B&H Academic is the publisher of Inductive Bible Study, coauthored by Richard Alan Fuhr Jr. and Andreas J. Kostenberger. The subtitle is Observation, Interpretation, and Application through the Lenses of History, Literature, and Theology. The title really does say it all!
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Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, and Application through the Lenses of History, Literature, and Theology
This book is hands-down my new favorite book on bible study! Fuhr and Kostenberger have taken a time-tested approach to interpreting God’s holy Word, called the inductive method, and incorporated a hermeneutical triad (history, literature, and theology) that helps us to see how those elements impact our observations, interpretations, and applications.
Inductive Bible Study is incredibly easy to follow and understand! That is perhaps why I love it so much. This book could easily be used as a textbook at the college level, and yet it could also be used for any student of God’s Word who wants to grow in their understanding of bible study. Fuhr and Kostenberger are excellent communicators who help us in this worthy task of bible study!
After an introduction to bible study in general and then the inductive method in particular, the authors dive into the step-by-step approach:
- Observation
- Interpretation
- Application
Not only do they walk the reader through the process and explain the steps in detail, but they also show the reader how to apply what they are explaining. The reader will constantly find the authors taking a text of Scripture and actually showing you how to apply the steps of observation, interpretation, and application to those texts. It is wonderfully helpful and refreshingly simple. Many books on bible study or hermeneutics are highly academic and not actually that helpful to the Church. This book is written in such simple and easy to understand language that you would never guess that it’s written by two scholars.
This book is going to be helpful to all Christians who seek to grow in their understanding and skill of bible study. This is an excellent book to work through with somebody else. I can’t recommend it highly enough to you. Tolle lege, take up and read!
Disclaimer: My thanks to B&H Academic for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
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