Ideas for studying the Bible in-depth & a facebook group with videos for the book of James

 

The Bible is my favorite book, and I have read it fully a number of times, which I highly encourage for all Christians. If reading it all seems daunting, you may prefer to listen to it. That may be especially helpful for some of the chapters that seem to be filled with endless lists or names that are difficult to pronounce. And while I think reading the Bible through is important, I also think all Christians should make time for more in-depth Bible study. Why? Because with a cursory reading, a lot of it is difficult to understand and much of its original intent can be lost when we don't have a framework to put it in.

There are so many great ways to study the Bible. I have been leading Bible studies for over 35 years, and my favorite way to study the Bible is inductively. This method is the opposite of many study guides that tell you what everything means. Instead with the inductive method you study the scripture yourself and like a detective, determine what God's word says. There are a number of organizations that make study guides using this method, or once you are comfortable with it, you can pick up any book of the Bible and study sections of scripture on your own. Generally, this method is best used with a book of the Bible at a time, but there are some studies that cover topics using this in depth study method. 

The first time you use this method you may want to start with a short book of the Bible like Jonah, James, or 1 Peter.

As you continue your inductive studies through the years, I would also suggest not neglecting the Old Testament books. Genesis and Exodus are important to establish who God is and the sinfulness of mankind. The Old Testament shows many of God's great feats and how again and again mankind, and even His chosen people, turned away from Him. It beautifully sets up the need for a savior and how only Jesus Christ can be that savior.

For the basics of this method, read on.

Items needed for this method 

-Your book of the Bible printed double-spaced with large margins that you can write on. There is the New Inductive Study Bible (see link below), or you can print your own by copying the verses you need from www.blueletterbible.org and then setting your copy to double space. Be sure to leave large margins for notes.

-Colored pencils and or multiple colors of highlighters.

-Access to a study Bible that has introductions before each book in the Bible or a computer / smartphone to access the information (Blue Letter Bible is a good source for this too). This will only be used for basic introductory information.* You may also want to use maps to find the locations mentioned.

-A dictionary or again access to an online one.

-A notebook for extra notes.

-An open mind to what God has to say, and laying aside preconceived ideas. Along with this realize that even at the end of your study you may not have all the answers and that's okay. Some may come as you delve into other parts of scripture in the future.

*With this method you will not be reading commentaries in your Bible or online until you have completed all other steps of your personal study.

A study like this will take weeks for a short book (for example we did James and had 8 weeks of homework. A long book of the Bible like Genesis may need to be broken into sections and will take months).

At the bottom you will find an invitation to join the Women's Community Wide Bible Study. There you can find videos for a study through James, and I can send you a copy of the study booklet.

See the steps below: 

1. Pray! Before, during, and after your study pray that God would show you what you need to know.

2. Each day after your study, reflect on what you have learned about God, and then how you can apply things you are learning to your own life.

3.You will determine some basics about the book of the Bible before you begin to study it. If you have a study Bible, it will have most of this information at the beginning of the book. Blue Letter Bible is a good online source of this introductory information too (Look up by book of the Bible here.) You will want to find out who wrote it, who it was written to, the time period it was written, and if it is a narrative, the time period it is describing. Additionally, you will want to know where the writer was and where those written to were if applicable for your book.

4. Next read through the whole book. If a question jumps out at you notate it in your margin (through each step you are welcome to add more questions and answer them as things begin making more sense. If there is a word that you don't know the meaning of you can look it up in your dictionary. If you are more experienced in Bible study you can even look up the original Greek or Hebrew.

5. Then look at it section by section, or if the book is short you can do each of the following tasks in the whole book. A section may be a chapter, or it may be a group of verses within a chapter that tie together and cover a separate topic from the section before. Some sections in the epistles seem to be unrelated, but after thorough study, you may look back and see they tie together more than you thought. 

    A. Your first sectional task is asking questions about it like: who (is it talking about and if it is a section where Jesus is talking, his audience sometimes changes within chapters), what (is the topic being discussed), where (is the location it is describing), when (did the story take place), how (did the action described happen) , and why (was it written). Take notes as you find answers to these questions or write the questions to look into as you review the section further. 

