Methodical Principles
SHORTCUTS
Methodical Principles
SHORTCUTS
“What if I am studying a long passage and do not have time to be as thorough in my study, are there any short cuts?”
Ways to Combine Observations
When doing the suggested exercises no doubt you have found that they require a great deal of time. There really is no shortcut in Bible study, but there are ways to conserve time in recording observations. Previously, an exercise was suggested in which you copy units of a Scripture passage in one section, write observations in another section and questions for understanding in the third section. These processes were separated so you could become acquainted with each.
Also, in order to observe arrangement of a passage, we encouraged you to diagram a paragraph, copying every word, in order to observe the arrangement of a passage. Diagramming is one of the best ways to analyze main ideas, to obtain a picture of the passage as a whole and to study relationships.
But when studying a long passage, you will not always have time to write down every word nor do you need to in order to analyze the teachings in it. One way to shorten the process is to combine your observations with an abbreviated form of the Scripture passage. In this process you would use two columns instead of three. Note the below example:
