How To Do a Topical Bible Study - 5 Steps and Tools (2024)

Topical Bible study is a method of studying the Bible that focuses on a specific theme, topic, or subject rather than going through the Bible in a sequential, book-by-book fashion.

With this approach, you can learn and explore what the Bible says about a particular subject by examining relevant verses and passages from different parts of the Bible.

Personally, I use topical Bible study for encouragement and guidance, but you can take a more research approach as we'll dive into in this article.

As we now know, topical Bible study is the practice of looking up a theme or topic and find relevant verses that include that topic or theme.

This sounds time-consuming, doesn't it? Are you suppose to skim through the whole Bible in order to find what you're looking for?

We got a much easier solution!

In this how to do a topical Bible study, we'll use our Topical Study Guide tool to make this a whole lot easier and quicker.

If you want to follow along in this how to conduct a topical Bible study guide, then you can register for a free account and try our topical Bible guide tool.

As previously mentioned in out verse mapping guide, you might want to have a notebook, either a physical one or a digital one to note down your findings and keep things organized.

It also help to have some notes in case you want to look back at your studies at a later time.

In Revelarn we provide a Workbook feature that will automatically save your work so you can pick up where you left off or re-read your findings at a later time.

We can't start our topical Bible study tutorial without first choosing a topic to look at. As I mentioned earlier, I take a more casual route to selecting a topic. Usually a word will be popping into my mind and I'll do topical research on it, however here are some other ways of choosing a topic:

Relevance to daily life

Consider topics that are relevant to everyday life. This could include subjects like relationships, faith, prayer, forgiveness, gratitude, or specific challenges you may be facing.

Balanced variety

With this method your aim is to study a wide range of topics over time. Usually it's recommended to note down multiple words in advance and go through them one at a time. The advantages of this method is that you will be exploring a diverse range of themes, and in return it will give you a well-rounded understanding of biblical principles.

Seasonal or timely themes

Sometimes, selecting a topic based on the season or current events can add relevance and timeliness to the study. For example, studying themes of hope during challenging times or gratitude during a season of thanksgiving.

Group Interest

Now the real fun begins!

I've chosen a topic which is "gratitude" that resonate with me at the moment. I might chose to write it down it I might to straight into the Topical Study Guide. It's up to you how you would like to do it.

I'll jump straight into it:

Once I'm logged in to Revelarn, I'll go to Template Library and choose the Topical Study Guide to get started. You can also sort by category at the top, above the templates or use the search bar to more easily find it.

It's as easy as entering the topic you want to study, choosing the number of results I want, here I've chosen 5 and then pressing "Generate". You can choose to get as many result you want, it's totally up to you!

Voilà, I got 5 verses related to my topic; gratitude.

Now you will see that it also shows an explanation for each verse and a reflection question. You can choose to incorporate these for each verse into your topical Bible study if you like.

Personally I like this one:

You have probably noticed that the verse does not explicitly include the word gratitude, but the core message is in fact gratitude.

The Topical Study Guide is smart enough to recognize if a verse is about your chosen topic, even if it does not include that word specifically.

Now is the time where you take the output from the Topical Study Guide and read through each one of them. You can also write them down in your notebook if you chose to use one.

Examining context in a biblical passage involves delving into several critical aspects.

• Consider the historical context, understanding the societal norms and events of the time.
• Identify the author and intended audience to grasp the specific concerns or circ*mstances being addressed.
• Read surrounding verses and chapters to understand the broader context of the passages.

Especially the last part about understanding the full context of each verse is crucial here. Your goal is to understand what the Bible says, and nothing more.

This step in the process can take a while so be patient. You can always come back at a later time and continue.

We can also use the tool Scripture Interpretation to get more insights into each verse. Here I've chosen 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and this is what I got back:

Explanation: The apostle Paul, one of the earliest Christian leaders, wrote this letter to the Thessalonians. He was expressing that regardless of circ*mstances, believers should remain grateful, as this reflects God's will in Christ Jesus. Within its historical context, Paul addressed this process as a form of spiritual discipline that strengthens faith during challenging times.

As you can see, we get some background information about the verse as well as some historical context that will help us get a more full understanding of the verse we chose to learn more about.

Drawing connections in a topical Bible study means putting together what you learn from different parts of the Bible to get a clear picture of the theme you're exploring.

It's like seeing the patterns, relationships, and big ideas that pop up in the Bible texts. It's about figuring out how different parts of the Bible talk to each other and finding the main principles that stand out.

Here are some question you might want to ask:

• What common themes or ideas emerge from the selected passages?
• How do the passages progress or develop the understanding of the chosen theme?
• Are there contrasts or complements between different passages, and what do they reveal about the theme?
• Do the passages use symbolic or metaphorical language to convey deeper meanings?
• Are there specific characters or examples in the passages that illustrate aspects of the theme?

Congratulations if you've made it this far! I know some of the steps above can be hard but you've done well.

This final step is all about transforming your newly found understanding into how you can apply it in your daily life.

Application involves personal reflection on how the insights relate to your personal circ*mstances, identifying areas for growth, and setting specific, achievable goals.

For me, the understanding I got from doing this topical Bible study is being cognizant of events in my life that I'm thankful for and include those events in my prayers.

How will you use your new understanding in your daily life?

I've hoped you learned something new and different ways to use our Bible study tools at Revelarn.

After you've finished, you choose another topic to study. One thing that I like doing is choosing the opposite word of what I just studied to see what the Bible says about that.

In this case where I chose gratitude, I would chose something like Ungratefulness and do the same steps over again. This helps me see things from a different angel and helps me make connections I didn't see the first time.

If you've been scribbling your findings in your notebook, you might want to prepare it for a later viewing. This include color-coding and summarizing your content.

Best of luck on your topical Bible study journey!