Bible Cycle 1: Book = The Big Picture
Okay! Here is the Bible Cycle Step One: Get the Big Picture
- Sit down and read a book of the Bible all in one sitting.
- This should take anywhere from around 20-30 minutes to 3 hours depending upon what book you picked
- A New Testament Epistle takes about 20 minutes with a New Testament Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) taking 2-3 hours
- Re-read in a different translation theory
- On a different day, pick a different translation to read from
- Word for Word – NKJV, NASB, ESV
- Balanced – HCSB, NIV
- Thought for Thought – CEV, NLT
- Paraphrase – Living Bible, The Message
- For info on different translation theories, click Bible Translations
- For my video discussing translations, click HERE
- Identify the Big Picture
- In your own words answer the questions:
- What is the main theme, central idea, or the big idea behind the book?
- Write it down
- This will help you articulate and remember your thoughts and processing.
- Write down the specific scriptures that helped you come to that conclusion
- This may be a specific literary unit, chapter, paragraph, phrase, verse, or sentence that brings out the central idea behind the book.
