BOOK SURVEY BIBLE STUDY

♦ PURPOSE
TO OBTAIN A BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK AS A WHOLE UNIT,
IN ORDER TO DISCOVER THE MAIN MESSAGE AND LITERARY STRUCTURE OF THE BIBLE BOOK ONE IS STUDYING

♦ TOOLS
BIBLE(S), PAPER, PENCIL, A BIBLE BOOK CHART.

♦ METHOD
BOOK SURVEY BIBLE STUDIES INVOLVE THREE EASY STAGES.
EACH STAGE INVOLVES READING THE BOOK THROUGH IN ONE SITTING AS IF ONE WOULD READ A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE.
AVERAGE READERS CAN READ MANY NEW TESTAMENT LETTERS IN 20 MINUTES.
WHEN READING LONGER BIBLE BOOKS, DO ONLY ONE STAGE AT A TIME OVER THE COURSE OF THREE CONSECUTIVE DAYS.

♦ STAGE 1
READ THE BOOK THROUGH IN ONE SITTING WITH EASY TRANSLATION-PARAPHRASES LIKE THE GOOD NEWS OR LIVING
BIBLE.
THEN, WRITE DOWN INITIAL IMPRESSIONS, FEELINGS, RESPONSES, QUESTIONS, ETC.
THAT CAME TO YOU WHILE READING THE BOOK. USE SHORT PHRASES TO DO THIS.

♦ STAGE 2
READ THE BOOK THROUGH AGAIN USING A STUDY VERSION LIKE THE NEW INTERNATIONAL OR NEW AMERICAN
STANDARD. THEN, WRITE DOWN IN 4 OR 5 WORDS A CHAPTER TITLE FOR EACH CHAPTER.1

♦ STAGE 3
READ THE ENTIRE BOOK A THIRD TIME, AGAIN USING AN ACCURATE STUDY BIBLE.
THEN, WRITE DOWN IN 4 OR 5 WORDS A PARAGRAPH FOR EACH PARAGRAPH.
MANY BIBLES HAVE ALREADY BROKEN THE BOOKS DOWN BY PARAGRAPHS.
IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS IN YOUR VERSION, CREATE YOUR OWN.
THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS DID NOT MAKE THE PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS.1

RECORD ON THE BIBLE BOOK CHART YOUR PERSONAL TITLE FOR EACH CHAPTER.
WAIT UNTIL YOU DO A MORE DETAILED STUDY IN CHAPTER OR DIVISION STUDY TO RECORD YOUR PARAGRAPH TITLES.

FINALLY, GIVE THE BOOK A SHORT TITLE IN YOUR OWN WORDS THAT YOU FEEL DESCRIBES ITS MAIN MESSAGE.
RECORD THIS TITLE IN THE MAIN MESSAGE BOX ON YOUR BIBLE BOOK CHART.

YOU HAVE NOW OBTAINED A SURVEY OF THE MAIN MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE BOOK YOU ARE STUDYING!

1 The Bible was first divided into chapters by Stephen Langton (d. 1228 A.D./CE) or by Hugo de Sancto Caro in the 13th
century. Rabbi Modecai Nathan in 1445 A.D /CE put the Jewish Bible into verse form. The first appearance of verses in
the New Testament occurred in 1551 in the Greek text edited by Robert Estienne. All of these men were great Bible
scholars and their work in dividing the Bible into chapters and verses has proved helpful. However, the careful student of
the Bible should realize that these divisions were not made by God but by humans. While the words of Scripture are
inspired, the divisions are not. Thus, if you feel that a chapter or paragraph division actually interrupts the original literary
structure of the author, make the division where you feel it most naturally occurs. Information above is from International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia, v.5, 2963, and The Layman's Bible Encyclopedia, 964