What do I need to get started?
Firstly, you need a Bible. However, some extra resource books can be very beneficial. You can even purchase children’s resources which are wonderful for getting our children accustomed to using study tools for Bible study.
Eventually, you will need a Bible Dictionary, Concordance, an Atlas and a Reference book.
- A good Bible Handbook or Reference Book or Bible Encyclopedia is a simple and concise reference book dealing with the Bible in general and covering subjects such as those treated in this set of notes. A Bible Handbook will also give a general survey of the 66 books of the Bible, briefly summarizing the contents of each chapter. For example, if you wanted to know the content and teaching of 1 Corinthians chapter 7, a Bible Handbook would give you this information in a few concise paragraphs.
- An English Dictionary and a Bible Dictionary are one of the most important tools that a Bible student has. One of the reasons we have difficulty understanding the Bible is that we do not know the English language as well as we should. This may not be as important if you are simply reading a paraphrased version but for study, using a good translation, this is a must! For instance, do you fully understand (well enough to to teach your children) the following words, that can be found in Luke Chapter 13.
A good Bible Dictionary contains a wealth of information for the serious Bible student. A Bible Dictionary is one of the most valuable tools available to the student of God’s Word.
- A Bible Concordance is an alphabetical index of the words found in the Bible, listed in their context (the sentence or phrase in which they are found). There are basically two ways in which a concordance can be of help to the Bible student:
1) A concordance helps in locating verses. This is the best book to have when you do not know where a verse is found in the Bible.
2) A concordance helps in studying a word. Suppose you wanted to study the word “faith.” With a concordance you could simply look up this word and it would immediately give you the places where this word is found in the Bible. You could then turn to each of these places and see what you can learn about faith.
Many Bibles contain a concordance in the back, although these are not complete concordances. A complete concordance is a very large book, and it contains a listing of every word in the Bible (even the common words) and every verse where those words are found.
- Bible Atlas. As you start and progress in your studies you will see the importance of understanding the geography of Bible lands (the mountains, rivers, seas, deserts, countries, cities, etc.). A good Bible Atlas is quite helpful, although most study Bibles contain a good set of maps in the back which are usually sufficient for most purposes.
You may notice that I have not included any commentaries or various study Bibles in this guide. That is deliberate. There is a time for reading these but it is not during your bible study. Commentaries are written by man and you want to hear straight from God at this point. Read, read, read your Bible.
Contents of pages in the Bible Study section
Some practical considerations before undertaking Bible study.
Why should we devote time to Bible study?
Bible Translations
Our family goals. What are yours?
Method and Approach
The 4 step process
Subjects studied
Getting started
Resources needed
A few Bible study resources
Bible Tools
Sample Lessons
Downloads to go along with a Kerugma lifestyle of learning approach
Meandering through marriage, motherhood and mess as a child of God. Married to Beloved for over 20 years. Five children later and I”m still having a ball!
My greatest passion and desire in life is to share the love and grace of God. I enjoy blogging, web design with wordpress, social media, technology, chocolate, coffee, good movies and being with family and friends.
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