start searching with what your interested in...

This interview with Jim Dunn caught my interest - mainly b/c he's a great NT scholar. I love the Q&A below b/c it reflects how someone can go deeper with the scriptures.

What advice would you give to someone looking to follow a path towards becoming a New Testament scholar?

Ask questions which are important to you, questions which you want answers for. That way study of the text will always be fascinating, with questions opening new perspectives and posing further questions. I assume a good knowledge of the biblical languages, of course, and easy familiarity with original source material.

Too often when we encourage people to read the Bible we say something like start from the beginning or start with the gospels, etc. What if said, start with what you're searching for and take it from there. I wonder if more people would read the scriptures, and then keep looking around them until their search takes through the whole thing.

What motivates you to dig deeper into the bible?