Allowing the Final Form Full-Voice: Inductive Bible Study Method

The Inductive Bible Study method is a hermeneutical approach and process for studying the Bible. Focusing on the final form of the text and trying to minimize or eliminate presuppositions, it takes into consideration all relevant sources of evidence, observing and examining the text, asking questions from the observations, and answering them, primarily from the text itself, but with the flexibility to incorporate other types of evidence from outside the text if the text itself demands it for clearer understanding. The inductive method (IBS), as described and demonstrated in this article, emphasizes both the form and content of the text, focusing on the various contexts of the text. Matthew 16:13–28 is used to illustrate certain aspects of the method, and the telic benediction in Hebrews 13:20–21 serves as the main example of a text to which the IBS method is applied to yield text-centered results over against an emphasis on foreground or background matters. The results are often profound and always come straight from the context of the text being studied.