The Logos blog recently published a long form article from Daniel Yoon about “How to Do an Inductive Bible Study: 7 Steps.” I might quibble with the label “inductive” along with a few other minor things, but it’s overall a good explanation of OIA Bible study. He breaks the process into 7 steps, and explains how Bible software can help.
His steps are:
- Pray: What is the proper spirit for Bible study?
- Read: What’s the big picture?
- Observe: What does it say?
- Interpret: What does it mean?
- Discern: What’s the truth?
- Apply: What do I do now?
- Confess: Who can hold me to these truths?
I like to remind folks that it doesn’t matter exactly what we call the process, or whether someone breaks down the steps a little differently than I would. The crucial thing is that our approaches have the same substance. And Yoon does a great job providing a different, yet substantively similar framework for fruitful Bible study.
And he wisely warns folks away from becoming commentary junkies.
