Purpose

The purpose of this guide is to make an effort to help people gain comfort and confidence when it comes to studying the Bible.  Certainly there are volumes of books that have already been written on this subject.  Certainly those books have been written by men and women who have dedicated countless hours and years of their lives to the study of the Bible.  I do not suppose in any way that I am any more qualified than those dedicated authors to write a guide such as this.  Therefore, it is my hope that by being honest about my experiences in Bible study and sharing things that I have found to work for me, that you might become more comfortable approaching the Bible and studying it for yourself. 

In fact, God inspired the writers of the Bible to write words that would help mankind know Him and His ways.  (2 Timothy 3:16)  God never desired His book to be difficult for mankind to understand nor did He hope that it would intimidate us to the point that it would scare us away.  No, He inspired it so that we may know Him and that by knowing Him we would love Him, and that by loving Him we might commit our lives to Him.  He, after all, has loved us and given His life for us. (John 3:16)

Included within this guide are pictures of my actual Bibles and the tools which I use in my daily study.  I have three Bibles pictured. 

• The first Bible pictured is the ESV, or English Standard Version, Journaling Bible published by Crossway.  It offers wide margins on the page edges, but not the top or bottom of the page.
  

•  The second Bible pictured is the KJV, or King James Version, Cameo Wide Margin Bible published by Cambridge University Press.  It has a wide margin on the outside page edges and the page bottom.  It is also possible to write in the gutter and the top edge, although it does not have as much space as the outer edges and bottom. 

• The third Bible pictured the the NKJV, or New King James Version, Open Bible published by Thomas Nelson.  This is the first Bible I used for the methods described in this guide.  The pens I used in it were too big and bled through the pages quite a bit.  However, I've included it to show that the methods here can be used in the Bible you already own, but your notes might be a bit cramped.  I do suggest investing in a wide margin Bible for this Bible study method.

• The pens I have used (in the first two Bibles) are made by Sakura.  I believe they are called Pigma Micron.  The line width is .20 and they have the number 005 on the cap and side.  They come in a variety of colors such as black, blue, red, green, orange, purple, and brown.
  

           

The First Step

The first thing I believe is important to Bible study is prayer.  To me, prayer and Bible study are two of the most powerful and rewarding activities that every Christian believer should commit time to every day.  Before you sit down and open the Bible, spend time in prayer.  Ask God to reveal Himself though the words you are about to read.  (James 1:5) Ask Him to give you understanding and wisdom.  Ask Him to show you how you can apply the Bible to your daily life.  Ask Him to help you to be not only a hearer, but a doer of His word. (James 1:22)

Types of Bible Study

Next, decide what you want to study.  I usually study the Bible in one of three ways: Topical, Biographical, or Book.

• A Topical study involves selecting a topic and studying to find out what the Bible has to say about it.  This type of study usually necessitates the use of an additional tool such as a Topical Bible.  A Topical Bible is simply an A-Z index of various topics discussed in the Bible such as Love, War, Sin, Knowledge, Work Ethic, or Slavery.  A Topical study of the Bible will allow you to read throughout the Bible and discover the various teachings on a subject.

• A Biographical study involves choosing a particular individual from the Bible and studying their life.  Examples of this would be David, Moses, Peter, Ruth, or my favorite, Mephibosheth. (2 Samuel chapter 9) This type of study allows you learn from their life.  You can see the good and bad choices they made and apply those lessons to your own life.  It helps you see that the Bible is full of stories of real people and real places.  It helps you identify with them and see them as real people and not fairy tales.

• A Book study is simply choosing a book of the Bible and studying through it.  This is very powerful because it helps you to not take scripture out of context.  Many people are quite good at pulling a single verse out of the Bible and making it sound however they want.  This is a dangerous practice.  A good saying is that when you see the word "Therefore" in the the Bible, you should see what it is there for.  The word "therefore" does not appear except to add to a point that has been previously be stated.  So its presence should tell you that you need to back up and see the full context of the teaching.  One of the best ways to make sure you see the full context is to read the entire book from the beginning, taking time to understand each verse.

How to Study

Having worked in Christian retail for nearly 13 years, I know that there are literally thousands of books, commentaries, study guides, and other reference materials that have been written to help understand the Bible.  Generally speaking I do condone and even promote the use of these materials.  However, I think a few ground rules must be made.

• Do your best to read the Bible for yourself first.  I believe you should never open up a commentary, study guide, or any other reference book until you have first read through the passage of scripture you are studying at least 2 or 3 times.  As you read through it, ask yourself questions.  These may be questions like:
• What is the author trying to say?
• Who was the author originally speaking to?
• What was their culture like?
• Why did the author feel it was necessary to tell the people this?
• How does this apply to me?

• You may not understand all that is going on as you read through the passage.  That is okay.  Write down the things that confuse you so that you have a list of things that you need to learn.

After you have read through and written down your own insights, understandings and questions, I suggest finding a good commentary or Bible Handbook to help you discover additional insights or answer your questions.  However, as you read through the commentaries, don't just take the author's words and opinions as fact.  Reread the passage and see if what the author says makes sense.  Keep in mind that no one person is perfect or has a complete, perfect understanding of the Bible.  However, most commentary writers are doing their absolute best to help the reader come to a deeper, accurate understanding of God's Word.

My Personal Method

My personal Bible study method is just as I have described above.  I decide which method I want to employ, and I read through the passage 2 or 3 times, asking questions as I go along.  Then as I gain insight, I write my discoveries in the margins of my Bible using the pens I discussed earlier in this guide.  I also use a small straight edge to underline the verses.  I underline each passage in a different color and write my insights in the same color so that I can easily match my comments to the appropriate passage when I go back later and read it.  I also use circles to distinguish specific words in the passage that stick out to me.  I will often employ the use of arrows to join similar words or thoughts.  This helps me see a constant pattern of teaching throughout the passage.  These methods help me really think through and flesh out my thoughts.  As I think through my insights I will often be reminded of other passages I have studied and see where the two passages are teaching the same principle or truth.  After I have collected my thoughts, I will open a commentary and see what the author's opinions are.  If I feel there is a significant thought to be found in addition to my own, I also write that in the margin.  I do, however, try to put the idea into my own words so that I am thinking through the concept and will be more likely to remember it down the road.

My final thought is to find a friend and do a study together.  The Bible says, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)  Using this method, my friend or I read through the passage out loud and gather our thoughts just as I've stated above.  However, before we move on to the commentary, we first share our thoughts with each other.  This allows us to further think through our logic and discuss differing opinions or optional insights that one of us might have had.  Once we have finished our discussion, we move on to commentaries and discuss our thoughts about the author's opinion.

Conclusion

I hope that this guide has helped you understand how you can approach the Bible and learn from its teachings.  The Bible is the single most important book in history.  It is God's way of communicating with His creation and our way of learning about His purpose for us.  In it we find wisdom, ethics, history and inspiration.  May God bless you as you dedicate yourself to Him and His Word.