How does the academic study of the Bible differ from devotional study of the Bible?
Within the Wesleyan evangelical tradition that Azusa Pacific University represents, all forms of Bible study, whether academic or devotional, take place within a commitment to the inspiration and authority of the Bible. However, the academic ways of studying the Bible that we emphasize in our APU Bible and theology classes ask different questions than devotional study does, and use different methods to answer them. While devotional uses of the Bible focus directly on how the Bible can build up our spiritual lives and our relationship with God, academic study asks literary, theological, and historical questions that increase our understanding of the Bible, its God, and its world. In the classroom, we critically employ different approaches to biblical interpretation in order to strengthen our grasp of the meaning and significance of biblical passages in their original context, in Christian history, and in our lives today. In this way, the understanding of the Bible we gain by using schol
