bible study methods by book

8/3/2019 Bible Study Methods by Book

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STUDYINGA WHOLE BOOK

OF THE BIBLE

A Bible Study Method For Providing

an Overview of Any Book of the Bible

By Gustavo Karakey


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This report is free and can be shared under the terms of

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

2012 Gustavo Karakey

Note: This report does contain a few affiliate links.

Proceeds from purchases will be used to further the ministry of

theological education in Latin America.

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this guide on Studying a Whole Book of the Bible.

Studying a whole book of the Bible is very different than a traditional

Bible study.

In a traditional study, the goal is to break down a whole book into

several smaller pieces. These smaller chunks of text then become

the focus of a weekly study, which can be digested and applied

depending on the principles covered in each section.

In a whole book study, the goal is not to break a work down into

individual parts, but to see the book as a complete unit, seeking to

understand its contents, purpose and main themes.

BENEFITS OF A WHOLE BOOK STUDY

Understanding the book as a whole provides you with two

tremendous benefits in your understanding of Scripture:

1. Individual passages within a book will make so much more

sense when you understand the context of the whole book

(i.e. Who is the author? What is the purpose? What are the

main themes?)

This prevents you from taking passages out of context and

misrepresenting their meaning.

2. You will have a better sense for the larger story in the Bible and

the grand themes in Scripture across a wide variety of biblical

literature.



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This helps to avoid a piece-meal, individual passage approach that

we might have toward the Bible. Instead, we learn to see individual

passages as part of books as part of testaments as part of the entire

Bible.

HOW TO STUDY A WHOLE BOOK OF THE BIBLE

The following procedure provides a step-by-step outline for studying

a whole book of the Bible.

For starters you should acquire or purchase a good study Bible and

one of the following two Bible resources: 1) a one-volume

commentary on the whole Bible or 2) a good Bible dictionary.

I can recommend the following resources for these categories;

however, any quality evangelical reference for study Bible, one-

volume Bible commentary or Bible dictionary will do:

For a study Bible: NIV Study Bible(Note: The above study Bible is neutral in its theological

orientation. If you prefer, you can choose a study Bible that iscloser to your theological persuasion, for example:

Dispensational, Pentecostal, ReformedorMainline Protestant) For a one-volume commentary: New Bible Commentary

For a Bible Dictionary: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary

If you plan on doing more Bible studies in the future or you want to

learn more about the Bible yourself, having all three resources in

your library will be a big plus.

I should mention right at the outset that you want to do as much of

this work up front and on your own, without the help of a study Bible,

commentary or Bible dictionary.

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These will be useful at a later point in time. For now, you want to

reflect on the text yourself. This will greatly enhance what you learn

from this whole book study.

Are you ready to begin? Lets do it then!

STEP #1: Read the book through in its entirety, several times.

This is extremely important! And yet, few people doing a Bible study

have ever done this.

As Ive mentioned already, we tend to read the Bible in mini-chunks,

whether it be a verse on a postcard that stirs us or a favorite

passage or portion of a book.

But reading an entire book in one sitting (the way many epistles

would have been read when they were first written and delivered to

the churches) can be a stimulating adventure.

You see a lot more at 30,000 feet than you do at 30 feet. When you

read the whole book at once you will begin to have a sense for theauthors style, purpose, arguments and main themes.

For Large Books

If youve chosen a large book to study (Gen, 1 Kings, Isaiah, etc.)

you will need to split it up into natural sections (unless you feel like

tackling all 50 chapters of Genesis. In which case, more power to

you!)

Here you can cheat a bit and check out an outline in a study Bible

to see where the natural divisions in a book might be located.



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Helpful Advice for Step #1 Reading the Entire Book

On your first reading, just read. Dont take notes. Just read for

understanding and for the flow of the narrative.

On your second reading, begin to slow down a bit. Try to answer the

following questions as you are reading:

What themes, ideas or words are being emphasized or

repeated?

Is there a problem being addressed?

Who is the audience of this book and what is the relationship

of the author to the audience?

