Expository Study

Topical Study

This type of study involves taking a passage in the Bible and finding out exactly what it means. You will go through a passage sentence by sentence and word by word. Start by reading and re-reading the passage. Note differences in different translations. Use Strong's Numbers and Vines Dictionary to look up each word. Look at the passages around the passage you are studying in order to understand the context. Look up parallel passages that deal with the same material. 

This study seeks to study a topic by looking at all the passages that deal with a particular topic. A topical Bible and a set of cross-references will help you in this type of study. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible would be a huge help with this type of study. 

Word Study

Thematic Study

This type of study looks at all the references to a particular word in the Bible. An exhaustive concordance is required for this type of study. Decide which word you wish to study (e.g. "church" or "worship") and look this word up in your concordance. Then look up each reference to this word and ask yourself what each reference teaches you. A more serious word study will use a concordance of the original languages. 

This is similar to a topical study, but a little more abstract. For example, you might want to study the testimony given by Christ's enemies, spiritual revivals, or men of God who met lions. A concordance and a topical Bible will help you with this type of study, but of course, a good working knowledge of the Bible gained through daily reading will also be an immense help. 

Doctrinal Study

Biographical Study

We can also do studies on the various doctrines in the Bible. For example, we can study the Trinity, or ask ourselves what is involved in a person becoming a Christian. A topical Bible would be helpful, as well as a book on theology. The Synopsis of Doctrine at the back of the Ryrie Study Bible would be a big help. 

An examination of the life of a particular person in the Bible. Here, we seek to see what we can learn from the life of a man or woman in the Bible. What mistakes did he make and how did it affect him? A concordance should be sufficient to do a biographical study. 

Geographical Study

 Instead of looking at a person, we could look at a character trait such as pride, humility or faithfulness. A concordance will be useful in this type of study. 

In this study, you pick a place (city, mountain, river or country) and look up all the references to that place in a concordance.