How Should A Beginner Study The Bible
Giulia Satmary
It has taken me a while to figure out a Bible study method I really love. My method is still ever-changing. However, I will share it with you in case you wanted to take it and modify it to suit your Bible study needs.
Next, I dive right in and read through the passage first without highlighting or taking notes. I want to get an overview of what the passage is saying before I try to look for details. As I am reading, I do make a mental note of anything that stands out so I can come back to it later.
After this, I take a look at the historical context surrounding the passage. What was going on when it was written? Who was it written to? When was it written? Where was it written? You can discover some of the historical context right in the passage itself but there are also historical resources you can use to get a deeper understanding of the social/political/economic climate the passage was written in.
I study one book at a time, instead of skipping around. This helps me to fully grasp the meaning of the book overall and how each chapter relates its message. I am currently studying the New Testament and have been doing so for about a year. I go in the canonical order and finish one book before going to another.
I love this.
The bible is full of unimaginable mystery that can only be uncovered during bible study. I am currently challenging myself to read the whole bible in three months and I tell you the youversion app came handy
Am actually a newborn in Christ Jesus,my prayer life now is a miracle but want to know more about my Jesus by reading His word but dont know where to start from ,l think am going to try this method of yours .so help me God to be a lover of your word.
Hi Emily! There are many good places to start. You could choose a book of the Bible and begin there, or you can begin in the New Testament with Matthew. You can even start in Genesis! Best wishes as you embark on this journey.
Thank you for the advice. Am reading the Bible through in a year on New Vision app. My problem is the Journaling am not consistent in doing it. I am not one to write things down when I know it will help me become better at getting a better understanding.
There are hundreds of commentaries and devotionals that can help you learn how to start Bible study. But fundamentally, all you need is a Bible. Even that can be easier said than done, though! Here are some of my tips.
If you need free resources as you navigate how to study the Bible for beginners, check out some of these. The following apps and websites are great free add-ons to your Bible study. They can help you gain more context or information from your reading.
BibleHub is a great resource that lets you look at a variety of translations of the same text side-by-side. They also pull up some notes from study Bibles and cross-references. If you scroll to the bottom of a page for a particular verse, you can find commentaries on it, but a lot of these commentaries are older and written in an old-fashioned style of English that may be hard to understand.
Logos is an iOS and Android app that lets you look up Biblical passages and commentaries. I personally love Logos for the sleek design and easy-to-use interface, but it has fewer free commentaries than some other apps.
Blue-Letter Bible is a popular website for Biblical commentaries. I personally find the website harder to navigate than some others, but appreciate how many commentaries they have freely available.
Trace a circle into your journal and write your verse inside it. Now, using a ruler, make different sections around it on the page. The different sections can be whatever you find most useful, but I like using these:
First, I read through the passage slowly, underlining interesting phrases, putting boxes or circles around major keywords, and adding squiggly lines under things that confuse me or that I find curious.
What I love about writing in my Bible as I learn is that the text becomes like a conversation between me and God, where I can record my thoughts and questions, and where God is speaking to me in my life and learnings. The physical Bible becomes a record of my spiritual growth, as well.
Hi Sara, I just want to thank you for your blog post. I am a returning Christian who fell out of faith and backslid as I was growing into an adult. At the age of 29, I got baptized and I am 31 today. Since I have started my walk with Christ, studying the bible has been a challenge. I took a lot away from this post and you have clarified, for me, how to use the verse mapping technique. Thank you so much. I am feeling optimistic about studying my bible.
I bought a set of highlighters that are designed for the kind of paper used in bibles. I got the set of 6 at Barnes and Noble. They will bleed through if you go over the same spot over and over but other than that, they are perfect.
Sara im new to studying the bible and i have learning disabilities so i get overwhelmed and afraid that i wont understand so i dont do it. But where is a good place to start. The color coding and notes is what throws me i dont know where to get the notes and how to color code thanks Stacey
BUT I also know that not all of us have hours of free time each day to set aside for studying the Word, browsing the latest Bible study app, or researching all the various Bible study methods for beginners to find just the right one.
Now, these Christian mentors had the best of intentions. They were (and I assume, still are), good people who were doing their best to teach me how to study the Bible as a beginner. They wanted me to know how to understand the Bible, and they wanted me to have a correct view of Scripture.
*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps cover the many costs of running this site and allows me to help provide for my growing family. Thank you!
For example, the same topic could be covered in both Luke and John, causing you to need to read both books to gain a full understanding. Not only that, but often the context surrounding the verse will provide you with important information that you will need as you study through the different genres within the Bible.
Taking a look at a Greek word or Hebrew word may be confusing without support, but this is where you can find some of the words in the original Greek or Hebrew, along with expanded word definitions that help you really capture the full extent of what the author was trying to convey.
Some bloggers (myself included!) do have formal Bible training and actually care about getting the messages of Jesus Christ right. But unfortunately, many others simply want to spout off opinions or write something encouraging without first checking to make sure their message is Scripturally sound.
If you still need additional support after reading through this Bible study guide, feel free to check out the many resources here at Equipping Godly Women which were created to help you learn how to study the Bible for beginners and advanced readers!
Do you feel confident you understand how to study the Bible for yourself after reading this Bible study guide? Or do you need additional tips for learning how to study the Bible for beginners? Feel free to ask any questions about Bible study for beginners you may still have in the comments below!
Thank you for sharing part of your story and being so vulnerable. It sounds like you are really trying to get to know God more by studying His Word. Here are a couple of other articles that you may be interested in: -to-memorize-scripture/ and -i-am-in-christ/.
I want to be able to fully understand the scriptures I am reading. Some are very ate for me to understand.
That is another reason I pass on trying to read my Bible. I get discouraged cause I do not understand.
When it comes to studying your Bible you want to read with a pen in hand so that you can take notes. You want to be able to keep track of what you are learning, questions that you have, and things you want to study more in-depth.
Thought-for-thought translations aim to stick close to the overall meaning of each sentence/paragraph in Hebrew/Greek. These are usually easier to read/understand than word-for-word translations. Some popular thought-for-thought translations are New International Version (NIV) and New Living Translation (NLT).
Paraphrase translations focus on getting the jist of the sentence/passage and conveying it in a way that is easy to understand. This is by far the easiest type of bible to read and understand but may not be the most accurate. A popular paraphrase bible is The Message.
Is there something you just want to learn more about? I have done this many times. Just last year, I wanted to learn all I could about prayer. I wanted to know what God said about prayer and what was the right way to pray. I looked up every verse that I could find on the topic of prayer.
The OT is a great place to start because it tells the beginning of the gospel story. The accounts and biblical principles found in Genesis are key to your faith. Taking the time to dig into the first few books of the bible will give you a great foundation for further study. I would start with Genesis and Exodus then maybe Joshua. If you are new to the bible save Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy for after you build up some confidence in your study skills.
You will read the same account (in different books) several times studying this way and have to do a lot of jumping around in the old testament. But having that big-picture view of biblical history is well worth the extra effort.
Verse mapping was one of the first methods I tried when I decided to study without a guide or videos. It was pretty simple to understand and get started. Basically, you take a verse and look up each word. Then you take those definitions and plug them back into the verse.
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