1. Always start with scripture, I prefer the ESV online (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/)
2. Type the word or topic you want to study into the search box
3. Make sure you have pen and paper handy
4. Start reading through the verses returned by the search. Some of them may not really contribute much to your study; it’s ok to skip those for now, but certain verses will ‘click’ in your brain or ‘land’ on your heart. For those, write down where the verse is, go into your paper bible and read the whole chapter or section
This is a lengthy process, but very rewarding
5. Once you have read it deeply (this is in the truest sense ‘meditation’) write down any thoughts or questions that come to mind. This is the Holy Spirit working in your heart and intellect.
At this point you might be thinking: This seems like a lot of work. It is – but it is seldom rewarding unless YOU DO IT THE LONG WAY!
6. Once you’ve done that for all the relevant passages, look over your notes and look for recurring questions, statements, etc.
7. Now it’s time to pray and seek the wisdom of others. This can be in person or via commentaries – preferably both. If you find via your notes that a particular book of the Bible talks a lot about anger, get a commentary for that book
That should be enough to get you started.
How do these steps line up with your study practice? Have I missed any?
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To be honest I was looking for an April fools date on this. While that is one way to do a word study, it by no means the normative way to read scripture. Scripture is mostly given to us in the form of narrative and this process completely destroys that. To read the narrative in scripture you need to read whole books in sequence.
Taking notes and discussion with others is a good thing.
Read multiple commentaries from the same author, get a deep understanding of the people you are learning from.
Answer God in your prayers, the scriptures are written to us. Take it personally and answer personally.
- Peace
You’re absolutely correct – so I changed the title to “Bible Study Basics 1 – Word Study” since this post came out of a question from someone about what scripture says about anger. It was not meant to be a guide to reading scripture in large chunks.
Thanks Dave.
Well that improves the post quite a bit. See narrative context is important :)
I’d add a warning about the limitations of a word study.
While you’ll find a great deal about “anger” by doing a word study much will be left out as well. Psalm 137 should be part of any study on anger, but it won’t show up in a word search.
- Peace
Dave