{"id":569,"date":"2009-11-03T20:06:15","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T01:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.richimages.net\/?p=569"},"modified":"2024-05-07T08:01:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T14:01:49","slug":"indenting-as-a-study-aid-to-understanding-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/?p=569","title":{"rendered":"Indenting as a Study Aid for Reading the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"dropcap\">A<\/span> few years ago, I stumbled upon an article that demonstrated a technique of understanding scripture called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org\/ResourceLibrary\/Block%20Diagramming.htm\">Block Diagramming<\/a>. 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&#8217;s very easy &#8230; and I intend to demonstrate just how easy it is in this article.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Before I began &#8230; I would like to <em>preach to the choir<\/em> so to speak, (i.e. myself included) concerning how to respectfully approach the study of God&#8217;s Word. It is not an ordinary book &#8230; it is not to be <em>studied<\/em> like an ordinary book. It is living and powerful, it discerns the intents of our heart &#8230; 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 <a href=\"http:\/\/thegospelcoalition.org\/blogs\/justintaylor\/2009\/10\/14\/30-years-ago-today-how-god-called-john-piper-to-become-a-pastor\/\">article<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/thegospelcoalition.org\">Justin Taylor<\/a>, reviewing John Piper&#8217;s results of &#8220;burying himself in Romans 9:1-23&#8221; for eight months in order to write a book: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0801070791\/bettwowor-20\">The Justification of God<\/a>. During that writing sabbatical, Piper employed the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.desiringgod.org\/ResourceLibrary\/AskPastorJohn\/ByTopic\/54\/3880_What_is_arcing_and_why_is_it_important\/\">arcing<\/a> method of analyzing scripture. But night after night, his &#8220;<em>analysis emerged into worship<\/em>&#8220;. 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&#8217;s glory. It was as if was as if God were saying:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I will not simply be analyzed; I will be adored.<br \/>\nI will not simply be pondered; I will be proclaimed.<br \/>\nMy sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized; it is to be heralded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So, these statements serve us well in reminding us that <em>Christianity<\/em> 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)<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Let&#8217;s get started! Consider the first sentence of Romans.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>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&#8217;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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Step One: Place &#8220;minimal word groups&#8221; on a separate line.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;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 <a href=\"http:\/\/ultraedit.com\">UltraEdit<\/a>, which has some unique features.)<\/p>\n<p>Their really is no set rule for deciding what a &#8220;minimal-word-group&#8221; 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:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>conjunctions<\/strong> &#8211; and, or, nor, therefore, so, but, but also,<\/li>\n<li><strong>prepositions<\/strong> &#8211; for the gospel, through the prophets, beloved of God,<\/li>\n<li><strong>verbs <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"400;\">Here&#8217;s what I came up with from NASB version. Even if you&#8217;re using the same version, your list may be different; that&#8217;s quite alright, it&#8217;s the mental exercise of doing this that adds to your understanding of the passage. There is lots of freedom in this method.<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"400\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\nHe promised beforehand<br \/>\nthrough His prophets<br \/>\nin the holy Scriptures,<br \/>\nconcerning His Son,<br \/>\nwho<br \/>\nwas born<br \/>\nof a descendant<br \/>\nof David<br \/>\naccording to the flesh,<br \/>\nwho<br \/>\nwas declared<br \/>\nthe Son of God<br \/>\nwith power<br \/>\nby the resurrection<br \/>\nfrom the dead,<br \/>\naccording to the Spirit<br \/>\nof holiness,<br \/>\nJesus Christ<br \/>\nour Lord,<br \/>\nthrough whom<br \/>\nwe<br \/>\nhave received<br \/>\ngrace and apostleship<br \/>\nto bring about<br \/>\nthe obedience<br \/>\nof faith<br \/>\namong all the Gentiles<br \/>\nfor His name's sake,<br \/>\namong whom<br \/>\nyou<br \/>\nalso<br \/>\nare the called<br \/>\nof Jesus Christ;<br \/>\nto all<br \/>\nwho are beloved<br \/>\nof God<br \/>\nin Rome,<br \/>\ncalled as saints:<br \/>\nGrace<br \/>\nto you<br \/>\nand peace<br \/>\nfrom God our Father<br \/>\nand<br \/>\nthe Lord Jesus Christ.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Once you&#8217;re happy separating your &#8220;minimal-word-phrases&#8221;, you&#8217;re ready for the next step.