Expert: Paul Walker - 11/1/2009

Question
Hi!

My is Sandy, and I was born again three years ago.  I've been reading the Bible for awhile, and am now ready to delve into it more deeply through Bible study.  My question is this:  How many themes to a chapter?

I recently started studying the New Testament using a method described by John MacArthur in his booklet entitled, "How To Study Your Bible".

In it, he suggests concentrating on just one book at a time by reading it everyday for thirty days and then jotting down the themes for each chapter on a 3x5 index card as you are reading. He also suggests that as you continue the thirty day reading, to review your cards, that way, at the end of the thirty days, not only will you be able to recall what you read, you won't need to rely on a concordance to find verses in the future.

However, what Pastor MacArthur doesn't explain is how many themes are in a chapter, which would be helpful to born agains such as myself who are new to bible study.

My Questions:

1. What does a bible chapter theme "look like"? In other words, what should I be looking for as I am reading, and approximately how many themes are there to a chapter?

2. As I read, what should I do to help make those themes stand out for me? I've been underlining verbs and key words and phrases. Is there anything else I should do to make the themes stand out?

3. Typically, how long does a personal bible study take, or how long should it take in order to get the most out of it and yet be meaningful at the same time? I'm not asking this question because I see personal Bible study as a chore, or something to get out of the way as soon as possible. I'm asking because I am a Bible study newbie and I just don't know these things.

4. Is there a place on the internet where I could learn to pronounce biblical names and places by hearing it spoken to me? Some of those Old and New Testament names and places are a _bear_ to try and pronounce.

Please answer all four questions if you can. I want to equip myself with as much information as possible.

I greatly appreciate your help. Thanks so much!

Sandy
www.needgod.com  

Answer
Dear Sandy,
I certainly appreciate your desire to study and understand God's word. Advise abounds as to methods and modes of doing so, each of us, ultimately, will have to settle on what is the most efficacious manner for our individual abilities and needs. The reading of one book for thirty days would be fine if that suits you. I like to read three chapters at a time in the following sequence:
  112, 123, 234, 345, 456, 567, 67, 7, etc.
You end up reading everything three times.
The more you know what the Bible says the more you will put the puzzle together and acquire understanding of the correct doctrinal meaning and be able to "rightly divide the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH.
Wrongly dividing God's word is a major problem, hence so many denominations.
Depending how you use the word theme, a chapter may be part of many chapters with a recurrent idea or may have one or more subjects within itself. The entire book of Hebrews has one theme or basic topic, belief vs. unbelief. Themes will become apparent as you read things over a few times, precepts are more important.
Isaiah 28:9-10 KJV  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.  (10)  For PRECEPT MUST BE UPON PRECEPT, PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT; LINE UPON LINE, LINE UPON LINE; HERE A LITTLE, AND THERE A LITTLE:
Psalms 119:4 KJV  Thou hast commanded us to KEEP THY PRECEPTS DILIGENTLY.
Psalms 119:104 KJV  THROUGH THY PRECEPTS I GET UNDERSTANDING: therefore I hate every false way.
Precepts are general principles of God's word that doctrine and understanding are built upon. As you study you will see their development. Any teaching that violates one of these general universal truths is faulty. For a few examples of precepts you can go to http://www.aficj.org/aficj1/precepts/cover.php I believe it will be helpful to do so.
There are a couple other things I would like to mention to aid you in your study. Grammar is the first, anything less than a whole sentence has no meaning/or can be made to mean anything. The sentence is the smallest unit of meaning. There are whole false doctrines based on a phrase or some part of a sentence. You need to study sentence by sentence, not verse by verse; a verse in not a unit of grammar. You need to be able to diagram a sentence. There are sentences in the Bible with over 200 words in them. God did this on purpose to confound and confuse lackadaisical self serving studiers. Salvation is free, everything else requires work.
As far as the time it takes to study, that's a personal choice. The more time one puts in, the more one will get out. I would suggest spending enough time to fulfill whatever reading program you set for your self faithfully as a daily endeavor and spend more time when you can. When I first receive Christ I read the entire Bible through in thirty days. Eventually, I began reading it once a year with many hours of study also. You cannot spend to much time in the Bible. You might get a digital version of the Bible to listen to. I recommend the original not the dramatized version of Alexander Scorby's reading of the King James Version. It will help you with the pronunciations.
I would read the Bible through at least three times if not seven before reading the commentaries of others. Know you God's word first before seeking understanding from others.
I hope this has been of some help to you.
Your Servant In Christ Jesus,
Paul Walker