    B. At this point you will look again at your section and find key words, phrases, and ideas. These are words or phrases that are repeated and add important meaning to the text. Here you will use your colored pencils and highlighters. Decide on notations for these words. Notations can be symbols in a certain color, or certain marks (underline, wavy line, circle, etc.) that will represent these words. Make yourself a key of symbols/notes/colors so you don't forget. See pictures at the top of this post for examples. These notations will help you take notice of themes within the scripture. Don't forget that sometimes your key words may be God and Jesus. Also when notating key words that are nouns, be sure to use the same notations for the corresponding pronouns. Maybe the scripture names God and then says He. Notate both.

    C. Now go through and find transition words like if/then, therefore, but, because, likewise and mark them with your colored pencils with their own notation. Don't forget to add to your key list.

    D. The next step is finding cross-references for verses that may seem confusing. This will give a fuller understanding of what your current scripture might mean. When cross-referencing be careful not to take scripture out of context. In many Bibles, not just study Bibles, there are cross-reference scriptures in the inside margin. You may also find it helpful to look up words in the concordance to find scriptures that tie in. You can look up words in Blue Letter Bible if your Bible doesn't have many crossreferences or a concordance. This step can go as deep or as shallow as you want to take it. You will need to decide on the most important verses that need cross-referencing to keep from going down endless rabbit trails.

    E. If there are any other connections or things you've noticed in your section, be sure to make notes in the margin. If there is an important key word that is spread throughout the book, you may choose to make a list (in the margin next to the first occurrence) of every other scripture where you find it.

6. Create an outline of the book. This can be as detailed or simple as you want. I like to come up with main ideas (subsections) for a chapter and think about them for a day, then decide on a chapter title the following day. After titling each chapter, I go back and make a title for the book. Sometimes my titles and subsections (main ideas) are just a few words, and sometimes they are a sentence. They may contain two or three things. This is to help you in the future by quickly jogging your mind, so you want it to be helpful for you. Jen Wilkin suggests doing the outline as the step before step A, but I find it more useful at the end.

7. Check over your questions and answer what you haven't answered if you can. If you have ideas of possible answers write them down.

8. Now you can consult commentaries in your study Bible or online at Blue Letter Bible, or maybe there are theologians whom you trust who have sermons, talks, or blogs on the book you have studied. Keep in mind that on some biblical subjects, there are Godly theologians who disagree, and that is okay. It is the essentials of the gospel that any good theologian will agree on. There are some things we will not fully understand on this side of heaven.

Below are two books that have been so helpful in helping me learn to do inductive Bible studies and links to the Bible I mentioned that has extra space for notations and writing in the margins.

Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin 

How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur

The New Inductive Study Bible (NASB) by Precept Ministries International or go here to their site to find ESV and also leather options.

For guided studies to use with groups or without Precept Ministries International and Jen Wilkin offer great studies.

Precept Ministries International has studies of all of the books of the Bible (access them here).  They have a New Inductive Study series that is less intense and can be done on your own or with a group. They also have full Precept studies designed for groups that will require about an hour a day of homework. Their In & Out studies require less time but follow the same format as the longer Precept studies. These full Precept and In & Out studies have the scripture already printed double spaced which is included, videos are available for purchase that go with them to watch after your group has discussed homework. You can find local Precept studies on their website, and also online studies. I have led and taught with all of these formats.

Jen Wilkin has a number of studies available (see them here) that can be done as groups or on your own and also have videos to watch after doing your homework each week. These are typically about 9 or 10  weeks and require less homework than the Precept studies. I have also led studies with several of her books.

I have gone through the book of James with a dear friend using the method described above and going along with the Women of the Word Book by Jen Wilkin. We made Facebook videos of it. It is a great way to get introduced to the inductive method. We would love to have you join our private Facebook group (join here) and watch the videos. We have a downloadable study guide and double-spaced book of James that I can send you if you join our group. You will need to purchase Jen's book,  Women of the Word, to get the most out of it. Please let me know if you request to join the Facebook group (our cover page is pictured below) so I can be sure to go in and accept you. Video 1 is to be watched before lesson 1 in the booklet, and so on.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."