Summary of the Inductive Bible Study Process

Step One: Overview

1. Begin and continue with an attitude of prayer.
2. Read and re-read the book to be studied.
3. Identify the type of literature with which you are dealing.
4. Deal with the book objectively.
5. Read and re-read the text until you discover those words and phrases that are repeated. Mark these key words and phrases.
6. Then make brief lists in the margin of the text from the key words and phrases.
7. As you continually read, be sure that you are reading with a pur­pose by asking the 5 W's and an H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) kinds of questions.
8. To discover the context of any book, begin by identifying the facts about any people and events mentioned.
9. Identify the main theme that best summarizes the book (the sum­mary statement).
10. Construct an "At a Glance Chart."
11. Discover a theme (summary statement) for each chapter which both supports the book theme and encompasses the theme or mes­sage in each chapter.
12. Identify segment divisions.

Step Two: Chapter Study

1. Begin with prayer.
2. Read through the Observation Worksheet of the chapter looking for those things that are obvious.
3. Deal with the chapter objectively.
4. Read with a purpose by asking 5 W's and an H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) kinds of questions.
5. Look for the obvious.
6. Look for and mark key words and/or key phrases.
7. Make lists from the key words.
8. God reveals truth in many ways in His Word. Read through the text again looking for each of the following: contrasts, compar­isons, terms of conclusion, and expressions of time.
9. Determine the chapter theme (summary statement).
10. Determine the paragraph themes (summary statements).

Step Three: Word Studies

1. The purpose for doing word studies is to understand the meaning of a word or words in the context you are studying.
2. The essential word study tools are an exhaustive concordance and an expository dictionary of biblical words.
3. Further word study skills—discovering the meaning of the original Greek or Hebrew words—can be helpful to a correct interpreta­tion and application of Scripture.

Step Four: Cross-References

1. A cross-reference is a reference to another Scripture that supports, illumines, or amplifies the Scripture you are studying.
2. The best interpretation of Scripture is other Scripture.
3. Helpful tools are a concordance, a topical Bible, or the reference system in your own Bible.