Topical Study

Topical and character studies involve a lot of work to interpret the passage within the whole context of Scripture. Many people have come to erroneous conclusions for what the Bible says on particular topics when only isolated passages have been studied.

Tips for Topical Studies:

Start with an “easy” topic. Some topics will be much more time consuming than others. For instance, a study on God’s love would be much more time intensive than a study on worry.

Look up every passage that relates to the topic. It is helpful to use a concordance or a topical index. Read each passage, record the reference and summarize what the passage says about the topic. Be careful to analyze it within its context

Look up any closely related words. For example, if you’re doing a study on evangelism, it would also be helpful to look up: “Good news,” “gospel”, and “preach or preaching”.

Look up contrasting passages. But, keep in mind that Scripture will never contradict Scripture!

Compile your information.

Be careful that you do not build your opinions on traditions or popular opinion, but on what the Bible says!

Apply what you learn to your own life. It is one thing to know a lot of facts about the Bible — BUT, the purpose of Scripture is to deepen our relationship with God and to change us more into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Example of a compilation of a topical study on the “one another” passages.