alekdrake said...
Your highlighting looks...extensive. You should write a post about that. Pretty pleez? I'm at a total loss when it comes to actually working in my bible like that.
I love answering questions like that because my inner Bible G33k gets stirred up. She isn't the first to ask me that, due to my Bible OCD (read: purchasing endless "almost perfect"Bibles and filling them up with "perfect" notes until I have the "PERFECT" Bible to carry around) I have been asked that question any number of times.
So for those of you are interested in achieving nerdiness of biblical proportions, here is a post that explains my notetaking method, which is insanely (really, INSANELY) extensive and complex.
To start with, you need a little background information. I am partial to the Revised Standard Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible. The reasons are too numerous to list here, but suffice to say that it is the one I find the most clear, concise, and accurate. As far as study bibles go, the best notes I have ever seen are the notes in the Spirit Filled Life Bible by Jack Hayford. As a protestant, it was my go-to Bible for more than 13 years, and I still think it is hands down the most Spirit-Led, fruitful, and interesting place to go for scholarly (but sensible and faithful-- yes, even though it isn't Catholic. The Holy Spirit is awesome like that!) notes. As a Catholic, there are like, four places where I take issue with the doctrinal position of the note-writers. Everything else is just.... perfect. And I wish with all my heart that I had a Bible that spoke to me (encouraged me?) the same way that my Spirit Filled Life Bible has all these years that contained ALL of the Bible (ie the Deuterocanonical books) with the same kinds of notes for those of us who are firmly planted in Catholic Orthodoxy but have experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and desire to grow in that special grace. I may have to put one together one day because, as a daily bible reader, it truly is driving me nuts... so nuts, in fact, that this is what I'm forced to do in order to make my Catholic Bible even remotely similar to the awesomeness level of the SFL Bible-- but more awesome, because-- you know... We're Catholic.
The purpose of my notes and additions.
Why don't I leave my bible alone? Well, first of all, because I want to make sure I understand it. I spend a significant portion of each day immersed in Scripture, I teach it to my kids, and I talk about it with my husband and family and friends. It's a huge chunk of my life, and since I order my life around it, I would say it IS my life. So if I am making notes and additions, it's only so as to help myself learn and remember those things which I have learned/heard/felt while immersed in scripture so as to be able to apply it and pass it on.
What are the additions?
In my bible you will find: (1) an apologetics cheat sheet. --- this is a feature inside the CSS Bible so I won't be needing that anymore, yay! The sheet contains a list of the most commonly raised objections to Catholic doctrine and their scriptural support locations with corresponding passages from the catechism. (2) a counseling cheat sheet-- this is also a feature inside the CSS Bible that I won't be needing to carry anymore, yay! :D This is a series of sheets that have an alphabetical listing of subjects and their corresponding locations in scripture that are common when in need of counsel or when counseling others... things like family, marriage, abortion, birth control, anger, suffering, death, financial problems, loneliness, etc. (3) a praise and worship starter sheet, which is a listing of biblical, liturgical, and other expressions of praise and worship for when I lead a prayer meeting or a praise and worship event. (4) a listing of common prayers (Scriptural and not) I use daily-- prayers for the pope, for priests and pastors, for vocations, for families, for exorcism/deliverance, for health and healing, for nations and governments, etc. (5) a series of faith-building pictures to meditate on. There are just a few of these, mostly related to the events at Fatima, the life of Christ, St Josemaria, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and a couple other saints I connect with. (6) An examination of conscience and a brief "how to" for the confessional. (7) my "war room" cheat sheet, which is a series of suggestions and reminders for when the Spiritual Battle gets heavy. (8) My coding guide (more on that later) and (9) a character qualities chart which gives you a different virtue to meditate on each day and (10) a brief guide to praying the Liturgy of the Hours from the Bible (extraordinary form) with two prayers I say before I recite the office: St Patrick's Lorica in the morning and the Evening prayer for the family. Sounds like a lot, but I just find slots for all of it, glue or tape them down, and carry a couple of extra sheets in plastic folded up in there and it does the trick without adding too much bulk..
How do I take notes?
I take notes in the margins, either making lists of things I have noticed/seen, or marking additional information relevant to the passage I have learned or heard in a homily/sermon. I also mark dates if a particular passage speaks something particular to me for a huge life lesson etc. with a keyword to remind me of what it is. I make notes of things I have looked up in a Bible commentary or dictionary about a particular verse. Most commonly, I make a note of any Strong's numbers that seem important so I can have the greek or Hebrew right there with a clearer picture of the meaning of the text. I mark any passages that speak to a particularly relevant-for-me text from the Catechism with it's corresponding number in the CCC. I mark notes about how the Church Fathers might have interpreted a specific verse or chapter. And I mark notes that directly relate either to the Ascent of Mount Carmel and St John of the Cross' spirituality, or St Josemaria Escriva's spirituality. I write very small and in sharp sharp sharp ballpoint pens. Below, you will find a sample section of my notes.
