For Christians, Jews and all others that study the Bible do you study the History of that time as well?

Take college classes or check out World History books from the Library? I try to learn as much about the world history at the time of the Bible as I can. I promise each person reading the Bible that if they will check out books on Greek and Roman cultures and history of 2000-3000 years ago you will GREATLY be able to understand some of the wordings of the New Testament. Now for the Old Testament it is good to learn Jewish, Hebrew history and culture (outside of the Bible), Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian cultures as well. Learn about Sargon, Xerxes, and Nebuchadnezzar (outside of what the Bible says). You will find that what you learn from History books helps you to make more sense of what is in the Bible. Who agrees with me and who applies these study methods?

For Christians, Jews and all others that study the Bible do you study the History of that time as well?
I agree that you HAVE to have cultural understandings to understand the Bible. There are a lot of passages that take on completely new meanings when we apply cultural experiences of that time. Take the verses in Ephesians on submission. Submission then was not submission as it is defined now. It takes on a whole new meaning.





Most Biblical scholars have had discussions on history and culture in their biblical classes. Many just choose to disregard it in favor of their traditional understandings.
Reply:Oh absolutely! Knowing what was going on at the time only enhances my study of the Texts.
Reply:I study history, and I read constantly. I rarely watch TV,%26amp; I read several books at one time.





The one thing I recommend is to stray away from mainstream world history books. These books are written by the same people that re-wrote the Bible %26amp; translated it. They are smart enough not to put too much conflicting information in the same books that they write. The same goes for school textbooks. Education curriculum is controlled by the very same people. In that case you are not educating yourself anymore by reading books written by the same people. You will always get the same interpretations %26amp; viewpoints.
Reply:I believe it is Good to study out a thing from all views. I have studied a lot and am in college.
Reply:I just had a world history class this past semester and it does seem to help the understanding of the bible a little better.
Reply:of course, the bible is not just GOD's words, it rare historical book.
Reply:Im more interested in war history, specifically world war II, but i do study some general aspects of why biblical events occurred.
Reply:You must in order to understand. The customs have changed so much.
Reply:I dont do that, but it is a better way to understand everything that was an is going on.
Reply:I am just beginning to do this more in the past year. I think it is good to an extent. The Bible is still our bread and we have to be careful not to forget about it when we study these other sources. What are some of the books you've found to be most helpful?
Reply:Yes, I have taken lots of world and ancient history classes. I continue to read things like that all the time. I also wrote a research paper on world creation myths.
Reply:I totally agree with you. My family and I have been studying more Hebrew and the past history in general during the "Bible days", and it really does help us understand things easier. It makes the picture more complete I think. I wish that churches would do more studies on history, growing up as a kid, I never got anything out of church or sunday school other than "stories", but they are much more than that!!
Reply:Yes, I studied ancient language and civilizations in college. You're right, it really is quite helpful for understanding the Bible.
Reply:We have only just recently begun to realize the value of this and even in the understanding of the old Greek and Hebrew words that were in the original texts, later transcribed into other languaged. Boy, I tell you, its pretty exciting, because you find deeper meaning to all you already known and learn so much more. We study the Bible more than anything else , but we do read some books that will lead to a better understanding of the word by understanding more about that time period. A good pastor to hear on these things is Perry Stone on a show called Mannifest on Christian TV. I think he is on both Daystar and TBN. WOW, so much deeper and new understanding comes from knowing the history of such things. God bless you all who search. Seek and you will find. And all will be added unto you.
Reply:yup