Following my message on Sunday on studying scripture, I thought I’d share some tips on how to get the most out of your scripture study. So here are 12 questions to ask when studying scripture, taken from Josh McDowell’s Guide to Understanding Scripture.
- Are there things that are alike or similar? – Does the passage make a comparison between two things or show two similar encounters?
- Are there things that are different? – Does the passage show a contrast or show contrasting encounters?
- Are there things repeated? – Is a word or phrase repeated?
- Is there cause and effect? – Look for words like “because”, “for”, and “therefore.”
- Is there movement from general to specific? – Does the passage show details of a general theme?
- Is there progression? – Is there a story or movement in a storyline?
- Are there any questions or answers? – Does the passage ask a question? Does it answer a question?
- Is there a problem and a solution? – Does the passage present a problem and then offer a solution?
- Is there emphasis by time spent on a topic? – Does the passage delve on one topic/story more than another?
- Are there “connectors”? – Look for words like “if”, “and”, “but”, “since”, etc. These words show structure in a passage.
- Are there commands? – Does the passage give a specific command or rule?
- Are there promises? – Does the passage show a promise from God?