What do I do with my notes?
I compile them into notes for Bible studies I teach or am writing, or I pull a few of them to work with and unpack in my prayer journal, where I write out my daily devotions. (I journal in a notebook about what God is saying to me through scripture each morning.) Mostly, I just use them in a Bible Study setting, when someone makes a comment or brings up a particular passage, I have all this additional information about it right at my fingertips and it's really helpful.
How do I mark the text?
I mark the text with symbols which represent keywords or themes in what I'm reading. I have a specific marking for geographical locations, personal names, people groups, dates and lifespans, and keywords. I use them consistently, so that I can make connections between passages and also more easily pull out the text's meaning. I have been doing it this way since I gave my life to Christ and began reading my Bible, even though I recently discovered this method has a name: it is called the Inductive Bible Study Method. Catholics should know that the inductive Bible Study Method is great.... but only great if you compare your discoveries and findings against the TEACHING AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH, without which your "discoveries" may very well lead you into making up your own doctrines and whatnot. My coding is separated into Key THEMES and Key WORDS. Below, you will find my personal coding sheet and also a series of downloadable PDFs of someone from Precept Ministries Canada's personal bible keyword markings, should they be of help to you.
Precept Ministries Canada's Sample Bible Keyword Markings:
SIXTH: What am I highlighting? How do I highlight?
OK, onto the highlighting. :D I like to pray scripture. But before I became very familiar with scripture, I had a hard time finding the right passages to pray. So I started marking in highlighting pen the passages relating to the different types of prayers I was praying. Below, you will find the coding guide I use for my highlighter colors.
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY ABOUT FAMILY LIFE
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY ABOUT NATIONAL LIFE
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY ABOUT FAITH
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY ABOUT HEALING
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY ABOUT DELIVERANCE AND WARFARE
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY ABOUT PROVISION AND PROSPERITY
Then I just mark them as I come across them. When you read the Bible everyday, you find that you cover a lot of ground. And I can assure you, you never run out of things to notice/mark/be amazed at. The Bible is incredible. The end result?
What's left?
Buying a new bible, and starting over again, with a modified and perfected method. Seriously. For me, this never gets old. :) Hope this post was helpful to you. One more piece of very good advice: Try to remember what St John of the Cross said about the sacramentals we use (and I think this applies to The Bible.)
"St. John of the Cross points out that sacred objects (sacramentals such as statues, religious articles, spiritual rehcs, crucifixes, rosaries, holy water), and so forth, can play an important role in the spiritual life. However, some people in their prayer life become so attached to these sacred objects that they begin to lose the spiritual benefits they bring. He explains it thus. In the early stages of the spiritual life - he identifies the stages as beginners, advanced, and proficients - God does lead people to him through such sacred objects. However, as they advance in their prayer life from meditative prayer to meditative-contemplative, and finally into pure contemplative prayer, he emphasizes very strongly that they, upon seeing any of these sacred objects, should immediately raise their hearts (souls) to the hidden, incomprehensible God in Heaven Who resides within our own very souls. For He is closer to us than we are to ourselves, but still remains always a hidden God for Whom we should continually search for in our soul. A God Whom we must constantly search out through our prayer life, and through the carrying of our crosses in imitation of Jesus Christ our Saviour. He points out very clearly that when persons sincerely strive for spiritual development and a greater love for God, for holiness, they should avoid the habits of preferring this crucifix to that one because of the quality of wood or metal; or to accumulate rosaries of various types, preferring one to the other because of its colour, metal, size, form and so forth. They begin to accumulate all kinds of statues one after another. In contrast St.John of the Cross affirms that one of the most devout persons he knew had made for himself a rosary of fish bones. Another carried all of his life a simple crucifix made of a palm fastened with a pin.
In following these practices of a habitual attachment to sacred objects considered by them to be more valuable they cease to derive as much spiritual benefit from these sacred objects, than if they had fewer of them. He recommends that they should instead discipline themselves to prayerfully raise their hearts from these sacred objects to the hidden, incomprehensible God. For he cautions, that as such persons excessively attach themselves to sacred objects they are in actuality detaching themselves from a more true, pure love of the hidden God in their hearts and in heaven. He emphasizes, however, lest there be a misinterpretation of what he is advising, that sacred objects are always an aid to raising one's heart closer to God; providing that at a certain stage in one's prayer life, upon seeing these sacred objects, they immediately make a very determined effort to raise their hearts to the ineffable, incomprehensible God."
(From The Book: "SPIRITUAL DIRECTION & SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS")
Awesome, thanks! This gives me something to go off =]
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