What is the inductive study method as applied to Bible study?
“Inductive” study, when applied to literature, means to allow the text to speak for itself. If you were to use the “inductive” method on the gospel of Mark, you would want to read the entire text from beginning to end so that you get an overview of what it says. Then you would go line by line through the book, trying to understand the different teaching and events placed in the context of when they happened and why they were said. If you find a phrase that is unclear, you would look to see if that phrase is repeated elsewhere in the text, and try to get its meaning from comparing all the places were the phrase is used within Mark. You would also want to keep a timeline of when events and teaching happened. Often knowing what happened before or after an event can help in unserstanding the event itself. Finally, you will find that about 89% of Mark is repeated in the gospel of Luke, and 92% of Mark is repeated in Matthew. IT can be helpful to look up the same teachings and events in the
