-depth study of a particular passage in the Bible would be my key to breakthrough. Plus, why would you not want to have the fullest possible understanding of your Savior and Creator?
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Spanish Bible Translations To Choose From
As surely as English speakers have the King James Version, the New Revised Standard Version and the New American Bible, the Bible has been translated into Spanish many times with different intentions and results.
Which translation you choose is largely a matter of taste, but as a language learner, youll also have to take into account whether the language is too simple or too complex for your skill level. You may want to try out a few different versions so you can get a feel for them and determine which one is best for you. As always, the best Bible is the one you actually read.
Below, well cover three principle Spanish translations you might use for your studies. To give you a sense of their distinct tones and styles, well also provide each versions translation of the following passage:
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Seven: A Bonus Step For Those Who Prefer Flash Cards
If the Memory Palace technique is not an option for you, heres the best possible way to use flash cards.
Instead of feeding yourself the answer on the back of the card, have a drawing that triggers your memory of the word.
A mnemonic example to help you remember a book of the Bible called Zephaniah
For example, you could draw a zipper to help you remember Zephaniah. You could even cut out a picture of Shania Twain or write her name beside the Zipper.
In the mnemonic example above, I have drawn a zipper and a few lines to suggest the letter Z. Im no artist, but Ive drawn a singer and given myself a clue by adding some of the lyrics from a very famous Shania Twain song.
Then, when looking at the card, the guessing process helps me form memories because it gives my brain a bit of a workout.
In other words, this form of memory triggering creates a brain game that promotes learning instead of cheating you out of it.
But chances are you can learn to love the Memory Palace technique, and this free course shows you how:
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Make Bible Reading A Habit
It might be tough at first. You might doze off, but you have to strengthen your muscles because your devotional muscles are weak now. However, the more you devote yourself to Christ and His Word the easier it gets. Reading Scripture and prayer will become more enjoyable.
Satan knows how to distract you and he is going to try to distract you. It might be with TV, a phone call, a hobby, friends, Instagram, etc.
You are going to have to put your foot down and say, No! I want something better than this. I want Christ. You have to make a habit of turning down other things for Him. Once again, it might be rocky at first. However, dont get discouraged. Keep on going! Sometimes you have to separate from your groups so you can spend uninterrupted alone time with Christ.
Joshua 1:8-9 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Have accountability partners
Im starting to be more accountable with my Christian friends. I have a group of men who keep me accountable in my personal Bible study. Every day I check in with a text and allow them to know what God has been telling me through His Word the night before. This keeps me accountable and it allows us to motivate each other.
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Read Through The Bible
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Reading through the Bible is a great way to study it. Every page of the Bible reveals Gods character, emotions, thoughts, and actions.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
When you read the entire Bible or large portions of it, you can get a big-picture overview of the Bible. Anytime you read the Bible, youll know what part of the big picture it is in.
How to Read through the Bible
Option 1: Read through the entire Bible from cover to cover.
Option 2: Read specific books first to get an effective overview of the Bible
Books of the Bible to Read for an Effective Overview
These 15 books of the Bible will help you cover all the major themes and the main storyline of the Bible.
If you want more details on why these books are suggested and how they fit into the big-picture overview of the Bible, you can find it in this article: What Is the Best Order to Read the Bible for Beginners?
The books of the Bible are arranged by category, not chronologically. Thats one of the reasons that reading the Bible from cover-to-cover is challenging for many people.
For example, there are 4 records of the Gospels, the life of Jesus, in the New Testament. You can read one of the Gospels the first time through and then read the others after you have an overview of the Bible.
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Studying The Bible Matters Because God Matters
We study the Bible because it is Gods word to the world. We want to hear him. We want to slow down and carefully, thoughtfully, and reverently hear what he has to say to us.
How valuable are these words? More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb . Two of the greatest pleasures our world pursuesmoney and foodand the Bible satisfies us more than both.
The apostle Paul wrote, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness . Just as you breathe out every word of yours, God breathes out every word in the Bible. It alone is inspired in this sense. We cannot say this about any other book on any other shelf anywhere in the worldonly the Bible.
What The Bible Is
âAll Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good workâ .
The Bible is Godâs word.
It is inspired â as the author Timothy says, it is âGod-breathed.â This means that the original sources of Scripture were inspired, and we have a very accurate replication of the original text. By way of scribes, archeological work, and documentary criticism, we can look at the Bible we hold in our hands and know that what we hold is the word of God.
