BIBLE STUDY METHODS - Biographical Method

The BIOGRAPHICAL METHOD of Bible Study: How to Find Out What Made Bible People Tick.

To understand the Bible fully, you must get to know the prominent people. In greater or lessor detail, there are over 3,000 people mentioned in the Bible. God has given us a record of His dealings with them--a revelation of God Himself. People are important to God--we are his cherished creation. We are made in His image and likeness and it is His desire that we become one with Him. Every person mentioned in the Bible was divinely chosen for a reason and each life offers us valuable information about God and His relationship with man.

The application of the Biographical Method of Bible Study involves examining your own life in light of the chosen person you study and asking God to help you make positive character changes in your weak areas. This results in Christian growth and maturity.

Paul said that God gave us the stories in the Old Testament to be examples to us, from which we should learn valuable lessons for living for Him in this world (see Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).

  

STEPHEN

The person I used today in the example of the Biographical Method of Bible study was Stephen.  Although a young man, Stephen was a dynamic follower of Jesus Christ. He had a wide ministry until he was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin (Acts 6:12-14), wrongfully accused, and stoned to death by an angry mob. His death was the first of many wrongful martyrs in the name of Jesus. He was Spirit-filled, wise, faithful, available to God, persistent, holy, knowledgeable, bold, forgiving, respected by others, and a witness to Jesus. He was a young man with a powerful testimony--both while he was alive and after his death. His death forwarded the plan of God, caused the followers of Jesus to scatter and take the Gospel to other parts of Judea, Samaria, and regions beyond Palestine (fulfillment of Acts 1:8), and helped bring Saul (Paul) to the Lord (see Acts 8:1-3).

Reflecting on Stephen's life is an example of how Bible people can make the Scriptures come to life. Next week we will look at the Topical Method of Bible Study.