Now that we have introduced and gone through all the levels, looked at some major reference works and available help materials, and surveyed the teaching techniques, how does it all come together?  If we have a good idea of how to accomplish all the things in our self-study outline, how can we put it all into practice as we go through a book or extended section of the Bible?  This is where we apply the old maxim of working from the general to the specific.

            I find it helpful to follow a few common-sense, flexible guidelines in breaking down a book into its smaller, more manageable study-sized portions, but yet keeping in mind its proper larger context.  In each of the three sections below I will list the steps first and then briefly expand the ideas behind each of them.  There are links at the bottom of the page to all of the essays on each level as well as the articles on Teaching Styles and the References and Tools so that you can check out the study helps that I mention along the way.  There are ten steps (or eleven if you plan to share what you have learned).

For the whole book

Step 1:  Survey read at least twice for general context—once in a paraphrase, once (or more) in at least one standard translation

Step 2:  Determine the overall theme of the book or section and choose key verses or passages for memorization

Step 3:  Do a background study—author and his circumstances, cultural surroundings, audience

Step 4:  Outline—into broad sections, topical sections, and by paragraphs (in whatever way is feasible)

            For step one, if possible, I don’t stop with only twice through, especially for the shorter books; and where feasible, I read a different translation each time.  For the longer books, I will consider studying half of it—for example, Isaiah divides neatly between chapters 39 and 40, so I think about doing chapters 40 through 66; then maybe I’ll go back and pick up the first part later.  I start with a paraphrase simply for a fresh perspective, and because I usually do not use one at any other time.  If you have Bible software, it helps sometimes to simply use that and make sure the Bible text is the only window open.  The main reason I use a plain text Bible as one of my standard translations is because I want to read quickly—all the footnotes, markings, references, and etc. found in a study Bible can distract me and slow me down.  There will be a use for those later.

            For step two, it may be easier to remember something that was preached on or taught from the book, and to think that that was the theme when it actually is something else.  It merely takes a general feel for the message of the book to indicate what idea is prominent, and what verses may best sum it up.  Memorization is easiest when a musician has put a tune to a passage, but on the other hand there may not be a tune written for the verse that is the most appropriate to commit to memory (or if there is a tune you may not have heard it).

            For step three, simply read through the introductory notes in your study Bible and then add readings from passages in a Bible handbook or dictionary and Illustrated Manners and Customs (see link below for References and Tools); many of these helps are available as software or on-line versions.

For each paragraph

Step 5:  Establish the theme and possible applications, and consider any contrasts with false teachings

Step 6:  Meditate and pray over each paragraph, composing questions about things that may be unclear

Step 7:  Pursue “off-shoot” items from the Synthesis level when appropriate (word, topic, symbol, character)

            For step five, it works well to follow the same rules for exploring a paragraph as for any other literature, even that which you would create.  Any paragraph should have a single central idea or theme, and a quick reading of the paragraph will leave you the definite impression of what that theme is which the bulk of the paragraph goes on to explain.  This is also a good point at which to begin the application process, where one can see how the basic theme relates to the current state of one’s life.  There are several spots in the New Testament epistles that were written to directly contradict a false teaching that was common in that day; what modern false ideas might be addressed by that same passage?

            For step six, we find this to be the best place to begin the rest of the personal application of the Scripture to your life.  But the question-and-answer searching may not necessarily apply personally; it may also apply in more abstract ways.  Overall, this is where the technique known as the inductive method comes into play, where we learn how to ask the right questions about a passage and then learn even more by searching out answers.

            For step seven, we find that a theme communicated in most paragraphs in Scripture will relate to other things said about a topic in other places.  If you have done a study on a related topic already, this is a good time to review that study.  If not, this may or may not be a good time to begin one—beware of getting sidetracked on a topic study that might prove to be too involved for right now; it may be better to finish the book study first that you already had planned and then return to the topic for a more thorough investigation.

For each verse or sentence

Step 8:  Amplify key words as necessary and apply cross-references (preferably your own)

Step 9:  Consult commentaries and notes from previous teachings you have heard or read

Step 10:  Reconstruct the section, comprehensively taking into account the fresh lessons that your study has yielded

Step 11:  If you will be teaching, find appropriate and creative ways of communicating your findings

            For step eight, we begin to get picky.  Up to this point we have found our lessons in the stories and the topics discussed in the larger portions of Scripture; but now we are looking at the minutiae to see if there is any further instruction for us in the smaller units.  Some people begin at this level, but there is always the danger of concentrating on the details while missing the big picture; we may find that we strain out the gnats while we swallow the camels.  With the right tools, amplification for definition is the easy part, but reconstructing the grammatical elements can also add a deeper dimension—when is love a verb, and when is it a noun?  Over time, you can become familiar enough with the range of topics that you will begin to build your own set of cross-references culled from your study Bible, Bible dictionaries, your own notes, and notes from other teachers.

            For step nine, we consider those things that others have added to our knowledge—some will be refreshing and just what we needed, others may need some revision in light of the added gains of our own study, and still others are best put “back on the shelf” and held until another time.

            For step ten, the process of putting all the smaller parts back together into the whole can be the most enlightening part, for it is there that the working together of the new bits of wisdom can recreate the context in an edifying and fresh way.  Now that we have worked from the general to the specific, we find that the specific has now given great depth to the general.  And yet the larger context is still of major importance, for the thrill of discovering some of the small ideas has too often led many to spurious conclusions which clash with the original intent as shown in the larger context.  Based on the results of this exegesis, the knowledge gained can easily lend itself to a more complete and reliable topic study or other application—so keep your notes and study results in a safe place so that you can refer to them later.

            For step eleven, one would hope that the reason for your study is not only because you were compelled to prepare a teaching, but to edify yourself for whatever may come along in your walk.  But for times when your knowledge is to be shared, clarity of communication is important, and creativity helps—there are many good ways to do this which I have written about elsewhere.  The main thrust of any teaching endeavor is the reproduction in the hearer of the truth that was set forth; so the method by which you learn a thing the best may not work for everyone, but it probably will motivate you to make a better delivery.  If you teach from an outline, the hearer should be able to recreate the points expressed in a similar format; if you tell a story, the hearer should be able to retell it without compromising the lesson within it.

Conclusion

            What I have described above and in all the related articles in the Bible Study Template series is only a launching point for giving shape to an individual’s private Bible study.  It is especially for those who sense that they need something more structured, yet don’t want to follow the strict requirements of certain workbooks and other materials.  It is also for those who feel that there is something more to be gained from their efforts than from the highly subjective nature of the inductive or intuitive methods, as well as for those of you who have discerned that the spirituality in the Bible has elements of objective intent from God that would apply to all of us consistently.  In short, the Bible doesn’t mean just whatever we take it to mean—it means what God intends it to, and the only appropriate interpretation of that intent must be culled from a comprehensive understanding of the Bible’s totality.  There are contained in its pages universal truths that can be discerned and applied; thus we cannot and must not confine it to our post-modern whims.