Methodical Principles
KNOWLEDGE
Methodical Principles
KNOWLEDGE
“I want to become a good Bible student but what do I need to know? Proper attitudes? Various approaches? Knowledge? Necessary tools?”
Attitudes Toward Bible Study
Desiring to know how to become a better Bible student, one first needs a proper attitude toward the process. Since too many people suffer from an inferiority complex when approaching Bible study, let us list some of the attitudes that one could have which would help or hinder as a student.
Faulty Attitudes
1. The Negative – “I won’t be able to understand anything anyway so why try to study the Bible?”
2. The Compulsive – “I want to understand what I read in the Bible, but I find it hard to express my thoughts. I should have some ideas, but I can’t think of any. If only I could remember what others say about the passages.”
3. The Closed Heart – “I don’t believe everything the Bible teaches. I don’t want to meditate too much on it anyway ‘lest haply I see with my eyes and hear with my ears and understand with my heart’ and have to turn.”
4. The Lazy – “I suppose if I tried I could understand more than I do, but what I read seems rather hard and somewhat dull.”
Helpful Attitudes
1. The Positive – “Through the help of the Holy Spirit, I too can understand and have insight into God's Word. No doubt there will be many puzzling portions, but by faithfully using what I can understand, the Lord will reveal more. I have confidence that He who is the Great Teacher will lead me into all truth, as promised in His Word.”
2. The Receptive – “God asks of me only an open heart and an open mind so that He can reveal Himself and His message of salvation through Christ Jesus.”
3. The Expectant – “I am coming to God’s Word to let it speak to me. It is good to know that I don’t have to inject ideas into my reading or try to squeeze truths out of it. As I study and pray, the message will unfold itself to my heart.”
4. The Faithful – “I cannot expect much from my Bible study unless I discipline myself to work. I realize that God has placed a price on His Word: faithfulness and diligence. If I scratch only at the surface, my reward is a few crumbs. If I dig deeply into the Word, my reward will be rich treasures.”
Uses of the Bible
Generally speaking, we use the Bible in three different ways: reading, devotional meditation, and study. In the first way, we read a portion without a specific purpose except to gain some knowledge about the Bible. This process may be thought of as general observation. In the second way, that of devotional meditation, we read a Scriptural portion more leisurely with the special purpose of receiving spiritual strength and blessing. This process centers mainly on application. In the third way, that of Bible study, we go beyond observation and application. We desire to understand the underlying meaning of what we read so we analyze ideas, study words and relationships, interpret and correlate what we observe. In this treatise we will center our attention on the third type – Bible study.
Approaches to Bible Study
Usually you “study” the Bible with some definite purpose in mind. Possibly you have been invited to conduct a Bible study at a church meeting or to teach a Sunday school Bible class. You face the inevitable fact that you have to share what you understand regarding some Bible portion. The immediate project demands more than just reading or meditation; it demands study. Then you are confronted with the problem: How shall I approach this study? What shall I do in order to gain enough insight and information about the assigned Bible passage in order to teach it?
There are several general approaches you can use:
1. Hit and Miss – you may prepare for the Bible study in a hit and miss fashion. Possibly you read the portion several times. You may write down some of the truths you observe. You may use a commentary. You may inject previous ideas you have gathered. You follow no method, but struggle along hoping that somehow you will collect a few ideas to share.
2. The Commentary – in this approach you read the Bible portion once and then go immediately to a commentary for help. You let the commentary be your teacher.
3. The Methodical – in this type you follow an orderly and logical pattern in the study of your Bible lesson. The methodical approach is not limited just to Bible study. The farmer follows methodical steps when he plants his crops. The cook follows a definite order in the preparation of dough for the bread or batter for the cake. Both know that the mechanics of the process will do much to insure the success of the product. Method is as important in Bible study as it is in farming and baking. As a Bible student, if you develop an orderly and logical study procedure, you will gain more insight and receive much greater satisfaction than if you proceed in a hit and miss fashion.
