Leading A Manuscript-Style Bible Study
Manuscript study (also called inductive study) is a method of Bible study that encourages a greater understanding of a short passage of scripture, by allowing the text to speak for itself and examining it in a very detailed way. Manuscript study leads your group through three steps: observation, interpretation, and application.
Unlike some methods that would begin with a topic (like compassion or prayer) and look for verses in the Bible that might say something about that topic, manuscript study begins with one passage of scripture and examines it to see what the author wanted to communicate to their audience and how we might encounter Jesus in this text.
Benefits of this method:
Anyone can do it, because it doesn’t rely on a comprehensive or expansive understanding of scripture. It focuses solely on the short passage that has been chosen. It is accessible for new Christians, for English language learners, for a wide range of ages.
It can be done communally or individually
It works well with many different parts of scripture
Basic steps:
Select a passage of scripture to study together. Generally, one to two substantial paragraphs are enough for a good study. The Gospels are often the place people start when doing manuscript study.
Print a copy of the selected scripture as a manuscript - very basic formatting, no titles or verse numbers, double-spaced on the page. You want to provide a printed copy (not digital) with nothing but the scripture itself on the page. If needed, you can add page/line numbers (rather than verse numbers).
If possible, give your group a little bit of background. Where in the Bible is this passage? What is the context of this passage (what is happening in this story?) and what has happened immediately before/after this passage? Who is the author and who were they writing to?
Read through the text out loud together. If you have time, you can read through it a second time out loud, using different readers each time.
Next, the group breaks into a few minutes of individual reading and observation. Use pens or highlighters to underline, circle, and mark up your paper - this is an essential part of the process. Ask yourself questions like: who is involved, when did this happen, where is it happening, what is taking place? Look at the words themselves, and note repetition. There’s no perfect way to mark up your manuscript - just find ways to draw your attention to different parts and interact with the text.
Share your observations together for several minutes. As a leader, you can ask “What did you notice?” or you can get more specific about areas of observation.
Questions for deeper observation:
List every character in the passage
What words or phrases were the most repeated?
Compare two things or people
What words indicate the mood or tone of the passage?
As you imagine yourself in the story, what are you seeing or hearing?
What phrases make you feel joy or concern or wonder?
In the second part of the conversation, you turn towards interpretation. In this part, you gather questions about the passage and discuss them together. As the leader, ask the group what questions they have about the passage. You can arrange them on sticky notes or write them on a paper. Aim for 5-10 questions. As they share questions, re-state the question and gently make it as concise as possible - your group will learn to do this too! Arrange them in order of the passage (so begin with questions about the first section of the text, and end with whatever question seems to get at the core message of the passage).
From there, work through the list of questions, allowing for conversation to ebb and flow, redirecting the conversation as needed. Allow some silence, prompt with follow-up questions, ask for differing opinions, and try to guide the group through a meaningful time of interpretation. This will be the longest part of your study.
Finally, as the group leader, you can offer a summary of what you’ve discussed, and lead into the application section of the study. Before your group meets, try to prepare a one minute summary of the passage with some core themes you anticipate exploring. When you give this summary, weave in questions and discussion points that your group has brought forward in the last section.
Application asks the question “So what?” You can guide this by asking the group a question like: What does this prompt me to do? How do we live this out? How does this change how I think about God? How will this change how I live today? Try to vary the question that you ask.
Follow up with group members later in the week to ask how they’ve applied this, especially if they’ve named a specific action or step to take. You can also check in with people at the start of the next session to ask how they’ve been applying what you learned.
If your group ends with prayer, consider how to move seamlessly from study to prayer - perhaps you can align the themes and topics of prayer with the learning and application that people expressed, asking God to help each person in their application.
This resource was created with ideas and language from Intervaristy’s resource pages, a wonderful place to find guidance on leading group Bible studies.