Inductive bible study

[LawofLove]

Are you having trouble getting anything out of your personal bible study? Try Inductive bible study!


Methods of Bible Study
* Inductive- “Pulls out facts”
* Deductive- “Starts with premise”
* Springboard- “Shares opinion”
Read 3 methods above
• Inductive…the opposite of the more common form of study which is “deductive” (starting with a premise and trying to build Scripture to teach what I believe). The problem is that my premise can be wrong (“Everyone should remain single”, 1 Cor 7:32-35. Yet miss Ps 127:3-5, Gen 2:18 and 1 Tim 4:1,3).
• Inductive does not require a premise. All that matters is: What does the Bible say? (Not the preacher, or priest [reformation, sola scriptura]) What I think may be irrelevant. I must stay disciplined!

The Inductive Bible Study Method
The inductive bible study method has been used for decades, and has proven to be the most effective way to study and teach the Word of God. This method attempts to discover the facts of a text through careful Obser-vation and then to accurately Interpret these facts to understand what the writer means. The final step is to make Application to our own lives and our culture.
To have an effective Bible study, you must first have an effective method of studying the Bible. It is the goal of this course to develop an inductive method of study, relying wholly on the Scriptures for an accurate inter-pretation of what is written.
The inductive method is a scientific approach to the study of Scripture:
• It begins with only what is actually written.
• It follows with a Biblical interpretation of what is written.
• It then requires that we “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22), by applying the Scrip-ture to our lives.

The inductive method requires the student to examine the smallest details of the text, even down to punctua-tion. It requires the student to determine what form of literature they are reading, where the sentences begin and end and where the paragraph and topical changes occur.
The inductive method is re-creative, in that it requires the student to discover what the author intended to say, and what the original reader understood it to mean. 5

• There are two dangers: “I can do this, its simple…” so won’t do the work. OR “This is too much for me…” so won’t do the work. It is simple and it is difficult because it is mainly about OBSERVATION. Something that we don’t do very well…

• IBS really consists of three steps. Observation, Interpretation, Application
• What is there? What does it mean? What should I do? Example of observing stars, determining position, then charting course. Or observing street sign and missing which way the arrow pointed.

• First step of IBS begins with WHAT DO YOU SEE! Until you do this properly you can’t study/teach.



Observation
What do I see? What can I point to?
• We will only observe WHAT WE CAN POINT TO, not what I think it says or feel it says, or what someone else thinks.

• First we will READ, READ, READ!

• As we are reading we will observe our first impressions and record the MAJOR FACTS: Who? What? Where? When?

• Then we will observe the grammatical structure of the text. Where do sentences begin and end? Where do paragraphs begin and end?

• Finally we will observe specific details about the text. Going over the scripture with specific questions in mind, depending on what literary form we are studying.

Observation is paramount! If the student does not observe well then the rest of the steps will fail. Good obser-vations are the key to every good Bible study. Remember that we are only interested in what the text says, not what we think it says.
Step 1 Read the entire passage:
Read through the text repeatedly, until it becomes so familiar to you that parts of it are committed to memory. Read, Read, Read!!! There is no substitute for reading the scripture repeatedly.
Step 2 Record your first impressions:
Record who is in the text and their relationship to each other. Record what is happening. Record where it takes place (i.e. the sea of Galilee or the Temple). Record when it takes place (i.e the Sabbath, post-resurrection, during the Persian empire).
Step 3 Identify the structure of the passage:
Make a basic outline of the text. Determine what the important elements are. Look for changes in location, people, events, or topics.

A friend gave this to me some time ago. Hope you in enjoy as much as I did the first time read it.

 

[LawofLove]

Outlining
 The principle of outlining…manageable sized pieces (watermelon slices).
 Codification of the Scriptures were not inspired, but a way to identify specific “addresses”
 Chapters 1228 AD (Lk 20:37 Burning bush passage)
 OT verses 1448 AD
 NT verses 1551 AD
 There are several types of outlining, we have chosen the simplest.
 Outlining is an OBSERVATION TOOL
 Where do distinct ideas begin/end.
 Where does the focus of the text change.
 Identifying the MAIN THOUGHT for proper interpretation later.
 Thought for thought!
 There is an epistle outline that we will learn later.
 Never begin outlining until you have read the text multiple times.
 The General Outline Format: THEME:
Sequence # Verses Comment

