School of the Bible Old Testament Studies Proverbs Inductive Study December 12 – 15, 2012 to be handed in by Sat. nite 11:59 pm, Dec. 15, 2012 (Specific Instructions at the end of p.2) Over the next few days you will carry out a scientific inductive study of the book of Proverbs. This is an exercise in learning how to perform a scientific inductive study while at the same time acquiring a greater biblical perspective on five topics of your choice. The following information will give you some guidelines on how to conduct your scientific inductive study.
Background: The Scientific Inductive Method (General Discussion) The approach to a scientific inductive method is to carry out the following steps: 1. Read through entire Bible (to gain general familiarity with regard to the topic under study) 2. Read through entire Bible again collecting every verse that relates in whatever way to your topic of study. 3. Study each verse in context, working from Hebrew or Greek as needed. 4. Identify the subcategories contained in the Bible from the verses you collected and then group each verse into its correct subcategory. 5. Write a summary for each of your subcategories. 6. Write a summary that brings together the conclusions of each subcategory (that is a summary of the subcategory summaries) so that you end up with a unified picture of the truth the Bible presents concerning the topic you researched. ----------------------------------------------Proverbs Scientific Inductive Study Assignment This assignment is a modified form of the above method. Instead of studying the entire Bible, the research will be limited to the book of Proverbs. But you will apply the following steps listed below: 1. Read through the book of Proverbs. 2. As you read select 5 topics that interest you (to see what the book of Proverbs teaches concerning it – for example: What does Proverbs say about the use of the tongue, its right use, its wrong use, the consequences of each, etc.). 3. From your list of 5 topics choose 3 topics for your study. 4. Read Proverbs through again to find and list (write down the reference) for every verse that relates to each of your chosen topics. 5. Study topic by topic each Scripture reference and develop sub categories under each topic. 6. Reflect on the verses in each subcategory and write a summary that presents the truth taught by these verses (1 to 2 sentences or as needed). 7. Write a general summary that presents the conclusions contained in the summaries of each subcategory. This summary should end up being easily made into a sermon outline that you can use as God leads in the future. You will be able to preach or teach from the results of your study. 8. Repeat the process for your four topics that you have chosen to study. 9. When you have completed your scientific inductive study for all 4 of your chosen topics, turn in your summary along with your subcategory summaries for each topic and the Scripture references for each sub category. REMEMBER: Your chosen topics must have enough references to form at least three groups of scriptures for each topic, but not so many that it takes you 4 days to complete the project.
p.2 Scientific Inductive Study 1. Identify the question you are asking. Example: What is the nature of God’s interaction with man? Application: What does Proverbs teach about (example: use of the tongue) 2. Read through the whole Bible and write down every reference that relates to the question 3. Study each verse in its historical, grammatical context a. The historical setting b. The purpose of the book c. How it fits into its context – section and paragraph d. Translate from the Hebrew or Greek as needed. 4. Place each verse into a category of other verses saying the same thing. 5. Write a summary of what the verses reveal regarding each category 6. To get an overall view, (the biblical presupposition), write a summary that summarizes the conclusions of all the category summaries. -----------------------------------------In the Proverbs Study 1. Purpose of the Study: To immerse yourself in the book of Proverbs as a book (Therefore, you will be reading through the book, not doing computer searches.)
2. You will end up reading completely through the book of Proverbs 2 times. 3. First time through, you will identify 5 (five) possible topics you could do a specific study on. (For example, one topic might be The Use of the Tongue)
4. You will pray and ask God to guide you in deciding upon 5 (five) of them that you will go back and collect all the references in Proverbs on each of these 5 topics. 5. You will then select 3 (three) of these 5, and write up a report on these 3 topics. 6. You are using the tools that Winkie presented (when you do the report on these 4 topics. C Collect C Categorize ( P l a c e t h e v e r s e s i n t o subcategories within your topic)
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C Communicate. Write up a general summary (as already stated) (a total of three general summaries – one for each of the three topics) The General Summary C 1. Write up (like as if it were a chapter in a book: Example: What Proverbs Teaches About the Use of the Tongue. C 2. Spend a bit of time just to put into the report one or more practical illustrations with each point. C 3. Attached to each general summary: the Details of the verses (subcategories) that are the documentation that your conclusions are historically, grammatically correct. C 4. Application: This is the conclusion to your sermon, where you emphasize what we must do in living out what Proverbs says regarding the topic, and why (what are the results, and why are they important.)