Compiled by Richard Ascough and Tyler Williams.

Richard Ascough

Associate
Professor
of New Testament
and Greek

Queen's
Theological
College

Department
of Religious
Studies


Theological Hall
Kingston, ON
Canada, K7L 3N6

(613) 533-6000
x78066

fax: (613) 533-6879

rsa@queensu.ca

http://
post.queensu.ca/~rsa

A good inductive study will emphasize the structure, theme(s), and major theological emphases of the biblical book under consideration.

Step 1: Initial Reading and Observations

• intimate acquaintance with the text should be gained from the beginning
  • read through the book in a modern translation at least three times
  • it is helpful to use a different translation each time
  • read it through in one sitting
  • making a photocopy of the book allows you to mark important or unusual features
  • listening to the book on cassette can also allow you to identify important features
• make note of the features of the book under consideration
  • how does it begin and end?
  • note any patterns which may emerge
  • are there any identifiable structural devices (e.g., geography; repetition)
  • look for the context in which the narrative is set and the cast of characters
  • identify the predominant genre or genres of the book (prose, poetry, prophecy, etc)
• prepare a “table of contents” for the book
  • give short and distinctive captions to each chapter (no more than a sentence)
  • these should serve as reminders of the content of the book
  • they can be as mundane or creative as you please
  • note the following two examples of Genesis 1-5:

  1 God's creation of the world & humanity 2 Man and woman in the garden 3 Sin and expulsion from the garden 4 Cain kills Abel and wanders the earth 5 Genealogy of Adam’s descendants

  1 The God who created the world, 2 on this planet humanity hurled, 3 with a snake in the grass, 4 to tempt family en masse, 5 Adam’s generations unfurled.

Step 2: Identify the Structure

• attempt to determine the major divisions underlying the arrangement of the book
• ask how (and why) the author/editor(s) structured or divided the book
• look for key words or phrases, refrains, alternate discourse/narrative, recurring motifs
• e.g., Genesis: “These are the generations of X” (Gen 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; etc.)
• e.g., Jonah: “The word of the LORD came to Jonah” (1:1; 3:1)
• a book may also have a chronological or geographical setting
• do not be constrained by the traditional chapter/verse divisions
  • these are late (medieval) additions to the text (XII-XIII CE)
  • they are not always helpful in outlining the structure of a biblical book
-e.g. the division between the first and second creation account in Genesis is not between Genesis 1 and 2 but occurs between Genesis 2:3-4.

Step 3: Identify the Theme

• determine the central or dominating idea of the book
• theme is not something you create but something you detect
• you need to substantiate your statement of the time with examples
• theme can often be determined from your observations in reading the text
• when looking for a theme, the following items should be kept in mind:

1) There will not be many “themes” in any one book. If you have found a dozen themes in a book then a reassessment is necessary. It is possible, however, that a biblical book has more than one theme included in it, since biblical books sometimes join together two or more originally separate blocks of material that support different themes. They may even be contradictory. The task here is to propose a single theme statement that captures the central message of the book taken as a whole (that is, in its canonical form).

-e.g., in 1 Samuel 8-12 pro- and anti-monarchical “themes” are placed alongside each other. The task here is to propose a single theme statement that captures the central message of the book taken as a whole.

2) Be sure to distinguish between a theme and a “motif” or “subject.” A theme is broader than “motif” and more specific than the “subject” of a book.

-e.g. while the motif of “expulsion” is especially prominent in Genesis 1-11 (Adam & Eve, Cain, the tower builders), and the subject of Genesis 1-11 may be said to be “origins,” neither of these constitute the theme. Rather, a possible theme of Genesis 1-11 is the “spread of sin, spread of grace” - i.e., from Eden to Babel there is a widening chasm between humanity and God to which there corresponds increasingly severe punishment, and a spread of grace on God’s part.

3) A theme will likely be present throughout the entire book (or at least through a significant proportion of it); it is not likely that you have isolated a “theme” if you have found it in only one or two chapters.

4) Be sure to distinguish between theme and content. The theme is much more focused.

-e.g., the statement “The Pentateuch tells the story of humanity and especially Israel from the creation to the death of Moses” is not a statement of theme, although it may be a statement of content.

5) Picking out examples of repetition in the book is something that is designed to help you become aware of the theme that the author is seeking to develop. For this reason, examples of repetition are among the things that you should use to support your assessment of theme. Lists of the repetitions and contrasts etc. found in the book are of no use to you unless you try to draw some conclusions from them.

State the theme as a one-sentence, catchy summary of the primary message of the book.

• do not just give a single word as the “theme” (e.g., “love”)
• your sentence can become the thesis statement of your paper

Step 4: Identify the Theological Emphases

• what are some of the more prominent theological emphases of the book?
• how are they developed?
• what issues are raised for the original audience concerning the divine?, concerning humankind?, concerning the earth?, concerning the interaction of these spheres, etc.
• you might also consider these same issues for the modern audience. Do so cautiously; our theological issues are not necessarily the same as those which the ancient readers would have wrestled with.