This doesnât mean that there is some mystical meaning that we must deduce from the text, but rather that God, over the course of thousands of years, through diverse authors, he guided the minds of the authors to write authoritative truth. The author of Hebrews writes: âIn the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Sonâ .
We are meant to understand the meaning of these texts by investigating what is the original meaning of the textâthe original authorâs intent, language, personal history, circumstance, and socio-cultural context.
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Which Bible Translation Should I Use
Ultimately, the decision is up to you but I recommend having a word for word version for deep study. When studying the Bible, you want your interpretation to be as accurate as possible so that you dont miss anything. Sure, these might be a bit harder to grasp but thats why we have so many tools and resources available to us to make understanding them easier.
I study with an English Standard Version from the Daily Grace Co. and use a New International Version if Im just reading quickly or trying to get the overall gist of a particular bible passage. Ill use a paraphrased version for entertainment, quoting, or if I want to share scriptural encouragement with someone who is completely new to the bible.
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God designed marriage to reflect His love to the world and because of this, the enemy wants to destroy Gods beautiful design. Based on his book, Defending Your Marriage, Dr. Tim and Noreen Muehlhoff share about the reality of spiritual warfare against marriages, and how to combat the enemys lies with the truth of God. Couples will be encouraged that theyre not alone in the fight for a godly marriage and better equipped to be a shining example for the world around them.
How To Understand The Bible: 21 Simple Methods For A Deeper Understanding
Generally speaking, I dont like tips posts about how to understand the Bible. Everybody wants tips, hacks, tricks, and secrets that will turn devotions into some sort of magical experience. We live in a lifehacks society where we constantly want simple shortcuts.
It doesnt quite work like that with the Bible.
In reality, what we need most is simply to read and pray on a regular basis. There is no replacement for persistence and the power of the Holy Spirit. God illumines and applies his truth to our hearts.
But when it comes to getting more out of the Bible, how to understand the Bible for all its worth, to gaining a fuller and holistic understanding of Scripture, I think tips can be helpful.
Thats the goal of this post. Here are a smattering of 21 tips, in no particular order, to help you dive deeper into the word of God.
Remember, these are methods. They dont replace the Holy Spirit or diligent devotion.
With that said, lets dive in.
#1 Understand The Context
This is one of, if the not the most important thing when it comes to how to understand the Bible. Context. Is. Everything. What do I mean by context? I simply mean:
The first and main principle in how to understand the Bible is to keep everything in context.
#2 Take Everything Back To Jesus
You can go overboard on this, such as trying to literally tie every single item in the temple to Jesus , but overall this is a very helpful principle to keep in mind.
#4 Read Groups Of Scripture Together
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Best Spanish Study Methods Using The Bible
You can certainly pick up a Spanish copy of the Bible and read it from end to end, but there are easier ways to do it without burning yourself out, especially if your goal is language learning. Here are a few language study techniques you can try with your Spanish Bible:
- Do you have a favorite verse or prayer you can say from memory? Have you ever wondered how it might sound in Spanish? Memorizing verses you already know lets you pick your material, and can be more interesting than memorizing yet another vocabulary list.
- If you want to try something a little longer, look up a familiar passagemaybe a story from Sunday School or a reading that holds some personal significance for you. Picking a story you know well will come in handy as you encounter unfamiliar words, since youll have some familiarity and context.
- If reading the Bible in English is already part of your routine, you can add a little Spanish to that by reading the same passage once in English and again in Spanish, or vice versa. Or, you can start in one language and finish in the other.
- Want to take it a step further? Try comparing English and Spanish translations. Consider how different or similar the translations are and ask yourself why a passage mightve been translated differently.
Bonus Bible Study Items:
Treat yourself with these and make your study time a more special experience you wont find yourself willing to skip it!
- A beautiful journal to take notes and make outlines, paraphrase passages, and write down any questions you have.
- A set of colourful pens and highlighters that you love to mark up your Bible. Use them to colour code if thats your thing, if not, just enjoy the look and feel of writing with something a little more special than you normally use for jotting down the grocery list. I love these ones.
- A hot beverage of choice. I like to have my very favourite tea in the morning when I dig into the word, helps me get out of bed knowing Im going to have my Chai!
- A comfy spot. I dont have a desk for spreading out my work, nor do I have a space I could dedicate to this, but I do choose to use the same comfy spot in my living room every day and spread out my books on my lap. My book basket is within reach and is stocked with pens, post-its, and of course my beloved book darts.
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