Observation and Principles

Tuesday, I gave an overview of the book How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur. Today I will be continuing with the book review by outlining the basics of observation as described in the first three chapters.

Accurate interpretation and correct application rest on the accuracy of your observations.

The foundation of inductive Bible study is observing what the passage actually says.

Always begin your study with prayer, invite the Holy Spirit into your study time. His purpose it to guide you in truth.

John 15:13-15 (NLT)

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

The starting point of inductive study is to get an overall view by observing the message in the big picture (Bible, book). Then looking at the smaller sections (chapter, paragraph), and tying the message in the smaller sections to the message in the larger sections and to the message in other smaller sections.

You start by reading through the book you have chosen several times. Look for keywords, phrases, ideas, and facts. The key things are usually repeated.

The main tool for inductive Bible study is the observation worksheets.

Observation Worksheets are individual chapters of the book you are studying typed up (or copy/pasted) and printed out with double space lines, and extra wide margins.

They are used for marking key words, phrases, ideas, etc in the text. For example, I might draw a yellow triangle whenever “God” or “Jesus” appears in the text and a red heart for “Love.”

Precept Ministries has produced an inductive study Bible that is basically a Bible of observation worksheets. You can purchase it through this site’s recommended products store (all orders handled through Amazon.com)

Another way is to make your own Observation worksheets using Bible Gateway to copy and paste the passage into a text editor such as Word.

If you are the kind of person who likes to use the computer, try E-Sword to keep track of your observation notes (download here-offsite link)

Using observation worksheets to mark keywords allows you to see the important ideas at a glance. Repetition is a good way to discern the main theme.

You will probably read through the book multiple times before you start seeing it all fit together into a one or two sentence summary. After you have prayerfully discerned the main theme of the book, look for a key verse that states this theme.

Step two is to break down the book into smaller pieces (chapters) and focus on the keywords and phrases and develop a summary sentence for each chapter.

Bible Gateway offers dictionary concordances and various study tools that are useful for understanding what the verses meant to the original readers.

A Bible dictionary concordance is like a dictionary that translates the Bible words into their original language and then tells you (in English) what the original Greek or Hebrew word means. Sometimes the actually meaning gets lost in translation.

As you go through each chapter, also watch for contrasts contrasts (i.e. Day and night, spirit and flesh), comparisons (like/as) expressions of time (after this, when all these thing had happened), and conclusions (therefore, so that).

Try to discern a theme for the chapter, and for each paragraph.

As you go, write an outline for the book

• Book–Theme
  • Chapter–Theme
  • • paragraph–theme
  • • paragraph–theme
  • • paragraph–theme
  • Chapter–Theme
    • paragraph–theme
    • paragraph–theme
    • etc.

All this seems like a lot of work when you could just pick up a Bible commentary, but you will be able to remember and apply the lessons so much better if you study it for yourself.

A word of caution
While the Bible is certainly capable of speaking directly to your heart and to your needs, your observations should be made without looking for that healing balm. Observation is the foundation for interpretation and application. The Bible best ministers to your personal situation when you are applying in correctly.

Kay Arthur suggest that you begin with a short book such as 2 Timothy. Remember, the rewards are a personal relationship with God.

• Part 1 (Introduction)
• Part 2(Observation)–current page
• Part 3 (Interpretation)
• Part 4 (Application)
• Part 5 (Conclusion)