Week 2—1st John Bible Nerd-Study
*See the announcement post for more details on this study.*Missed last week? Click here for 1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 1
This week we want to keep doing some of the basics from last week: be quiet in prayer before reading; use your normal translation again; take notes on anything you notice; and feel free to share with the group.
New Assignment for this week 2:
Begin to create a straight outline of the book. A straight outline is where you work with bullet points or a straight line. We are just getting started so we don’t claim to know all of the main sections and sub-sections. Instead, we only are trying to notice where something changes. If there is some change to the subject or direction of the letter. If there seems to be a new section, then we notice it.
For example, in Luke 15 we have the 3 lost and found parables (sheep, coin, son “the prodigal son”). If you are doing a normal basic outline you will have those 3 major sections. But if you are doing a straight outline it may look more like this at first:
- 1-3 the background
- 4-7 lost sheep
- 8-10 lost coin
- 11-12 younger son gets his share
- 13-16 younger son loses all and is hungry
- 17-19 younger son prepares to return as a servant
- 20-24 younger son returns and is received with joy
- 25-32 older son is bothered
That is just the beginning of outlining. I don’t need to know the major sections or minor sections, but I am noticing some changes in topic or direction. Gradually you can imagine that as I keep looking into this chapter I’ll discover some major sections. So even from my straight outline you can see a lot have to do with the younger son. When I get to doing a basic outline, I’ll be combining all of those together under one section. But actually, I’ll include the older son as well. I’ll eventually notice that each section ends with the rejoicing that comes when the lost is found. So that will give me the clue that I really have 3 larger sections. I’ll also probably be able to split up the older son’s experience and some of my other breaks will change and shift some. I may be able to divide up in the outline what happens with the sheep and coin too.
When studying a book of the Bible the foundation of your study is your outline. By discovering the outline, you discover the fragrance of the specific verses. And it helps you keep everything in context. If you try to study “verse by verse” you are easily lost in the trees and missing the forest. You have to be able to zoom out and zoom in throughout the book. You have to eventually find the larger sections, sub sections and then look into a specific phrase or verse based off of where it is. You do get down to the verse by verse studying but you must arrive there with a larger view of the whole book. This is why you need to read the book over and over again. Typically, we need to understand the book before a verse.
To know what is happening with the older son in Luke 15 I need to see the whole chapter. I also need to know which section he is in. If I just read a verse about the older son but don’t have the context of the younger son, I will be confused on the real meaning of it. But in this case the older son also connects with the intro of the whole chapter, those Pharisees. He also connects with the “friends” that are gathered in to rejoice with the return of the lost sheep and coin. But if you only point me to a verse I’ll never get it just by itself.
While you are making your straight outline, if you notice a section just jot it down as a side note but keep the straight outline pure from sections at first. You can still make it obvious like I did with the “younger son”. Gradually we’ll be making detailed outlines.
If you only have enough time to do this for part of the letter that is okay. Just complete the full reading of 1st John and continue to work on the straight outline in the next weeks.
Example:
Basically, just begin to outline.
This is the foundation of studying a book of the Bible.
Since we're just starting our outlines we don't want to try to guess what the main sections are verses subsections. Just try to notice when something has changed or shifted. Then jot those down like bullet points in a straight line.
This pic is a quick example using John 1 (not 1 John 1). Though we are outlining we continue to notice things so I added whatever I noticed next to the outline. This is not a great outline of John 1, this is only to show the thought process at the beginning. Those sections or bullet points were very obvious for me to see. If I go back to study it more I'll notice more and see how some of these connect with each other.
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