Mentoring Ideas: Teaching Youth How to Study the Bible (Basic Checklist)

Five Principles of Bible study

• Ask the right questions.
• Write down what you observe and discover.
• Apply your discovery to your life and thoughts.
• Study the Bible systematically.
• Strive to exhaust the passage you are studying.

Bible Study Tools in Order of Importance

• Translation of the Bible
• Concordance
• Dictionary
• Bible Dictionary
• Commentary

Methodical Bible study

• Pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance and insight.
• Make observations by asking questions.
• Seek answers from the scripture and then tools in order of importance.
• Apply the scripture to your life.

Questions to Ask When Studying the Bible

• What is the historical setting?
• What is the literary form?
• What are the key words?
• What important grammatical structure do I observe?
• What is the tense of the verbs?
• Is there something contrasted?
• Is there a paradox?
• Is the passage dependant on a preceding passage?
• Ask six questions: What? Who? Where? When? Why? and How?

Application of a Bible Passage

• Is there a promise to claim?
• Is there a command to obey?
• Is there a sin to confess?
• Is there a teaching to absorb?

Common Pitfalls of Youth Studying the Bible

• Looking past the obvious for the hidden.
• Failure to consider the historical in rushing to application.
• Narrow vision. (All scripture is true all the time.)
• Lack of discernment as to what is cultural and what is eternal.
• Lack of respect for God's Word. (God's Word means what it means, regardless of our beliefs or opinions.)
• Superstitious approach to God's Word.

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