3 Powerful Ways to Study the Bible
- Chad Lee
- Mar 5, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 6, 2024
Holy Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16-17). It was produced as the Holy Spirit moved upon the human authors (2 Pet. 1:21). Scripture is sufficient. In it, God has supplied exactly what we need for faith and following Christ. Every word is important. Since the only divine, authoritative words which exist are found in Scripture, we should read them and study them carefully!
Here are a few ways to study Scripture that have been helpful for me!
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#1 | Basic Questions & Outlining
When studying the Bible, it is helpful to narrow the section that you are studying. Usually, this means picking a Bible story or a passage (usually a paragraph or two), and then beginning by asking a few basic questions.
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
And then try to identify the main idea (main point of the passage) and break the story or section into some smaller parts by outlining.
Main Idea (try to put the main idea of the whole story or section into one sentence)
I. Main Point 1
Subpoint 1
Subpoint 2
II. Main Point 2 (you might end up with more than 2 main points!)
Subpoint 1
Subpoint 2
#2 | Bible Arcing
Many times this Bible study method has helped me see life-changing things in Scripture. I first heard about Bible Arcing through John Piper. It is an exceptionally helpful way to understand a section of Scripture. One of the most powerful aspects of Bible Arcing is how it slows you down and forces you to ask great questions.
The secret to understanding how to Bible Arc is learning the connector words and what they mean (e.g. and, but, for, because, therefore, so that, in order that, etc.). This method will help you understand the relationships between different phrases and statements.
After Bible Arcing, I'm blown away at how often a commentary mentions what I already saw! If you're interested in learning more click here.
#3 | Phrasing
I first heard about Phrasing through a class that I took at seminary with Bill Mounce. It is a quick, visual way to see how a text is put together. Basically, you put the main clauses toward the left side of the page, and you put the modifier phrases indented under the word that it modifies. It becomes an easy way to see the main idea in a passage. If you're interested in learning more click here.
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After I study a passage of Scripture, I like to check it with a few study Bibles and commentaries. If I'm the first person to understand a passage in a certain way, then I would be very concerned. I'm probably not the first one to figure out Scripture thousands of years after it was written! This also is a helpful time to benefit from others who saw things that I didn't see.
My favorite study Bibles are the ESV Study Bible, the Ancient Faith Study Bible, and the Spurgeon Study Bible (although I like to check it against quite a few different study Bibles from different perspectives). The NET Bible Full Notes Edition is a more technical study Bible. My favorite one-volume commentaries are the New Bible Commentary and the two IVP Bible Background Commentaries (one covers the Old Testament and the other covers the New Testament). Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible is also great! For individual commentaries I often check https://bestcommentaries.com.