Knowable Word: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible (Krol)

People with Bibles don’t always know how to use them. They’re good at absorbing and repeating material from sermons, commentaries, and blogs, but they miss the fullness and joy that comes from studying the Bible for themselves. The power to change the world is available, but it goes untapped.

Though study aids are helpful, imagine if your primary ministry curriculum was Scripture itself. You could study the Bible, teach people how to study it themselves, and expect those folks to lead their own Bible studies with their neighbors, coworkers, and friends. Each year, you’d see an increasing number of men and women wield the sword of the Spirit, piercing hearts and drawing the lost to Jesus.

Ordinary people can learn to study the Bible. These people may not have been to seminary. They don’t have much free time. But they love Jesus and want to be more like him. They want to know him.

Knowable Word offers a foundation on why and how to study the Bible. Using a running study of the first chapter of Genesis, it illustrates how to observe, interpret, and apply the Scripture—and gives the vision behind each step. It also shows how to read each Bible passage in light of salvation history. But besides being just a how-to on Bible study, it fuels the desire to learn and grow through studying the Scriptures.

This book will appeal to three kinds of people:

1. Beginners who love God and his Word
2. Mature Christians who want to improve their Bible study skills
3. Leaders who long not only to teach but also to equip

Knowable Word offers what each group needs: a sensible Bible study method. By learning to observe, interpret, and apply, ordinary people will grow extraordinarily close to Jesus Christ as they learn to study his knowable Word.

Table of Contents: 

1. Why Study the Bible?: Unpacking Scripture Rightly
2. From Familiarity to Observation: Five Elements and Four Skills
3. From Presumption to Interpretation: Keys to Understanding
4. From Inertia to Application: Hearing, Doing and Changing
5. Head, Heart, Hands: Three Spheres of Change
6. The Unity of the Whole: Correlation across Texts

Author

Peter Krol has taught the Bible since 1996 both as a collegiate missionary with DiscipleMakers (www.dm.org) and as an elder in both Presbyterian and Independent churches. He’s trained dozens of people to study the Bible.

Endorsements

“Peter Krol has done us a great service by writing the book Knowable Word. It is valuable for those who have never done in-depth Bible study and a good review for those who have. I look forward to using this book to improve my own Bible study.” - Jerry Bridges, author and speaker 

“At the heart of Knowable Word is a glorious and crucial conviction: that understanding the Bible is not the preserve of a few, but the privilege and joy of all God’s people. Peter Krol’s book demystifies the process of reading God’s Word and in so doing enfranchises the people of God. I warmly encourage you to read it. Better still, read it with others and apply its method together.” - Dr. Tim Chester, The Porterbrook Network

“Here is an excellent practical guide to interpreting the Bible. Krol has thought through, tested, and illustrated in a clear, accessible way basic steps in interpreting the Bible, and made everything available in a way that will encourage ordinary people to deepen their own study.” Vern Poythress, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Westminster Theological Seminary

“This book has three primary virtues and many secondary ones. Its primary virtues are the nobility of its goal (to equip Christians to interpret and apply the Bible), the accuracy of the proposed methodology for interacting with the Bible, and the practical approach to the subject. Additionally, this book does a splendid job of employing the practice of ‘learning by doing.’” Leland Ryken, Emeritus Professor of English at Wheaton College and author of How to Read the Bible as Literature

“Peter Krol has written a book that many will find helpful in studying the Bible. Not just new believers, but anyone who wants to think about Scripture will find much here that strengthens their ability to read, study, understand, and apply the biblical text. Illuminating illustrations, helpful examples, and good exercises make this a good, solid tool that might be best used in a small group that is either starting to study Scripture together, or that wants to become better readers of the Bible. A book to be recommended, read, and used.” Frederic Clarke Putnam, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, The Templeton Honors College at Eastern University (St. Davids, PA). 

“The Word of God is a feast laid before us. Yet we should be concerned with the Church’s growing inability to enjoy this feast. If we don’t know the Bible, we won’t know the God of the Bible, either. Knowable Word does a tremendous service. It gives us tools to dig into the Bible that go far beyond the most common light and superficial methods. This book is biblically rooted, theologically rich, time-tested, and extremely applicable. Read and use it in your own study, and give it to others in your life and ministry. Enjoy the feast!” Stephen Lutz, pastor and author of King of the Campus and College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture