That's the title of the study notes I found at the bottom of the page of the Bible I read last week. It's a brief Bible study guide to anyone wanting to learn the Bible. Frankly, I'm not an ardent Bible student. I consider myself more of a prayer-er than a devout student of the Bible.
Since I didn't have any Bible commentaries or Bible studies to attend in most of my life, I was left with no option but to read the Bible on my own and understood it as the Holy Spirit revealed the truth to me. Because I have got accustomed in that way, even when I got a good commentary to aid me in later years, I preferred to stick to what was most familiar to me- to read on my own and glean the truth as I understood
Was I wrong in doing that? I don't think so, for most of the times I found the explanation given in the commentaries not so different from what I've understood. That reveals what a great teacher the Holy Spirit is when you completely rely on Him for understanding the truth. That's how many believers learned from the Bible when no Bible teachers no Bible commentaries were available in the past or even now in various parts of the world. Who could beat Holy Spirit in revealing the truth? No one.
Since I'm not a person who loves to immerse in reasoning and critical analysis, it works well for me. But for someone, who is prone to reason out and analyzing things, explanations from variety of resources may be more beneficial. Perhaps, it depends more on personality and learning style.
Eight years back, when I got involved in Bible study Fellowship I was introduced to Homiletics for the first time. Many Christians had vouched that this method had helped them tremendously. But for me it was a struggle. No doubt, I gave a good try to apply it , but with not much success. Otherwise, I would have put that into practice for every Bible chapter I studied there after. But I didn't . It was like the lesson on thermodynamics you learn in physics, which you tend to forget as soon as you've written the test on it. No sooner I finished my leadership in BSF, my knowledge of homiletics too waned.
Just a few weeks back, homiletics was again introduced in our Women's Bible study. This time, Rhonda our instructor handed us sheets that told us how to do homiletics. This one seemed much simpler and easier to learn than the one I learned at BSF eight years back. This gave just five simple steps to teach us how to study a Bible passage. The person who wrote the homiletics took a chapter in the Book of Ruth to guide us through with these five simple steps. I found it very helpful and easier to follow too.
And then few days back, I came across this study notes with the title-Six questions of the Bible study in my Bible. To me, this one seemed to be the best way to understand a passage in the Bible. Others may prefer homiletics or any other method. Maybe it's me, my type or , my style of learning which favors this method to any other. Hoping this one would help someone, I've included it in my posting.
Six Questions of Bible Study
1 Factual:
What does the passage say? What are the facts?
2. Meaning:
a) Is there an underlying meaning behind the facts?
b) Is the message literal, ironic, poetic or symbolic?
c)Was the message for more than one person or audience
d)What issues in my life does this passage address?
e)What big picture questions might it answer?
3 Application:
What was the application for the original audience?
How does this passage apply to my life today? What should I do?
4 Holistic:
How does this passage relate to the rest of the Bible?
5 Spiritual:
What is God trying to say to me through this passage?
6 Devotional:
What have I learned about God? How does this passage make me feel about Him?
How does it stir me to praise Him?
(taken from Faith in Action Study Bible NIV on pg1979)
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