7 Advanced Bible Study Techniques to Transform Your Spiritual Life

By Gustavo M. Karakey

Go beyond the Inductive Bible Study Method with these 7 advanced Bible study techniques. Among these techniques are how to study a whole book of the Bible, how to do a word study and how to understand the different cultural elements in the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: gkarakey
• Release date: Mar 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386218036

Book preview

Introduction

I wrote this book to transform how you study the Bible.

It’s a big task, I know, but I also know the effect these Bible study techniques can have when you apply them.

For example, if your personal Bible study feels more like a chore, these techniques will revive your spirit as you gain deeper insights into the Bible. It’s like being handed a shovel and a treasure map.  All you gotta do is dig and you will strike gold.

If you are in a small group Bible study, the reward is double. Not only will you grow in your understanding of the Bible, but also, you get to share that knowledge with your group. No more sitting silently for fear of sounding foolish.  Or no more popping off with whatever wild theory comes to mind. These techniques will give greater confidence as you share.

And finally, if you are someone who leads or facilitates a bible study in a small group or a Sunday school class, you’re going to love these tools as well.  No one will be as prepared as or as confident as you when you share.  You will be able to draw from a wealth of ideas and knowledge to minister to people in your group.

The Origin of These Principles

Before we dive into the material, I think it’s important to know the origin of these techniques.

I have taught biblical interpretation in different institutional settings over the years: a Bible Institute in Paraguay, Asunción, a Bible College in Medellín, Colombia and a seminary here in the states. 

And during those 16 years, I have longed to teach this material in the church.  My first attempt to make this real was a self-published e-book entitled 7 Rules of Bible Interpretation EVERY Christian Should Know. 

It was a complete flop. 

Perhaps I was a lousy marketer, but the phrase Bible Interpretation seemed to throw people off.  That’s a term reserved for professionals or experts in the Bible, the kind of people that attend seminary or get doctorates.

Few Christians run to their bookstore to pick up a book on Bible Interpretation.

One year, I decided to teach the 7 Rules concepts as a Sunday school class.  I knew that people were hungry for something that went beyond the Inductive Bible Study Method.  But fearing that I would have few students if I gave a class on Bible interpretation, I changed the name to 7 Advanced Bible Study Techniques.

People loved the techniques. 

One student, Elizabeth sent me a thank you note expressing her gratitude.  She mentioned she had always been afraid of tackling difficult subjects in the Bible, but because of the class, she now felt confident to study anything.

The rest is history.

Here’s the best part.  Not one person in that class every struggled with the concepts.  Let me repeat that in another way.

No one found the concepts difficult to learn or understand.

Here were these awesome techniques that anyone could have used and they were hiding behind the walls of the seminary.  Well, they are hiding no more.

Because of these techniques, the world of the Bible is going to open up before your heart and mind like you’ve never experienced before.  They are going to transform your study of the Bible.

And I am so thrilled for you!

Overview of the 7 Advanced Bible Study Techniques

This book is divided into seven advanced Bible study techniques. Each one by itself is a potential avenue for uniquely exploring the depths of the Bible.  Combined, they will become your personal treasure guides, opening up more and more of the riches of the Bible to you.

Technique #1 – Pre-existing Conditions - This technique states that you are not an objective reader of the Bible.  It introduces you to some common interpretation biases that negatively affect how you read the Bible.  The goal is to diminish their influence in your study of the Bible.

Technique # 2 – By the Book – This technique will show you how to study a whole book of the Bible at once.  Individual passages will come to life with new meaning when you have a big picture view of a particular book of the Bible. 

Technique #3 – Context, Context, Context – This technique will teach you how to study the surrounding paragraphs of a passage in order to add depth, clarity and meaning to any Bible text.

Technique #4 – Word Up – This technique will teach you the richness of doing a word study on a particular term in your passage using a Bible concordance.

Technique #5 – Culture Shock – This technique will teach you how to better understand the culture and the customs of any Bible passage.

