Guest Author - Diana Pederson

What is “methodical Bible study?” This is the first question I wanted answered upon opening Robert A. Traina’s book, Methodical Bible Study. He answers this question by stating:

Methodical Bible study, then, is concerned with the proper path to be taken in order to arrive at Scriptural truth. More specifically, it involves the discovery of those steps necessary for achieving its goal and their arrangement in a logical and effective manner. [Page 5]

This definition still left me curious. That curiosity was solved after reading through this book. Traina’s book is one of the better ones that I have read on Bible Study Methods. However, it has some weaknesses. Let’s take a look at his chapters.

This is a 4 chapter book. The author outlines each chapter so you can find out which part you need to read. I find this helpful because I can learn the different Bible Study methods without having to digest and comprehend the entire book at once.

Chapter One: Talks about making “observations” of what the Scripture is saying. We are taught to observe the terms used, their type (routine, non-routine, literal or figurative), the relationships between the terms, and whether these terms are to be interpreted literally or figuratively.

Chapter Two: The author teaches us how to properly interpret Scripture. He discusses the various types of questions and answers we should have when reading the Bible. Some of this chapter made sense to me, but I question his choice of terminology.

Chapter Three: Evaluation and Application of the scriptural truths should be a natural result of studying the Bible. However, I feel the author left out the Holy Spirit’s role to guide us into all truth.

Chapter Four: Correlation is the process of combining all the information one has on the scriptures into a Christian belief system resulting in a suitable lifestyle. He implies that we must begin to associate one scripture passage with another in order to fully develop an understanding of the entire Bible rather than just understanding sections of it.

Recommendation

Frankly, I was a bit confused by this book. If it is intended for general audiences, then the author lost his focus. He does not explain things in a way that most of the people I see in church today would even understand. It appears that the author is so driven by making an in-depth study in a very methodical way that the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to guide the believer into truth is left out.

I sincerely doubt I would attempt this type of scripture study. It is too academic and might be better suited for Bible college courses than the typical Christian. Either we are missing something important by not doing methodical Bible Study or this book is an example of what is happening to Christians today. We try so hard to interpret and understand things that we fail to give God time to teach us His ways and what He wants us to know. If this is the case, then this book guides you into treating the Bible like an ordinary book.

Robert A. Traina. Methodical Bible Study. Zondervan. 1980.