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Will the Theologians Please Sit Down  /  Chapter 16: How the Theologians Entrenched Themselves  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 6
The chapter claims Study Bibles are “a hybrid… God’s Word mingled with man’s voice,” and that the human commentary “normally influences people more”; where have notes, headings, cross-references, or popular teachers quietly trained you to read certain passages as less binding—especially Jesus’ kingdom teachings?
Another way to ask: If Study Bible notes and popular teachers often shape people more than the Bible text itself, where have they trained you to treat some passages as “less required”? Have they led you to downplay Jesus’ kingdom teachings?

Direct Answer Bercot argues Study Bible notes and similar aids can quietly re-train readers so that human explanations carry more weight than Scripture itself, often dulling the force of Jesus’ kingdom commands. The transcript doesn’t name specific modern notes that weaken particular passages, but it does give the Geneva Bible as a clear example of this dynamic.

Support from Transcript:

  • He says Luther created a “new thing: the Study Bible… an admixture of God’s Word mingled with man’s voice.”
  • He warns: “the human commentary normally influences people more than do the words of God.”
  • He says most Bibles after the Reformation were Study Bibles, mixing “God’s Word” with “man’s word.”
  • He states: “From the very beginning, Study Bibles have always worked to obscure the kingdom of God and the teachings of Christ.”
  • He provides the Geneva Bible as an example: prefaces and “numerous comments in the side margins” designed to “influence and indoctrinate the reader.”
  • He notes a 20th-century “rebirth” and lists many modern Study Bibles, saying Christians now see adding commentary as “a natural thing.”
Discussion Follow-ups What tools most shape your reading—footnotes, section headings, pastors, podcasts? How could you deliberately read the Gospels “clean” to see whether Jesus’ teachings feel more binding than you’ve been trained to think?

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