To Stan Campbell, a very capable editor and writer, who shaped this manuscript and based the exercises and sequence upon the original work,
Living By the Book.
Many thanks for your fine work.

P
REFACE

W
hen
Living By the Book
was published in 1991, our intent as authors was to help people learn good Bible study methods that would help them observe, interpret, and apply Scripture. It seems that many people run into problems along this process, resulting in a lot of erroneous and inappropriate interpretation and practice of biblical teaching. We hoped to provide a methodical system of approaching God’s Word—one that would let Scripture speak clearly to the reader. It’s a system that I (Howard) have taught in my years at Dallas Theological Seminary, and we felt it would be helpful to others as well.

Apparently the book met a need for many people. Now, almost a decade later, our publisher has asked us to follow up the original text with this workbook. We were glad to do so. While the first book focused on the learning process, this one allows you to do more implementation and integration of those principles.

We realize the problem of releasing a workbook almost a decade after the original text. Some of you may have problems securing copies of
Living By the Book.
Others may have read the book years ago, but could use a refresher course. Perhaps you’ve even loaned your book to someone who apparently liked it so much that it never found its way back to you.

No matter. While we certainly encourage you to read
Living By the Book
prior to beginning this workbook, that isn’t mandatory. You’ll find many references to the original material throughout this workbook, but we’ve tried to provide you with the essentials of the book in bits and pieces throughout this work. For example, each day’s assignment contains an insert from
Living By the Book,
along with a page reference. If you are clear about what to do, you can move forward with boldness. But if you need clarification or more of a review, you can consult the book before completing that portion of the workbook.

Bible study doesn’t necessarily require a high IQ or long hours of intensive toil. You’ll discover that even a few minutes each day using an effective learning process will reveal much new insight. Learning and retaining Scripture works much the same way as studying for a subject in school. It’s more effective to develop a regular habit of study than to try to “cram” for a couple of days and then do nothing for the rest of the week.

Speaking of school, you might consider going through this workbook with a group. If you form your own “class,” you tend to be accountable to one another in addition to being able to draw from others’ observations, interpretations, and applications. If you can’t get a group together on a regular basis, perhaps
you can find a single “study partner.” You can benefit greatly from having someone with whom you can discuss what you’re learning. (See chapter 48 of
Living By the Book
for more specific suggestions.) Also keep in mind that this workbook is only a guideline for your study. It follows the process described in
Living By the Book.
But never forget that this is for your benefit. If you want to take longer, skip around, add your own pages, replace suggested Scripture passages, etc., then that’s up to you.

This workbook goes through the entire
Living By the Book
process, after which you will find two complete Bible studies—one on the book of Ruth and another on the book of James. In these Bible book studies, we’ve tried to demonstrate how to integrate the methods you’ve learned while still following the Observation, Interpretation, and Application process.

We hope you’ll come to find Bible study as thrilling and applicable as we do. The Word of God is still “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). Our prayer is that it will come alive in
your
life.

H
OWARD
G. H
ENDRICKS
W
ILLIAM
D. H
ENDRICKS

—2000

O
BSERVATION

S
TART WITH
O
BSERVATION

L
et us begin by reemphasizing the importance of observing Scripture before attempting to interpret or apply it. Most of the activities in this workbook will involve learning to see what the Bible really says. Only then is it prudent to begin to try to make sense of it.

A police detective would never be content to allow eyewitnesses to phone in their statements in a murder case without going to check out the crime scene firsthand. He or she would want to
observe
the scene and take in every little detail—both to better understand what happened and to ensure that what he or she is being told is the truth. Similarly, we must learn to interact with Scripture on our own. Sermons are good and commentaries can be helpful, but both are someone else’s interpretations of what the Bible says. If we truly believe the Bible is God’s Word, we need to patiently observe it and learn to let it speak to us—individually and personally.

Through observation we learn to get beyond the obvious. We begin to see the importance of little words and phrases that are easily missed at first glance. We pay attention to things that might be repeated or emphasized. We put ourselves in the place of the person being described so that we can better understand what he or she might be experiencing. And as we continue to observe, we begin to see much more clearly what God is saying to us.

So the next several exercises will take you through the process of observation. We think you’ll find a few pleasant surprises as you go along.

1
O
BSERVING A
P
ASSAGE OF
S
CRIPTURE

“What makes one person a better Bible student than another? He can see more, that’s all. The same truth is available to both of them in the text” (p. 51).

I
f you want to get more out of Bible study, it helps to know what you’re looking for. Use the following list of questions to help guide you in your search of Scripture. You probably won’t use every question for each passage you study, but at least they provide a good starting point. The more completely you can answer these questions, the better you will observe God’s truth, which then provides a strong foundation for interpretation and application.