I am mindful that how we study the scriptures is a deeply personal experience. In this post I am not suggesting a one-size fits all approach but just some initial thoughts that help me as I strive to study rather than read the scriptures. I always find the scriptures have a deeper impact when I am studying with a purpose. This might be trying to understand more about the quality of patience, or an answer to a specific question. Sometimes we have a specific question, but sometimes we don’t, so how do we make our scripture study meaningful? I suggest that there are three things we can ask ourselves when we are studying the scriptures (always bearing in mind that the best commentary on the scriptures is the Holy Ghost- the means by which they were originally given).

What does this teach me about Christ (and my relationship to Him)?

One of the things that I think is important within the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to make Christ the centre of everything that we do and everything that we are. Probably the scripture that has influenced me most 2 Nephi 25:26 which says:

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

I am reminded of a humorous story by David Foster Wallace:

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What… is water?”

Surely the Lord is our water, not that we shouldn’t notice Him, but that He should be part of the fabric of our lives. Similarly, He is part of the fabric of the scriptures. This is illustrated for me in the study of the Book of Esther; I have written elsewhere:

Perhaps the most important suggestion of the meaning of costume is regard to the Almighty and in contrast to the festivals of Chanukah and Pesach, ‘the miracle of the holiday of Purim was disguised in natural events … Only after the fact, when one looks at the entire story, does one realize the great miracle that transpired’ (Zaklikowski, 2025). Indeed, the name of the Almighty is not mentioned in the Book of Esther, but he is undoubtedly there guiding events towards their resolution, and there is no doubt in Mordecai’s mind that a solution would be provided. The fasting and study of Torah by the Jews to prepare for Esther’s audience with the king is similarly remembered in the study of the Torah as part of the celebrations (Holt, 2026, 138).

Sometimes what a scripture teaches us about Christ is immediately evident, sometimes not. But we can be guided by the Holy Ghost as we search. The best commentary on the scriptures is the power by which they were given- the Holy Ghost. However, the overwhelming purpose of the scriptures is to draw us closer to the Saviour, and without grounding our study in Him we might miss the trees for the wood.

How does this scripture relate to me?

It is important to note that scripture and revelation has personal implications for those receiving, and also for those who are reading the words of prophets. In 1 Nephi 19:23 that it is important to “liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” Where do we see ourselves in this scripture? What does it teach me about my relationship with the Saviour?

In teaching us of Christ, Nephi than highlights that he likened all of these scriptures to themselves. McConkie and Millet note:

Gospel principles do not tarnish with time, nor do they apply with greater effect in one day than in another. The Lord has said, “What I say unto one I say unto all” (D&C 93:49). The art of gospel teaching is to make timeless principles timely. Nephi did this by taking those prophecies that were made to the entire house of Israel and specifically applying them to his own family, who are part of the house of Israel.

We should note that just as Nephi was applying the principles for his family and time, this is the invitation for all of us. We should, as Russell M. Nelson encouraged us “to weave the fibre of scriptural wisdom into the fabric of our own being” (The Power within Us [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988], 29). Brigham Young highlighted:

Do you read [the scriptures] as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk and conversation (Discourses of Brigham Young, 128).

We must remember we gain so much by understanding scriptures in the context of their time and what the author meant for their audience. However, they may become mere objects of study unless we apply them in our lives; and we do that by likening them to ourselves and our specific situations (see 1 Nephi 3:20 and 8:3). My old friend Joseph Fielding McConkie put it so well:

The scriptures are alive with characters and events that translate themselves into modern settings. Who has never, Enoch-like, at least felt like protesting a call to service with a ‘Why me?’ attitude. ‘[I] am but a lad,’ Enoch argued, [unpopular and] slow of speech.’ (Moses 6:31) Who has never experienced Jonah-like indignation when someone repents whom we did not expect to? (Jonah 4). Our own Church history is full of tyranny and villainy of Pharaohs, Herods, and Pilates; and is not the world still full of people who, Nicodemus like, privately and quietly seek after the Church but publicly shun it?

Are there no more doubting Thomases or impetuous Peters who dare rebuke the Lord? (Matt 16:22) Or Amuleks who know the gospel is true but will not know it, who have heard the voice of the Lord but will not hear it? (Alma 10:5-6). Are there no more Professor Korihors who tell us that our religion consists of the ‘foolish traditions’ of our fathers that we cannot know of things we cannot see, that all our religious belief is the result of a frenzied mind. (Teach and Reach, 14-15)

1 Nephi 19:23 teaches us so much: of the importance of covenants; of the centrality of Christ in the writings of Isaiah; and of the need to liken all scriptures to us in our particular circumstance. In this sense it should motivate us to a closer living of our covenants, a greater study of the scriptures to find Christ, and the application of those scriptures daily so that they become a part of the very fabric of our lives.

I think it’s also important to note that just because we have read a scripture before that we have understood it. We have understood it in the context of who we are at that precise moment. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is reported to have said that “You can’t step in the same river twice.” Every time we read the same scripture it is possible that we can learn something new or see something different. This isn’t because the scripture has changed, but because we have, in terms of our circumstances, questions and experiences.

What questions does it raise?

I have perhaps listed the questions in what I see as the order of importance, but I think this might be the question I ask first. When I read the scriptures sometimes questions arise- things that I don’t understand or seem incongruous. One of the ones that bugged me for a number of years is from 1 Nephi 1:8 where Nephi records that his father “thought he saw God sitting upon his throne.” Did Lehi not really see the Lord then? I had this question and couldn’t find an answer that satisfied me, but it didn’t consume me I just set it to one side. When I was studying it more recently, I commented:

This verse also contains the phrase of scripture that perhaps confuses me the most- “he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne”- is this theological humility on Lehi’s part- or was he truly not sure? This is not a flippant suggestion but maybe because the one on the throne was not identified Lehi was making assumptions and being clear that this is who he thought it was. It is also possible to link this with William James’ characteristics of religious experience- namely that of ineffability- it is impossible to put into words the experience in an adequate way. There is no doubt to the reader that it really is God whom Lehi is seeing. It is interesting because no commentary that I can find even picks up on this nuance in the text.

It has echoes of Peter’s experience recorded in Acts 12:

And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews (9-11).

In this example, however, Peter is a bit dazed because of his imprisonment and after he comes to himself, he is able to recognise the truth of the angel. Maybe it is just that we don’t have Lehi’s reflection back onto the events and the vision.

The vision itself does link with other Old Testament references alongside Stephen’s experience in the book of Acts (see also 1 Kings 22:19-23 and Jeremiah 23:18).

The questions can provide us with more things to study, and rabbit warrens to explore.

At the heart of our study is the invitation to find Christ as guided by the Holy Ghost. I am reminded that when we do this, we must pause and reflect. I am now able to make only a passing reference to the experience of my friend, Brad Kramer, and his experience with Judaism in North Carolina. For many years, Brad has attended Torah study with Jews in his local community. This has led him to study the scriptures with what he describes as a “rabbinic approach,” and having spent an hour with him studying the first word of the Book of Mormon, I can confirm that it is rich, rewarding, and thought provoking. I’m not suggesting that we take an hour per verse, or word, but that we don’t zoom through the scriptures, rather we pause and reflect.