Forward by J.J. Packer -- 1. Why study the Bible -- Two myths -- The clarity of Scripture -- The problem of motivation -- The Biblical basis for Bible study -- The Bible as revelation -- Theory and practice -- The sensuous Christian -- A matter of duty -- 2. Personal Bible study and private interpretation -- Martin Luther and private interpretation -- Objectivity and subjectivity -- The role of the teacher -- 3. Hermeneutics: The science of interpretation -- The analogy of faith -- Interpreting the Bible literally -- Literal interpretation and genre analysis -- The problem of metaphor -- The medieval quadriga -- The grammatico-historical method -- Source criticism -- Authorship and dating -- Grammatical errors -- 4. Practical rules for Biblical interpretation -- Rule 1. Like any other book -- Rule 2. Reading existentially -- Rule 3. The historical and the didactic -- Rule 4. The implicit and the explicit -- Rule 5. The meaning of words -- Rule 6. Parallelism -- Rule 7. Proverb and Law -- Rule 8. The spirit and the letter -- Rule 9. Parables -- Rule 10. Predictive prophecy -- 5. Culture and the Bible -- Cultural conditioning and the Bible -- Cultural conditioning and the reader -- Principle and custom -- Practical guidelines -- 6. Practical tools for Bible study -- Bible translations -- Annotated Bibles -- The King James Bible -- Commentaries -- Concordance, Bible dictionaries and atlases -- Foreign translations -- Bible reading program for beginners -- What about Greek and Hebrew?

Looks at some of the reasons for studying the Bible, and presents practical guidelines for reading and understanding the Scriptures