In considering methodical Bible study there are two terms with which you need acquaintance and understanding:
1. Deductive Bible Study – the process by which you start with generalizations and use the Bible to support your statements. In other words, you study the statements and then note Bible references which support the statements.
2. Inductive Bible Study – the process by which you first study the Scripture passages before making generalizations. For instance, you might begin with the question, “What should we believe about baptism?” Then you would study as many references as possible before you would draw any conclusions. Methodical Bible study is inductive in approach, but does not exclude deductive study.
Process in Methodical Bible Study
If you desire to develop a methodical pattern in your study of the Bible, there are definite procedures to follow and it is best if they are done in a certain order. We shall list the procedures as steps, but do not think of them as “stair‑steps.” Rather they are processes that lead from one to another, over‑lapping each other at times.
Step 1 – OBSERVE exactly what the author has written
This is the most important step in Bible study and must come first. The more careful and thorough your observations, the more meaningful your interpretations and applications will be, and the fairer your evaluations.
Step 2 – INTERPRET objectively what the author has written
Try to determine what the author really meant by the words written. What was he seeing, feeling, and thinking; what had he experienced to make him write as he did?
Step 3 – SUMMARIZE concisely the main thoughts presented
While summarization is listed as Step 3, it really is a process that should be done in connection with both observation and interpretation. First, observe individual facts and then try to summarize the major facts presented by the message. This also should be done after interpreting the facts. When studying a passage, always try to understand the relationship of the individual statements in the verses to the entire message in a chapter and book. It is very important to see the “parts” in relation to the “whole.”
Step 4 – EVALUATE fairly what the author has written
Not until you have a clear concept of what the author has written and what he meant by what he wrote can you honestly judge the validity of what has been said. Thus, evaluation must come after observation and interpretation.
Step 5 – APPLY personally the message revealed
Note that application is listed fifth in the process. This is not to imply that it is fifth in importance, but to point out its relationship in the whole process. Often the temptation is to apply before really observing all that is in a passage.
While we list application as a separate step, we might think of it as the fruit which comes forth through the other processes. As a person disciplines himself to observe carefully what has been written in a Scriptural passage and as he objectively tries to determine what the author meant – when all of this is done in a spirit of receptivity – then the Holy Spirit has opportunity to reveal, reprove, convict, comfort, and teach. Application is a growing process, not superimposed in a superficial way, but rising out of the other processes.
It is true that we can study the Word of God in an intellectual and impersonal way, but not if the main desire in our study is to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Step 6 – CORRELATE specifically the Bible truths
While correlation is listed as a final step, it does not mean that you might not do some correlation when in the process of interpretation. Correlation is the association of Biblical truths – the comparing of Scripture with Scripture.
Why emphasize logical steps?
Maybe you are saying there is no real sense in following such a logical procedure; it makes Bible study so mechanical. We admit there is a danger of method becoming an end in itself, so we should never separate the study process into neat categories. One step over‑laps another. You will find that while one process leads into another, the procedure will be like a spiral in which you come back to previous processes. Interpretation will help you gain new insights into observation; application provides additional insights into both observation and interpretation.
But there is real value in deliberately trying to do one process at the time. Most of us have one track minds. We accomplish the most when concentrating on one thing at a time. This is especially true when we first try to understand something, whether it’s a piece of literature or scientific problem.
The scientist makes no interpretation and draws no conclusions until he has observed all the facts. So it should be with the Bible student. First, observe. No interpreting. No applying until you have observed carefully what the author has written – all that he has written.
Tools for Bible Study
To become a proficient student of the Bible you do not need multiple tools, though you will find some of the following materials very helpful: several translations of the Bible, a good English dictionary, a Bible dictionary, a concordance, a Bible atlas, and a commentary or two. Even though you do not get all of the books on the list, a good English dictionary is a “must.” You will be surprised to find how helpful it is in giving insight into the meanings of Biblical truths.
