Ryk Neethling (2011), Creative Commons
I’ve argued that everyone has a Bible study method, whether conscious or unconscious. So here’s mine.
The acronym OIA summarizes the method:
- Observation – what does it say?
- Interpretation – what does it mean?
- Application – how do I need to change?
You can restate these three steps as what? why? and so what? Or again, as what did the original author say? What did that mean to the original audience? And what does it mean in our context?
Knowable Word did not invent this method. It’s an old, old method. Seminaries call it the “historical-grammatical method of Bible interpretation,” but that title can be big and scary to most people. Some more popular treatments call it the “inductive Bible study method,” but I think that’s an unfortunate misuse of the wonderful term “inductive” from the realm of logic. So I prefer to call it simply “OIA.”
The wonder of the OIA method is that it allows the text to speak to us, rather than reading our own meaning into the text. The beauty of the OIA method is that it can be taught at seminary and get very, very deep, or it can be taught to the youngest children, enabling them as well to know the Lord in his Word.
I’ve explained the method in more detail in other posts, but for this summary, note what happens if we miss any part of it.
If we neglect good observation of what the text says, we have no true foundation upon which to know Christ. We have great intentions, but in all the wrong directions. We’re the people who failed to observe which weekend was the daylight savings time switch, and we show up to church an hour off from everyone else. An example of poor observation of Scripture is found in Luke 24:25-27.
If we neglect good interpretation of what the text means, we might not know whether what we believe or do is biblical or not. We might be honoring the Lord, or we might not be. We won’t be certain until we meet him face to face. A good example of poor interpretation of Scripture is found in Mark 12:24.
If we neglect good application of how we ought to change, we are like foolish builders founding a home upon sand. We are to be pitied. We give lip service to Christ, but our hearts are far from him (Matthew 15:8-9). God wants to make us more like Jesus (Rom 8:29), and he won’t rest until his Word accomplishes that purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11).
For much more detail on the OIA method see my How to Study the Bible series of posts.
I am curious to what other people think are the hardest aspect of OIA in bible study? Personally I find Application to be really tough. I am good at the abstract, but making in concrete is much tougher. What do other readers or writers of this blog find difficult and what do you find help overcomes that struggle?
I agree with you, Jake. It’s really easy for me to keep it intellectual (observing and interpreting). But making it personal and practical takes a lot of discipline.
I feel as if I have always been a little more inclined to application. I can easily pick things out of scripture and figure out how they might apply, but I have to admit sometimes this leads me to spending less time observing and reflecting. I often miss out on things in the text by trying to jump to application.
What about OICA . . .
Observation
Interpretation
Correlation – other verses/passages of scripture (i.e. like the Bereans)
Application
Yes, correlation is a helpful step. I’ve written about it here, here, and here.
Jeff C Chalfant:
Actually, correlation is part of interpretation. Cross-referencing a passage with other related passages is how “scripture interprets scripture.” I’m always encouraged and amazed at the way in which the Bible does this. It’s truly unlike any other book and clearly inspired/written by the Spirit of God.
Generally speaking, what is the average length for a passage of OIA. A few paragraphs? 1 chapter? Several chapters? 1 book?
It can be whatever you want! Ultimately we want to study all of those units. Each chapter should be studied in the context o fed the section, which should be studied in the context of the book.
“Application”. What does it mean to me? I love Bible study, and enjoy others input in group studies. Often, however, we just to application before really doing a thorough enough job on Interpretation. A common and perhaps controversial example of this is Romans 7. The struggle Paul mentions is, given the context of the previous chapters, is not a Christians struggle (which does happen), but the unbelievers struggle to be righteous and the impossibility that it can happen without Jesus Christ. I came to this conclusion by doing an inductive study outline of Romans. By examining the language and definition that Paul gives of freedom and slavery in the book. It’s one of the most misquoted verses (despite the truth of a Christians struggle) by spiritual leaders in my opinion. My professor who had us do the inductive study asked the class who held that it was about a saved person and who considered it about an unsaved person, and only a handful of us had concluded it was an unsaved person (the professor had concluded the same), so obviously it may be controversial, but my point is this: Study to show yourself approved unto God; a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. It takes work to understand the context of Scripture, and it’s easy to misunderstand the intent of it’s meaning without that context. A great study would be on Paul’s definition and doctrine of Freedom (Corinthians, Romans, Galatians) and how it’s applied in the Bible.
Anyway, thank’s for your dedication to Biblical truth.
A good study of the meaning of Scripture defines the application for us. It changes us by opening our understanding of it’s meaning. It enlightens us on what is the mind of God, who is God, and who am I? That enlightenment is similar to the description of transformation mentioned in the passage about seeing Jesus “for we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”. The more we see Jesus for who He is through study, that itself is transforming if we are studying with open hearts and open minds. It eliminates manufacturing change from human’s efforts, which are not transformational. Real change comes from seeing Him. It comes from meeting Him. He IS THE WORD. He indwells the Word because He is the Word. And when the Word is “read” by our hearts and minds, than that makes the most important, and moral, and eternal change happen. But He is not separate from the Word. Some would like to quantify it in that way, but that is false teaching. He is the Word, complete from beginning to end. You can’t pick and chose what you wish to believe or accept. As a matter of fact, encountering Christ is about CHANGING what you believe in, CHANGING your mental perspective, CHANGING your eternal path. If that doesn’t happen, you’ve not met Him. Your coming to Scripture with your own preconceived notions instead of studying what it actually says.
It’s kind of a long two posts to elude to your definition of application as “how do I change” verses “what does it mean to me” and my comfortability with your defining it in that way. I believe in the end, change can only be supernatural, because otherwise, it’s your efforts and not His. Sometimes our attempts to change may even be different than the change He actually wants to make in our lives, but we’re missing the point. I also have seen and experienced the miscalculation that how I came to faith in Christ isn’t the same way in which He want’s me to live in faith in Christ. It’s Him, and that’s my testimony. period.