Now work through Acts 1 with them
Outlining
Before we begin this section, it would be good for us to understand a few things about the Bible we have in our hands. The Bible was not written in chapters and verses. The separation into chapters and verses (known as codification) did not take place until over 1000 years after it had been written. The Bible wasn’t separated into chapters until 1228 AD. The Old Testament was separated even further into verses in 1448 AD. Finally, the New Testament was separated into verses a hundred years later in 1551 AD.
The only reason these separations were made was for the purpose of being able to locate various parts of the Bible. It was never intended to determine when a thought began or ended. If we use chapters and verses to de-termine when thoughts or events begin and end we will eventually take passages out of context and conse-quently misinterpret them.
In the English language, the basic unit of thought is called a paragraph. When we are studying the Bible, we should be looking for the paragraph breaks. In some translations, these paragraphs have been identified for you, either by an indention, or by making the verse number bold. These can be helpful in determining where the au-thor’s thought has changed.
The purpose of outlining is to pull out a complete thought to study, or to break a larger text into distinct ideas. If you can isolate each idea presented in the text, then you can understand the whole text more clearly. There are many ways to outline, but we will only be presenting two of them.
We must remember that outlines come from observation, not interpretation. The purpose is to observe:
 Distinct ideas.
 The focus of the text.
The General Outline simply follows the basic flow of the text. Every time there is a thought change, then there will be a break in our outline. This type of outline will be used primarily for Story Form and Figurative Form.
9
Acts 1
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,
3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;
5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.
13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,
16 "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Ju-das, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus;
17 "for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.
19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it'; and, 'Let another take his office.'
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 "beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."
23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
24 And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen
25 "to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place."
26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
NKJV
10
Outline for Acts 1
I. Acts 1:1-3 Introduction
II. Acts 1:4-8 Jesus’ command to wait
III. Acts 1:9-11 The ascension of Jesus
IV. Acts 1:12-14 Waiting for the Promise
V. Acts 1:15-26 The upper room
A. Acts 1:15-17 Peter’s address
B. Acts 1:18-20 Judas’ death described
C. Acts 1:21-26 The selection of Matthias
 Outline considerations:
 Read text multiple times prior to outlining.
 Determine where paragraph breaks occur.
 Sequence the paragraphs.
 Look for changes in the focus of the text.
 In order of importance: Teachings or Topics, Events and then Location or People
 Never divide up a Topic or Event even if Location or People change
 GENERAL RULE: Don’t break out less than 3 verses (Common exceptions are parables, SOP’s, and the closing of letters).
 Context tremendously important and bad outlines lead to misinterpretation:
 Mt 18:20…
 vs. 16 “two or three witnesses”,
 vs. 19 “two agree”,
 vs. 20 “two or three”.
 Context?
 Has Jesus left us? Mt 28:20, Heb 13:5.
 Is my prayer weak? Mt 6:6. 1 Jn 3:22, 5:14.
 Examples in Scripture?
 1 Cor 5:3-5…”present in spirit, as though present” (Lending authority to the
discipline),
 “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (by Christ’s authority),
 1 Cor 5:4, spiritual power and authority being given for the disciplinary ac-tion.
 “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” (spiritual and
Supernatural impact from their prayer and decision).

 

[oldhermit]

Thank you for this thread. I am in total agreement that the only valid way of reading scrupture is through the inductive method.

At one time I owend a rather extensive study library. I had books on everything. Over the years I became so insensed with how many of these writers treated scripture that I gave all of that library away including all of the commentaries I had. I determined that if I was to learn what the Bible taught, I was going to have to study the Bible and not books about the Bible. I do not concern myself with how history or cultoue interprets scripture. History and culture are not revelation. The only books I kept were those that help me in my linguestic research such as Greek Lexicons, all of my Greek manuscripts, some Historical research books such as Josephus, my Youngs Anylitical Concordance, a set of Greek word studies, and a few odds and ends of other related books. I do not read any other types of Bible related materials.I knew that if I was going to learn what the Bible had to say, this was going to requiore a good understanding of the original languages on my part. I could not possibly care less what Monotheism or Unitarianism, or Tritheism, or Trinitarianism, or ANY OTHER 'ISM' teaches. I do not care what they believe or teach. I am interesten in only one thing - What does the Bible have to say.

Every time I open my Bible to study anything, the first thing I do is try to suspend for the moment everything I think I know about that text. I always start from scratch. What is the Bible saying? I never dodge any implication simply because it does not seem to fit some predetermined concept I may have. Through this, I have had to change my views on a number of passages over the years. Sometimes this can be rather disconcerting to discover I have been wrong about something. But, the integrity of scripture MUST be upheld, no mater where it may take me.

 

[LawofLove]

Thank you for this thread. I am in total agreement that the only valid way of reading scrupture is through the inductive method.

At one time I owend a rather extensive study library. I had books on everything. Over the years I became so insensed with how many of these writers treated scripture that I gave all of that library away including all of the commentaries I had. I determined that if I was to learn what the Bible taught, I was going to have to study the Bible and not books about the Bible. I do not concern myself with how history or cultoue interprets scripture. History and culture are not revelation. The only books I kept were those that help me in my linguestic research such as Greek Lexicons, all of my Greek manuscripts, some Historical research books such as Josephus, my Youngs Anylitical Concordance, a set of Greek word studies, and a few odds and ends of other related books. I do not read any other types of Bible related materials.I knew that if I was going to learn what the Bible had to say, this was going to requiore a good understanding of the original languages on my part. I could not possibly care less what Monotheism or Unitarianism, or Tritheism, or Trinitarianism, or ANY OTHER 'ISM' teaches. I do not care what they believe or teach. I am interesten in only one thing - What does the Bible have to say.

Every time I open my Bible to study anything, the first thing I do is try to suspend for the moment everything I think I know about that text. I always start from scratch. What is the Bible saying? I never dodge any implication simply because it does not seem to fit some predetermined concept I may have. Through this, I have had to change my views on a number of passages over the years. Sometimes this can be rather disconcerting to discover I have been wrong about something. But, the integrity of scripture MUST be upheld, no mater where it may take me.

Amen the bible is the only standard

 

[oldhermit]

Amen the bible is the only standard

You might also visit the thread Should we study an “ism” or just God’s word?