Four Rules of Thumb for Teaching Scripture

Since I make my living by teaching the Bible to college students, I’m often asked to give talks on teaching Scripture, biblical catechesis, or some related theme. Over the years, I’ve given a lot of thought to what is most important when engaged in the sacred act of communicating the Word of God to other people. Obviously, most people engaged in teaching the Bible on behalf of the Church—whether priests, catechists, religion teachers, etc.—can’t devote their entire lives to Scripture study and sorting out all the challenges of interpreting the Bible. Despite that, is it still possible to do a good and faithful job, without being a professional scholar? I believe so. In what follows, I’d like to share four of the most important things to bear in mind when teaching Scripture for the Church.