The final step is to bring together the results of your study and write it up into a cogent paper. The study should be typed in proper academic style (one inch margins, double-spaced, 12 point font). You can use the three headings below to structure your paper, although you can chose to be more creative if you like. Either way, be sure that the amount of space devoted to each section reflects its value.

Analysis of the book’s structure (35%): The analysis of the structure should begin with your analysis of the major divisions of the book. It is helpful to also include a one page outline of the major divisions in the book or a diagram of some sort showing the narrative movements in the book. You should corroborate your assessment of the structure by explaining how you arrived at your conclusions from details in the biblical text. You should also link the different divisions back to the thesis statement.

Theme of the book (35%):A discussion of the major (dominant) theme of the book as it now stands, which includes an examination of how the theme is developed in the book. It should include and analysis of how the theme is introduced, expanded, defended, and concluded throughout each section of the book’s structure identified in part one. Again, a link should be made to the thesis statement of the paper.

Theological Emphases (20%): This is a discussion of some of the theological issues raised in the book within and beyond the primary theme of the book. You should begin with the theological emphases which are obvious from the text itself, but you might also want to include theological issues which are raised by the text for the modern reader. Be sure to keep these two categories of theological emphases distinct.

Grammar, spelling, and style: Make sure to follow accepted academic standards in formatting your paper. Also, be sure to proof-read your paper carefully before submitting it.

A thesis statement arises from your own interpretation of the observations you’ve made from the book. It is your idea concerning what the book is about. It will be based on what you think is the theme of the book – namely, the dominant emphasis of the original author for his audience. The thesis statement will be argued and illustrated in the essay from the text itself. The theological emphases are issues that the text raises about typical theological issues such as (but not limited to) God, creation, God’s relationship to humans, sin, salvation, forgiveness, mercy, the Spirit, redemption, evil, angels, and so on. By asking you to identify “emphases” I want you to find things that are deed very important, either for the original author or for later interpreters. I’ll give you two examples of possible opening paragraphs, although both are perhaps more detailed and complex than I would necessarily expect from students at your stage of study. The bolded material highlights the important points (I would not bold it in my paper). As you may note, the thesis of the paper is a reframed combination of the theme and the theological emphases.

Example 1: The book of Jonah is a story with a moral [the preceding is my thesis statement]. It is the only book among the minor prophets where we do not get an extended record of the prophet’s message against the nations – all we get is a one verse notation in 3:4: "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" [the following is a more focused restatement of my thesis] The message of the book of Jonah is to be found in the actions of Jonah himself. Whereas most prophets are obedient to the call of God and go to preach to a disobedient people, in Jonah it is the prophet himself who is disobedient. And, unlike other prophets who rejoice when they are successful, Jonah is upset at his success. The book of Jonah is structured around four parts as reflected in the actions of Jonah himself:

1:1-16 Jonah disobeys his call and is punished in the sea
1:17-2:10 Jonah is saved from the fish and praises God
3:1-10 Jonah obeys and Nineveh converts at his word
4:1-11 Jonah complains at God’s mercy and is rebuked

The book addresses two key theological questions: 1) What is the relation of Israel and her God to other nations?, and 2) What is the meaning of divine justice? but provides the answer in the overarching moral theme of the book itself: God’s mercy is more powerful than God’s judgments, and God’s plan will not be thwarted even by the negative “righteousness” of God’s own prophet. [I would here begin the body of the essay in which I would take each of the structural sections listed above as a separate paragraph and show how in each of them God’s plan is enacted (sometimes despite Jonah) and how that section addresses the two theological issues of divine justice and the salvation of non-Israelites]

Example 2: Although written as the last speech and warning by Moses to the Hebrew people on how to live in the land they are about to conquer, the book of Deuteronomy was actually composed in the seventh century BCE as [the following is the “thesis” of my paper] a commentary on the meaning of the Pentateuch and a summary of its message of faithful obedience to a loving God. This can be seen in the structure of the book, which favors long speeches urging obedience to the commandments and the “statues of the Law” that God gave through Moses. The overarching theme is that God is a loving God who wants a relationship with a faithful people, as summed up in the creed “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut 6:4-5). This theme of “faithful obedience” then permeates the underlying theology of the book as it is arises (1) in the importance of the right use of the land (obedience = prosperity; disobedience & idolatry = loss of land), (2) in the emphasis on the need to listen to God (Deut. 8:2-3), and (3) in the need to pass on the commandments to future generations (Deut 6:6-9). A wider theological problem raised for the modern reader, however, is (4) the nature of evil and how a loving God can be the source of harsh (often deadly) punishment on disobedient people. Following a summary chart of the major sections of Deuteronomy, each of these theological emphases of Deuteronomy will be illustrated in more detail and tied to the central theme of “faithful obedience” in the book.