Welcome to the Thematic Method: (Peter Rhebergen):
This Bible study method, accompanied by resources, will allow you to do a Bible study in your
own way. It is an example of some of the most effective Bible study methods found and discussed
more fully in the following book, which is unfortunately now out of print:
Warren, Richard, with William A. Shell, 12 Dynamic Bible Study Methods,
Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1987.
All the material that follows has been taken exclusively from this book and summarized for
this course. I had the privilege of studying this material under William (Bill) Shell in a class
on Biblical Interpretation at Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1988 – 1989
and found both him and his teaching very beneficial as his heart was dedicated to the equipping
of the saints. If there is any copyright infringement I am solely to blame and plead the excuse
that this material is simply too valuable not to share with others.
In each method described here, a basic outline of the method will be given and some useful
tools for this method will be listed. The studies begin with the basic method types and progress
toward studies that are more in depth and require greater allocations of time but which will also
yield greater results. Each method of Bible study presented here is accompanied by a chart, which
has been reproduced from the above book.
-- 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-them; 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
1. Theme: |
2. List of References: |
3. Questions to be Asked:
A) B) C) D) E) |
4. Answers to Questions:
Scripture Reference:
A) B) C) D) E)
Scripture Reference:
A) B) C) D) E)
Scripture Reference:
A) B) C) D) E) |
5. Conclusion(s):
|
6. Application/Evaluation:
|
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.
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