Bible Study
In the course of time, I have come to the point where bible studies or devotional seem
to be to restricted. There are some very good bible studies and devotional out there but
in the end, you learn what they want you to learn. It seems that the ones that had the
less amount of material but very good and pointed questions were the ones that seemed to
help the most in getting the meaning of the scriptures. This made me start looking at what
really would be a good set of questions to ask or use in the studying of each verse /
paragraph of the Bible. So I have come up with a set of Questions to ask when studying the
Bible. I first read the book that I am going to study once a day for 30 days then I go
back and take a paragraph a day and study it and answer these questions.
1. Date
2. Book Chapter Verses
3. what is the principal subject of the verses?
4. who are the principal characters?
5. what does it teach about the Father?
6. what does it teach about the Son?
7. what does it teach about the Holy Spirit?
8. is there an example for me to follow?
9. is there any error for me to avoid?
10. is there any duty for me to perform?
11. is there any promises for me to claim?
12. is there any prayer for me to echo?
13. is the passage to the lost or saved?
14. what is the key verse?
15. explain the key verse and study word by word
16. Any other observations?
17. what Life application comes out of this - Practical theology
(just what does all this mean to me)
18. What Doctrinal / topical areas does it cover or touch upon?
19. Is there a Shall not and a Shall Do to document.
20. Now study it as though you will be teaching it!
NOTE: I do not suggest using a method like this if you don't have already a working
knowledge of at least each New Testament Books, and how they go together. Studying - Judge
not; without knowing elsewhere God says Judge righteous judgments would be very
dangerous.
I love verse by verse study and preaching, but - It is hard to put together how all the aspects or parts of different doctrines fit together when you do it only in a verse by verse way. I also love reading good books that hit hard on the doctrines of the Bible. So I thought that I could do both at once. My verse by verse study and also a study of the doctrines. You can use a general outline form to keep tract of the verses and what they teach about the different scriptures. Below is the list that I have complied so far. It started out with about 15 topics and has grown to this and I am sure by the end of the year I should have even more topics to catalogue. You could look at this as a personal ** "Naves Topical" with your own notes. This goes well with the Bible Study method that I use. Note - as of right now I do not plan on putting any more of my outline as a hyper-link from here. Here just as an example to show how you can use this system to study the Scriptures in these ways. When I get them pretty much filled out in the next couple of years then maybe they will be put on, but not right now.
Link to Doctrinal Outline
**-Naves topical is a trademark
(c) copyright 2003 by Michael Litza