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step Two: Indent each line to fall beneath the line it <em>adds to<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When we say &#8220;<em> adds to<\/em>&#8220;, we mean: what it <em>modifies<\/em>, &#8211; what it <em>describes<\/em>, i.e. what it&#8217;s <em>about<\/em>. It will become more apparent as we go along, let&#8217;s get started &#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">Lets look at the first few lines of our list. The first line, <strong>Paul<\/strong>, will be our base; it will remain fixed. We need to consider where to indent the next line: a bond-servant.Ask questions like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Who does <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">a bond-servant<\/span><\/strong> describe?<\/li>\n<li>Who is <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">a bond-servant<\/span><\/strong> about?<\/li>\n<li>What does <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">a bond-servant<\/span><\/strong> modify?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">The answer to these questions is the first line,<strong> Paul<\/strong>; so, we need to indent <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>a bond-servant<\/strong><\/span> to align with the end of the first line, <strong>Paul<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><code><br \/>\n<\/code><\/code><\/p>\n<pre class=\"EnlighterJSRAW\" data-enlighter-language=\"raw\">Paul,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 a bond-servant\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0of Christ Jesus,\ncalled\nas an apostle,\nset apart\nfor the gospel\nof God,\nwhich\n.\n.\n.<\/pre>\n<p><code><code>\u00a0<\/code><\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">The next line is, <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>of Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/span>. We now have a few choices about where to indent this line.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Does <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>of Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/span> describe <strong>Paul<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Does <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>of Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/span> describe <strong>a bond-servant<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Is it<strong> Paul<\/strong> that&#8217;s <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>of Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/span> or is it <strong>a bond-servant<\/strong> that&#8217;s <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>of Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/span>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">At first, it may <em>seem<\/em> like <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">of Jesus Christ<\/span><\/strong> could be describing <strong>Paul<\/strong>. But is it really <strong>Paul<\/strong> that&#8217;s <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">of Jesus Christ<\/span><\/strong>? No, not really &#8230; The phrase, <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">of Jesus Christ<\/span><\/strong>, really tells <em>what kind of <\/em> <strong>bond-servant<\/strong> we are talking about. I.e. What kind of <strong>a bond servant<\/strong> are we talking about? One that&#8217;s <strong><span style=\"color: #3399cc;\">of Jesus Christ<\/span><\/strong>! We need to indent this line to align with the end of <strong>a bond-servant<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">Next, we consider the word <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span>. Who is the phrase <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span> <em>about<\/em>?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is <strong>of Christ Jesus<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span>?<\/li>\n<li>Is <strong>a bond-servant<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span>?<\/li>\n<li>Is <strong>Paul<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">We can see that it&#8217;s <strong>Paul<\/strong> who is <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span>. So, we need to indent <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>called<\/strong><\/span> just past the word <strong>Paul<\/strong> from line one.<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">Next, we consider the phrase <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>as an apostle<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What does <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>as an apostle<\/strong><\/span> <em>modify?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>What does <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>as an apostle<\/strong><\/span> <em>add to?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>What does <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>as an apostle<\/strong><\/span> <em>describe?