Lesson #08

Bible Perspectives: How to Study the Bible for Yourself — Part I
Lesson #08
Digging Deeper

• Spiritual Diary Discussion
• Homework Discussion: Chapter Analysis Study [To go to homework answers — for the Teacher]
• 1Cor 8

• Class Lesson: Deeper Study Through Resource Material

• There is a wealth of Bible resource material available in book stores and on line. Some of it is useless (-), some of it is helpful (+), some of is valuable (*), and some of it is extremely valuable (**).
• How do you know which is which for the purposes of digging deeper into the Word of God?
• Where do you start building a resource library?
• How do you use these resources, once you have them?
• Research Help:
• =1= Bible Handbooks (*)
• These are helpful. They give a general setting, purpose, and content of each book of the Bible plus and overview of it.
• =2= Dictionaries:
• A regular dictionary (+)
• A good college dictionary can be helpful to look up words to see what is the current secular definition of words, especially when the secular definition clashes with the Bible definition of words.
• Webster’s 1828 Dictionary (**)
• This dictionary in English is extremely valuable. While it is a secular dictionary, it also contains Biblical meanings of words.
• Bible Dictionaries (*)
• There are some good ones and some bad ones. A good one will contain personal names, places, and Bible words. It will tell you the use of that word in the Old Testament and then how it is used in the New Testament. Find one that is linked to the King James version of the Bible.
• Expository Dictionary (+)
• The most well-known expository dictionary is Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.
• This book gives the student subtle meanings of Bible words in Greek and where they are used in the Bible. It is good for word studies. However, Vine used the same flawed sources that most of the new versions of the Bible use.
• =3= Bible Atlas (**)
• Find a good one that gives you a visual perception of places and topography of the Bible along with some related history.
• =4= Concordances (*)
• Strong’s Concordance

(**)

• A concordance enables you to find the location of any verse in the Bible by looking up a single word from that verse.
• Strong’s Concordance

also enables you to discover the Greek and Hebrew meanings of any Bible word without having to know either Greek or Hebrew. In that way you can compare the meaning of a word in one verse with the same word used in a different verse.

• =5= Commentaries
• The volumes of commentaries (-)
• The great majority of the commentaries are written by liberal Theologians who tear apart the Bible and create doubt about the inspiration of God, about the validity of its authorship, or the validity of its characters and events. They do not help the Christian learn or understand the Bible.
• Egocentric “sophisticated” theologians and “would-be theologians” love to quote these negative aspects to prove their intellectual superiority. Most of these people know nothing about the Bible and its meaning and are devoid of faith.
• Small book commentary Bible Studies by Bible teachers (?)
• These are small paper-back books on individual books of the Bible. Some are excellent, some are average, and some are poor. It depends on the author. It is becoming more and more difficult to get good ones that relate to the King James Version of the Bible.
• =6= Other helpful but not necessary resources: (+)
• — Manners and Customs of the Bible
• — A Survey of Israel’s History
• — Biblical Archaeology

• Types of Bible Study Methods #6 Chapter Outline Study

• This is another method of dealing with whole chapters of scripture. The main feature of this method is outlining of which you are already familiar.

• Homework
• =1=

Continue to work on your Spiritual Diary even though this is the last class of this section of the study.

• =2=

Continue to add Bible references to “My Personal Concordance”.

• =3=

Use the “Chapter Outline Study” sheet to study 1Cor 9.

• Day 1 = Read all of 1Cor 9 and summarize the main subject.
• Day 2 = Read all of 1 Cor 9 and pick the key verse.
• Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 = Create the outline.
• Day 6 = Write the principle for Christian behavior.

• #6 Chapter Outline Study

Chapter to Study: 1Cor 9 Date:

Summarize the main subject:

Select the Key Verse (Write it here):

Outline the Chapter:

Write a general principle for Christian Behavior: