Today’s post in our series, Building a Bible Study Notebook, has two printables — a cover sheet for your notebook and a study sheet for when you study a book of the Bible. We’re sharing new, updated printables with you!
I love to listen to a podcast called “Help Me Teach the Bible,” from the Gospel Coalition. Nancy Guthrie is an impressive host! I am amazed by how she remembers such specific details within the Bible. Yet, she also sees Scripture as a continuous whole, made of individual pieces.
It’s a great reminder to study the pieces (or books) as a “whole within a whole.”
What does that mean?
When we study a book of the Bible, we need to look at it as a whole book in addition to its importance in the entire Bible.
But why?
Studying a Book of the Bible… as a Book
I love the book, Little House on the Prairie. If you asked me details about the individual books and the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, I could tell you quite a bit! I can summarize each work in the series and I know a great deal about Laura’s pioneer childhood (discovered through reading her stories). I also know who her audience was, why she wrote the books, the general theme of the stories, and can put many of the details in their greater context.
If you’re a “Little House” fan, you can likely do the same. And like me, you probably learned all of this by reading her books and doing additional research on the author.
Reading and research is a great way to know a book better!
Likewise, when we read and study a book of the Bible, our studies are enhanced when we go deeper. Researching the audience and author, why the book was written, the main themes, context, and so on, tell us much!
It’s a common Bible study focus to zero in on the verses with questions like, “What is God saying to me right here?”
That is an excellent question!
But it’s also important for us to be able to look at an entire book of the Bible and say, “What is God saying to me here? What was God saying to the original recipients of this word? Who was the human author? What circumstances shaped his life? What literary style did God employ in the author’s penning of this book? How does the writing show the greater context, date, or cultural practices?”
As we learn more about the background of a Bible book, we learn more about God, His message, and also about ourselves.
Printables for You
To start building your Bible notebook, we’ve made a cover sheet for the front of your book. (Click here to print.)
To help you in your whole book studies, we’ve made a printable for you. It includes spaces to list the Bible book’s name and author, date of writing, facts about the original audience, the main purpose it was written, the general context, the main content and common themes, and key verses. (Click here to print.)
We pray that these printables will help you in your studies! To summarize what Lisa said (years ago) here:
Write it down. Remember.
Do you study a Bible book as a whole? What have you learned?
In Him,
Ali
[…] this month we are building a notebook to help us organize our Bible study. Did you grab your book study page and check out this guide to putting your book […]