Welcome to the Book Background Method. Please see my note, (Peter Rhebergen):

In the thematic method of Bible study you will approach a theme within the Bible and perform a basic study of it. It is shorter than the Topical Method of Bible study, which comes later in these notes, and is much less exhaustive in its scope. In a topical study you would examine each possible verse that relates to your topic of study, including each sub-theme; in a thematic study you will study only those verses that apply directly to a single theme.

4.1 - Tools

4.1.1 - Study Bible

4.1.2 - Exhaustive concordance

4.1.3 - Topical Bible or cross references

4.2 - Hints

4.2.1 - Stay narrowly focused on your theme since each associated idea can lead to hundreds of additional cross references causing your simple thematic study to grow quickly into a study requiring a great deal more time and effort than you have allocated.

4.2.2 - Keep your list of questions short as some themes may have one or two hundred references associated with them, which if you have too many questions, would cause you to tire of your study even before it is complete.

4.3 - Steps

Step 1 - Choose a theme to study. For your first thematic study, you may wish to choose a theme that is relatively simple.

Step 2 - Make a list of all the verses you intend to study using the tools described above and select from this list the verses that are most applicable, or important, to your theme.

Step 3 - Decide on, and make a list of, the questions you will ask of each verse. If you have written more than five questions, you may wish to choose only five since this is generally sufficient for the study.

Step 4 - Ask these questions of each verse in your list in Step 2. You may not be able to obtain an answer for each question in each verse, some verses may only answer one or two of your questions, but this doesn’t mean that your verses have been improperly chosen.

Step 5 - Draw some conclusions from your study. This would include collating the notes you have made and summarizing the details of the study.

Step 6 - Write out a personal application and remember to evaluate your progress.

Chart for the Chapter Summary Method of Bible study

Peter Rhebergen, was raised in a Christian home and currently attends Westney Heights Baptist Church with his family. He is a volunteer in several of its ministries and has served as assistant pastor, youth leader, adult Sunday School teacher and as pulpit supply at various churches and Bible Camps in Southern Ontario. He has been married since 1989 and together with his wife has three wonderful children who have introduced them to horses, hermit crabs and numerous other creatures they would not otherwise have met. He is an avid photographer and poet and has held a life-long interest in astronomy thanks to Psalm 19 and an uncle. You can visit's Peters website at www.EachNewDay.com.

This material can be freely used by anyone desiring to bring honour to our God - Peter Rhebergen