Advice and Queries on Scripture: 

"God has seen meet that herein we should see as in a looking-glass the conditions and experiences of the saints of old, that finding our experience to answer theirs, we might be more confirmed and comforted and our hope of obtaining the same strengthened.... This is the great work of the Scriptures and their service to us that we may witness them fulfilled in us." -- Robert Barclay

Friends believe the same Spirit which gave forth the Scriptures is available in our lives today. Through the Scriptures, the Spirit of God may speak to us today as those who wrote them were spoken to years and years ago.

Because Friends believe in this continuity of God's Spirit, we turn to Scripture as a means to deepening our relationship with God. We do not use Scripture merely to know about God, but to further know God in our experience.

To Friends, Scriptures have authority when the Spirit which gave them forth is also active in interpreting them. While scholarly study can be truly helpful, only the direct guidance of God's Spirit can ultimately mine the riches of Scripture. When interpreted through the Holy Spirit, Scripture becomes a mirror in which we can see more than abstract teaching or detached history - we can see God at work in us.

Scripture is one of three means Friends use to discern God's guidance for our lives. The other two are our own, inward encounters with the Spirit of God and the discernment of our spiritual community. Because God is One, we expect all of these sources to point in a single direction.

Queries:

Do you spend time saturating yourself in the images and language of Scripture, so that God's Spirit might recall these details to mind as a way of communicating with you?

Are you careful to study the Scripture in a way that draws you closer to God (and not just "earn you points with God")?

Do you incorporate the Scriptures into your spiritual life so that you might see them fulfilled in you?