What is the author saying? How is he saying it? Notice the

tone, the words and even the rhetorical stance (O you foolish

Galatians!)

STEP #2 Prepare Answers to Key Questions

Now, before you read for the third time, take your study Bible, one-

volume commentary or Bible dictionary and read the introductory

article for the book in question.

Read critically, and read based on the two prior readings you have

already done.

Next, prepare the answers to the following questions using your Bible

resources as well as your Bible:

Who is the author?

What do we know about the author from the rest of the Bible?



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(For example: Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians; however, Timothy

and Silvanus (Silas) are also mentioned in the authorial

greeting. Why are they important to this letter? And to this

church?)

What is the date of composition

What is the date of the events in the book? (Sometimes, the

different between composition and the historical events

narrated can be centuries)

What was the occasion for writing? Why did the author write

this particular book, to this particular audience at this

particular time?

What are the main themes of the book?

What are some unique features of the book

For example, Matthews gospel contains more Old Testament

quotations than any other gospel. It has a genealogy and birth

narratives. Finally, Matthews gospel groups large chunks of Jesus

teaching together into distinct sections.

All of these unique features are important for communicating

Matthews message to a Jewish audience, which is, Jesus is the

long-anticipated Jewish Messiah of the Old Testament.

STEP #3 - Re-create an outline of the book

If I were really trying to make you work, I would ask you to create

your own outline for the book in question. (I personally have



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created all of the outlines for every Bible study in our Free-Bible-

Study-Lessons.net site).

But, so as not to discourage you before you even start, I am simply

asking that you re-create an outline for your book.

The following process will be helpful:

Take your study Bible, Bible dictionary or one-volume Bible

commentary and open it up to the introductory section for

that book.

Locate the outline. Make sure it is detailed.

Find the main headings within the outline and copy these

down on a sheet of paper or word processing document. You

can see my example for 1 Thessalonians

I - Greetings (1:1)

II - Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians faith (1:2-10)

III - Pauls anxiety over the state of the Thessalonian church (2:17 -

3:13)

IV- Gods will is that we live a holy life (4:1-12)

V- Lords Second Coming (consolation and warning) (4:13-5:11)

VI - Final exhortations (5:12-20)

VII - Blessings (5:23-28)

Next, add the second level descriptions and verse numbers

under each main heading. I have done this for Section II

Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians Faith:



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II - Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians faith (1:2-10)

A. Faith produced works and perseverance (1:3)

B. Gospel came with power and conviction (1:5)

C. Faith was accepted despite persecution (1:6)

D. Thessalonians became an example for all believers (1:7-9)

E. Faith saves us from coming wrath (1:10)

Now go back to your Bible and read each main section as well as

each sub-section given in your outline. Do you agree with the

headings and divisions given by the particular resource you are

reading?

In other words, when you read 1:3-10, does that entire section deal

with Pauls thanksgiving for the Thessalonian church, and is each of

the sections underneath that heading accurately represented?

This may seem like a long process for you, but you must trust me on

this. If you complete this analysis, your understanding and

knowledge of a particular book will be outstanding.

Once you have gone through each section in your Bible and

compared it to your outline, give the outline a good stare.

Notice where the breaks and natural divisions occur, where the

author changes themes, which sections are longer or take more

time to elaborate.



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Notice if there are any repetitions in the outline. (James for example

covers the topic of speech or the rich / poor a few times in his

book.)

Now, lay aside your outline, and see if you can trace the contours of

the book in your mind without the aid of the Bible or your outline.

Step #4 - Describe the book and your reaction in your own words

Now, take a blank sheet of paper or a blank word processing

document and write down in your own words what this book is

about.

Write as much as you can about its purpose, main themes, figures,

narratives, events, unique aspects, etc.

Finish With An Application

Finally, what aspects of the book as a whole or in its parts can you

clearly see an application for your life?

What caught your attention about this book? What challenged

you, inspired you, motivated you? What parts need further study or

clarification?

What changes can you make in your life as a result of having done

this type of overview?


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