Intellectual Training

Have you ever wished for better memory, the ability to understand complicated concepts, or looked for ways to exercise your mind?  

I’ve found a tool which might seem unlikely to accomplish these goals, but I’ve found it to be the best way.                                                                                              

What is it?  The Bible.

                                         

As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined. The greatness of its themes, the dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of its imagery, quicken and uplift the thoughts as nothing else can. No other study can impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite cannot but expand and strengthen. – Ellen G White, Education, p. 124. 

I recently ran across the above quote and couldn’t agree more.  The more time I spend actually studying the scriptures, as opposed to casually reading them, I’m discovering the complex structure that from Genesis through Revelation maintains a consistent theme while opening up more and more truths. 

The theme of the entire Bible is the Story of Redemption. 

The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden (Genesis 3:15) to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme,—man’s uplifting,—the power of God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57. 

He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s word. 

The science of redemption is the science of all sciences... This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no other study can, it will quicken the mind and uplift the soul. - Ellen G White, Education, p. 125-126. 

It is difficult to engage in Bible study and not develop mental power. True study of the Bible takes time and effort.  I remember in school wishing that the information in the textbooks could be absorbed into my brain by osmosis.  But there were no short cuts to be had.  I had to take the time to study.  I couldn’t rely on what someone else thought the book said, or even what the teacher or professor said in class, because ultimately the exams, papers and projects required me to have additional knowledge in order to receive the A.

Likewise, we are to put effort into studying the scriptures. 

“Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept. Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little. Isaiah 28:9 – 10

William Miller, a Bible scholar, described his method of study using only a Cruden’s Concordance as an aide:                             

“I began at Genesis, and read on slowly; and when I came to a text that I could not understand, I searched through he Bible to find out what it meant.  After I had gone through the Bible in this way, O how bright and glorious truth appeared!” (The Second Advent Manual, p. 66)

“I determined to lay aside all my prepossessions, to thoroughly compare scripture with scripture, and to pursue its study in a regular, methodical manner. …Whenever I found anything obscure, my practice was to compare it with all collateral passages; and, by the help of Cruden, I examined all the texts of scripture in which were found any of the prominent words contained in any obscure portion…In this way I pursued the study of the Bible, in my first perusal of it, for about two years, and was fully satisfied that it is its own interpreter. (Loughborough, 1905)*

Two years…About the amount of time I worked on my dissertation.  I remember spending months just researching a single concept in order to obtain all the information I could about it and then be able to better understand the fuller picture.

With God's help and guidance, the mental effort we put into study of God’s word opens our minds to the Biblical truths and also strengthens our minds.

Each Gospel is a supplement to the others, every prophecy an explanation of another, every truth a development of some other truth…Every principle in the word of God has its place, every fact its bearing. And the complete structure, in design and execution, bears testimony to its Author. Such a structure no mind but that of the Infinite could conceive or fashion. 

In searching out the various parts and studying their relationship, the highest faculties of the human mind are called into intense activity. No one can engage in such study without developing mental power. 

And not alone in searching out truth and bringing it together does the mental value of Bible study consist. It consists also in the effort required to grasp the themes presented. The mind occupied with commonplace matters only, becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. If never tasked to comprehend grand and far-reaching truths, it after a time loses the power of growth. - Ellen G White, Education, p. 123-124. 

I challenge you to search the scriptures and see for yourself the impact on your mental capacities and your life.  God Bless!

* Loughborough, J. N. (1905). The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress. Southern Publishing Association.