These FREE Understanding the Bible Printables for Kids are a helpful reminder on the most benefial way to approach and comprehend God’s Word.
This is a freebie from the complete pack in my shop.
*Find the free printable by scrolling down and clicking on the green download button.
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Understanding the Bible
“Whether one likes it or not, every reader is at the same time an interpreter,” say Fee & Stuart in How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.
This begs the vital questions: How do we understand and interpret Scripture? Do we understand God’s Word as He intended (in its context)? Or do we intentionally or unknowingly misinterpret Scripture to fit our lifestyle, a pet sin, or our personal preference?
The answer to these questions is KEY!
I believe we tend to read the Bible upside-down. Not literally, but literarily, from the bottom up. We tend to start at the verse level to gain meaning. (Fun fact: Did you know that the chapter and verse numbers were not originally in the Bible? These were added much later.)
Greg Koukl warns against this by saying, “Never read a Bible verse. Instead, always read a paragraph (at least) if you want to unlock the meaning of a passage. The key to the meaning of any verse comes from the paragraph, not just from the individual words.” (str.org)
Walt Russell in his book, Playing with Fire: How the Bible Ignites Change in Your Soul says we should gain meaning from the Bible using the top-down approach. This means starting with the largest unit of meaning first, the genre (or kind of text). After we understand the type of literature that it is, we gradually flow down to the smaller units of meaning like the verse and even the individual words.
Understanding the Bible Printables for Kids
This FREE printable pack includes a page you can read aloud, a color chart, plus a fun printable activity for understanding the units of meaning in the Bible.
- Read aloud the “Top-Down Approach” page and talk about the dangers of taking a verse out of context.
- The ready-to-print chart is a quick visual learners can use any time.
- My favorite visual is the overlapping ovals for each unit of measurement. It’s a fun, hands-on way to see how the top-down approach works.*
*This activity is based off Walt Russell’s illustration in his book on page 66. If you don’t have his book, it is an absolute MUST, in my opinion! It is similiar to the Geography Flip Book over at This Reading Mama, too.
I pray that this printable will be a blessing to you and your learners. I’d personally recommend it for 5th grade and up!
Download the printable below:
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