Great Study Aid

I received a book recently that I was invited to review and I enjoyed it so much that I thought I’d post about it.  The book is called Learn to Study the Bible and it is filled with 40 different methods to approach the study of scripture.  While this book is written to a general Christian audience, anyone who is studying sacred writings will find methods in this book that invite pondering and serious thinking about the principles found therein.

One of my favorite methods is also the simplest.  It’s called “Six Searches”.  You pick a passage of scripture to read – a verse, a chapter, even a book.  Then, answer the following questions:


1)What did you like?
2)What didn’t you like?
3)What didn’t you understand?
4)What did you learn about God?
5)What should you do?
6)What phrase can you take with you today?

Just in answering these simple questions there are cool things going on – you are inviting yourself to further study as you think about things you didn’t understand.  You are considering how your relationship with Heavenly Father has been changed as you have taken the time to study the scriptures more carefully.  You are thinking about and committing to doing something (which is vital – all the knowledge in the world is meaningless unless put into practice) and you are being invited to remember and even memorize scripture – passages that the Holy Ghost can bring to your remembrance in times of need.

Another thing that I thought was interesting as I read this book from the perspective of a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was how many of the ideas that Mr. Dean (the author) writes about are things that we are counseled to do and given the tools to do in the curriculum of the Church.  One study technique is to write a chapter summary.  Every chapter of scripture in the LDS edition of the scriptures has been summarized.  This is a great tool for understanding a chapter when maybe some of the verses are hard to figure out.  Reading the summary and then reading the chapter in that context is very useful.

Anyway, reading this book inspired me to do more pondering – not just reading but also thinking (with pencil in hand, as recommended!).