Indenting as a Method of Studying Scripture
A few years ago, I stumbled upon an article that demonstrated a technique of understanding scripture called Block Diagramming. The original article still exist, and I would like to extend my personal thanks to Steve Brandon, a pastor at Rockford Christian High School, for this information. This study technique has become such a rich and powerful tool for grasping the complex sentence structures of the New Testament, I naturally found myself wonderfully excited about it. It’s very easy … and I intend to demonstrate just how easy it is in this article.
Before I began … I would like to preach to the choir so to speak, (i.e. myself included) concerning how to respectfully approach the study of God’s Word. It is not an ordinary book … it is not to be studied like an ordinary book. It is living and powerful, it discerns the intents of our heart … it declares God to us. Since we will be looking at a method to analyze scripture, let me share something I was reading a bit ago that stuck in my mind. It seems highly appropriate to mention it here. I was reading an article by Justin Taylor, reviewing John Piper’s results of “burying himself in Romans 9:1-23” for eight months in order to write a book: The Justification of God. During that writing sabbatical, Piper employed the arcing method of analyzing scripture. But night after night, his “analysis emerged into worship“. After all that analysis, Piper was overwhelmed with feelings and passions for desiring peoples lives to be transformed. He was filled with awe for God’s glory. It was as if was as if God were saying:
I will not simply be analyzed; I will be adored.
I will not simply be pondered; I will be proclaimed.
My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized; it is to be heralded.
So, these statements serve us well in reminding us that Christianity is a matter of the heart, not a matter of intellect, or a collection of knowledge. This method does help a seeking heart to have a richer experience in reading the Bible, but ultimately it is the Holy Spirit that guides our minds in spiritual understanding. (Jn 16:13; | 1 Cor 2:14; | 1 Jn 2:27)
Let’s get started! Consider the first sentence of Romans.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Step One: Place “minimal word groups” on a separate line.
I’ve found this is easy to do on a computer in an editor. Just copy and paste a passage of interest into notepad, or some other favorite editor. ( I love UltraEdit, which has some unique features.)
Their really is no set rule for deciding what a “minimal-word-group” is. The fact that you have to slow down and decide for yourself forces greater understanding of the passage. Starting out, here are some basic guidelines:
- conjunctions – and, or, nor, therefore, so, but, but also,
- prepositions – for the gospel, through the prophets, beloved of God,
- verbs
| Here’s what I came up with from NASB version. Even if you’re using the same version, your list may be different; that’s quite alright, it’s the mental exercise of doing this that adds to your understanding of the passage. There is lots of freedom in this method. |
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
Once you’re happy separating your “minimal-word-phrases”, you’re ready for the next step.
Step Two: Indent each line to fall beneath the line it adds to.
When we say “ adds to“, we mean: what it modifies, – what it describes, i.e. what it’s about. It will become more apparent as we go along, let’s get started …
Lets look at the first few lines of our list. The first line, Paul, will be our base; it will remain fixed. We need to consider where to indent the next line: a bond-servant.Ask questions like:
|
Paul a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which . . . |
| The answer to these questions is the first line, Paul; so, we need to indent a bond-servant to align with the end of the first line, Paul. |
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which . . . |
The next line is, of Christ Jesus. We now have a few choices about where to indent this line.
|
Paul,
a bond-servant
of Christ Jesus,
called
as an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel
of God,
which
.
.
.
|
| At first, it may seem like of Jesus Christ could be describing Paul. But is it really Paul that’s of Jesus Christ? No, not really … The phrase, of Jesus Christ, really tells what kind of bond-servant we are talking about. I.e. What kind of a bond servant are we talking about? One that’s of Jesus Christ! We need to indent this line to align with the end of a bond-servant. |
Paul,
a bond-servant
of Christ Jesus
called
as an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel
of God,
which
.
.
.
|
Next, we consider the word called. Who is the phrase called about?
|
Paul,
a bond-servant
of Christ Jesus,
called
as an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel
of God,
which
.
.
.
|
| We can see that it’s Paul who is called. So, we need to indent called just past the word Paul from line one. |
Paul,
a bond-servant
of Christ Jesus,
called
as an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel
of God,
which
.
.
.
|
Next, we consider the phrase as an apostle.
|
Paul,
a bond-servant
of Christ Jesus,
called
as an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel
of God,
which
.
.
.
|
| The phrase as an apostle adds more detail to called. It tells us how Paul was called. He was called as an apostle. Indent it to align with the end of “called”. |
Paul,
a bond-servant
of Christ Jesus,
called
as an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel
of God,
which
.
.
.
|
By now, I’m sure you’re starting to catch on to what we’re doing; hopefully, you’re also understanding the value of this study aid. Can see how we’re slowing ourselves down to understand what is being said? If we are not taking our time when reading the Word of God in some way or another, (this method being one example), then we are not really able to follow along with what is being said in the paragraph, – we are not able to follow the flow-of-thought. At best, we are probably latching on to the meaning of a single scripture at a time – this is dangerous as the meaning of a single scripture without being placed into the context can lead us to a wrong beliefs.
This exercise has more advantages as well. I would like to demonstrate another on the next page.
Below is our completion of this study method applied to the first sentence of Romans. We are fighting room here, it may help to maximize your browser to full size, and the scroll bars may help as well.
[from] Paul,
a servant
of Christ Jesus,
called
to be an apostle,
set apart
for the gospel of God
which
he[God] promised
beforehand
through his[God's] prophets
in the holy Scriptures,
concerning his[God's] Son,
who [the Son]
was
descended
from David
according to the flesh
and
was
declared
to be
the Son-of-God-in-power
according to the Spirit
of holiness
by his resurrection
from the dead,
Jesus Christ
our Lord,
through whom
we have received
grace
and
apostleship
to bring about
the obedience
of faith
for the sake of his name
among all the nations,
including you
who
are
called
to belong to Jesus Christ,
|
Some Final Helps
Using this technique, it is useful to think about how we are organizing these minimal-word phrases. Base phrases are at the left, and details are added to the right. Knowing this, we can consider simpler sentences to discover main points. These simpler sentences can be formed by tracing a single path from the left to some particular location to the right.
Here’s an example, where I am trying to get the main point of this first sentence:
Paul, set apart for the gospel of God concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
To see how this sentence was formed, look at our diagram, and trace the path from the base phrase, Paul, to the end right-most detail of our Lord. We followed this one path, and skipped everything else:
Paul,
set apart
for the gospel of God
concerning
his Son,
Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Another path we could trace would form this sentence:
{From} Paul, set apart for the gospel concerning his Son, Jesus Christ through whom we have received apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name.
These sentences are easier to understand, and forming these sentences can help us identify the main points of the sentence. Then we can see how the main points are supported by adding back the details, until we build back up to the completed sentence. Going through this exercise helps keep scriptures in context, helps us follow the flow-of-thought of the passage, and therefore develops a richer understanding. If you have any comments regarding this article, I would love to hear from you.
I was hoping that your article was going to explain how to diagram scripture like what is shown in the background picture with all the various lines, indents, color-coding, highlighting and what the word list on the right of the pic is and how to use that list.
I very much like your article for explain in detail how to break up sentences into “minimal word groups”. Where can I learn how to diagram like what is shown in the pic?
Also, all of your articles are old. Are you not doing anything more with this website? If so, 1) I wish you would have put somewhere that you are no longer going too be adding to this website with the date and 2) You probably won’t even read my comment, let alone respond to it.
Thanks for some very good articles and links!!!
May God Bless You Richly!!
Pat