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\">The phrase <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>as an apostle<\/strong><\/span> adds more detail to <strong>called<\/strong>. It tells us <em>how<\/em> Paul was <strong>called<\/strong>. He was <strong>called <\/strong> <span style=\"color: #3399cc;\"><strong>as an apostle<\/strong><\/span>. Indent it to align with the end of &#8220;called&#8221;.<\/td>\n<td width=\"8;\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"45%\"><code><br \/>\nPaul,<br \/>\na bond-servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nas an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<p>By now, I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;re starting to catch on to what we&#8217;re doing; hopefully, you&#8217;re also understanding the value of this study aid. Can see how we&#8217;re slowing ourselves down to understand what is being said? If we are not <em>taking our time<\/em> when reading the Word of God in some way or another, (this method being one example), then we are not really able to <em>follow along with<\/em> what is being said in the paragraph, &#8211; we are not able to follow the <em>flow-of-thought<\/em>. At best, we are probably latching on to the meaning of a single scripture at a time &#8211; this is dangerous as the meaning of a single scripture without being placed into the context can lead us to a wrong beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>This exercise has more advantages as well. I would like to demonstrate another on the next page.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><code><br \/>\n[from] Paul,<br \/>\na servant<br \/>\nof Christ Jesus,<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nto be an apostle,<br \/>\nset apart<br \/>\nfor the gospel<br \/>\nof God<br \/>\nwhich<br \/>\nhe[God] promised<br \/>\nbeforehand<br \/>\nthrough his[God's] prophets<br \/>\nin the holy Scriptures,<br \/>\nconcerning his[God's] Son,<br \/>\nwho [the Son]<br \/>\nwas<br \/>\ndescended<br \/>\nfrom David<br \/>\naccording to the flesh<br \/>\nand<br \/>\nwas<br \/>\ndeclared<br \/>\nto be<br \/>\nthe Son-of-God-in-power<br \/>\naccording to the Spirit<br \/>\nof holiness<br \/>\nby his resurrection<br \/>\nfrom the dead,<br \/>\nJesus Christ<br \/>\nour Lord,<br \/>\nthrough whom<br \/>\nwe have received<br \/>\ngrace<br \/>\nand<br \/>\napostleship<br \/>\nto bring about<br \/>\nthe obedience<br \/>\nof faith<br \/>\nfor the sake of his name<br \/>\namong all the nations,<br \/>\nincluding you<br \/>\nwho<br \/>\nare<br \/>\ncalled<br \/>\nto belong to Jesus Christ,<\/code><\/p>\n<p>To all those<br \/>\nin Rome<br \/>\nwho are<br \/>\nloved<br \/>\nby God<br \/>\nand<\/p>\n<p>called<br \/>\nto be saints:<\/p>\n<p>Grace<br \/>\nto you<br \/>\nand<\/p>\n<p>peace<br \/>\nfrom<br \/>\nGod<br \/>\nour Father<br \/>\nand<br \/>\nthe Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Some Final Helps<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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 as we proceed to the right. One of the great things about this, is that we can isolate loaded sentences into simpler sentences and slowly add more and more details until we build back up to the original sentence. If a sentence becomes overwhelmingly complex, our outline provides an excellent means of finding the core of the sentence. We can find simpler sentences by tracing a single path from the left to some particular location to the right.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s an example, where I am trying to get the main point of this first sentence:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>{From} Paul, set apart for the gospel concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To see how this sentence was formed, look at our diagram, and trace the path from the base phrase, <strong>Paul<\/strong>, to the end right-most detail of <strong>our Lord<\/strong>. We followed this one path, and skipped everything else:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"diagram\">Paul, \n   set apart \n           for the gospel \n                        concerning \n                                  his[God's] Son, \n                                               Jesus Christ \n                                                          our Lord.\n<\/pre>\n<p>Another path we could trace would form this sentence:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>{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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>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 <em>flow-of-thought<\/em> of the passage, and therefore develops a richer understanding. If you have any comments regarding this article, I would love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,8],"tags":[17,29,28],"class_list":["post-569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mhbc","category-reviews","category-thoughts","tag-bible","tag-bible-diagram","tag-study-method"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=569"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9289,"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions\/9289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richimages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}