Technique #6 – Bible Context – This technique will teach you how similar passages in other parts of the Bible add meaning and clarity to your own passage? 

Technique #7 – Modern-Day Application – This technique demonstrates how to correctly apply the Bible's ancient message to your personal life today.

Chapter 1 - 5 Reasons Why You Should Read This Book

Introduction

In the next few pages I want to share with you my top five (5) reasons why every Christian should read this book. 

Reason #1 – You Will Learn How to Interpret the Bible Instead of Just Reading It

This may come as a surprise to you but anytime you read or study the Bible, you are also interpreting the Bible.  You are not an objective reader.  We all approach the Bible with many preconceptions which affects how we understand it.

This means that as you read the Bible, you are making judgments about what it says.  More importantly, you are also deciding how the words of scripture apply to your life.

Got Anger?

Do you ever wonder why you sometimes experience very strong feelings when the Bible talks about certain topics, say for example, women, or Israel, the afterlife, money or any number of other subjects? 

Take this doozy from Saint Paul:

But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but [she is] to remain quiet. (1 Tim 2:12)

In its unfiltered state, this sentence could generate (and has generated) everything from confusion to rage.

Again, this is because we instinctively make judgments as we read or study.  We are deciding whether we agree with what we believe the Bible is communicating.

In other words, we are interpreting what the Bible says.

Everything you read in the Bible is filtered through your personal or spiritual profile, as a man or woman, recent convert or long-time Christian or as a Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Catholic or Baptist.

Are You Misunderstanding Something? 

Or take the word church in the New Testament. 

This word may conjure up images of pulpits, pews, choirs and Sunday school classes where your teachers read your favorite stories as a child. 

But those images are pretty far removed from the way the New Testament defines church.  Back then, the church met in homes and were more like small groups with a very basic leadership structure. And so, if you approach the Bible without any awareness of your own perspectives, you may actually read a meaning into a passage which isn’t really there.

In all these cases above, and in thousands of ways throughout your lifetime, as you read or participate in Bible studies, you are constantly interpreting what you read on the fly, without giving it much thought.

Should We Be Subject To Our Whims? 

But is this a good thing? 

Should you leave your understanding of the Bible to the whims of your cultural preferences or to strongly formed opinions about particular subjects?

I don't think so!

If you are always interpreting the Bible, shouldn't you try to improve in this area?  Shouldn't you make an attempt to become a better interpreter of the Bible?

This doesn't mean you have to become an expert in Greek or that you need a seminary degree to do a good job of interpreting.  On the contrary.  The reason I created this book was so that regular folks (the non-pros, if you will) could learn advanced study techniques that would convert them from passive to active readers of the Bible.

Reason #1 then for why you should read this book is that you will begin to learn how to interpret the Bible.  Are you going to acquire the needed skills to become a more active interpreter?

Reason #2 – You Can't Let Others Tell You What the Bible Says

A second reason you should read this book is so that you can start taking responsibility for your own conclusions.  For some reason, we have it in our minds that only pastors or professional theologians are qualified to tell us what the Bible means.

Yes, these folks have more training and more experience.

But if there’s one point to this book it’s to give you back some control over your reading and understanding of the Bible.

We live in a complex and challenging world and frankly, it’s a world that needs to hear a word from God.   As a Christian living in the 21st century, you must be able to reason intelligently from the Bible regarding the issues that affect real people where you live and interact.

Superficial answers, bumper sticker theology or wafer-thin arguments that fall apart with hard questions will not satisfy your friends, co-workers or family members.  They are all searching for true wisdom in today’s confusing culture.

We simply cannot leave the serious work of Bible study only to the professionals.  We must each do our part to become better students of the Bible.

These advanced Bible study techniques will provide you with critical reinforcements in this area.  They are not hard skills to acquire. 

Reason #2 then for why you should read this book is that you cannot leave the serious