Invented in 1840, 3-D glasses seemingly give life and depth to a flat, lifeless image. For many, the Bible seems to be a flat and lifeless book, without relevance or necessity. There are three “D’s,” that when applied, give that same life and depth to our understanding of the Bible.

The first “D” recognizes the importance of a book or passage historical impact. We must remember that the Bible was written to others before it came to us, and those people lived real lives, with real language, real beliefs, real struggles, and inside a real world vastly different from ours.

So the first dimension of our 3-D reading is: What Did It Mean? How would the Corinthians have read the words that Paul sent them? What was the cultural nuance of Jesus’ command to give a Roman soldier not just your cloak, but your tunic as well?

In 1902, Rudyard Kipling (yes, the Jungle Book guy, and yes, I went there) wrote a poem that went along with his “The Elephant’s Child” story. It read (in part):

I Keep six honest serving-men:
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who.

Six questions begin every journey ever taken. As we seek to discover the the depth and meaning the Bible contains, these six questions provide focus and direction for our pursuit. We will introduce them (in a slight different order) this time, and then unpack them over the next several weeks.

1. Who? – Who wrote what you are reading? How can we know it is who the Bible says it is?
2. What? – What kind of document is it? This will deal with the crucial issue of genre in Scripture.
3. When? – At what point in history was the book written? The setting of a book weighs heavily in its interpretation.
4. Why? – What was the occasion of the document? What was happening in their world that required a divine word?
5. Where? – The location of both the author and the audience can provide cultural clues to interpretation and study.
6. How? – I’m not talking about typewriters versus laptops. A vital teaching to understanding Scripture is the manner in which the message came to the authors.

These six questions provide clarity and focus every time we come to Scripture.

Pick your favorite passage and using jsut the internet to find the answers,  apply these questions to it and see what you come up with.