A Birds-Eye View of the Bible | Page 2

The teacher can adapt it to every age, and to every degree of Biblical
knowledge. This series of text books will suggest plans of applying this basic method of
Bible study in becoming acquainted with the rich contents of the verses, the chapters, the
books of this most practical Word of God.

PREFACE TO THE BOOK
1. THE PURPOSE
This book is designed to be used in Bible Study Classes in churches, in communities, in
academies, in colleges. The author has endeavored to furnish a text book of outlines and
questions that shall unfold the general contents of the Word of God. Its primary aim is to
impart a swift and comprehensive acquaintanceship with the material of the books of the
Bible.
2. THE CHARACTER OF THE WORK
It is not an exhaustive study. From its aim it could not be such. Some of the sixty-six
books are passed over in brief space, and some (chiefly in the prophecies and epistles) are
omitted altogether. It is a surface study. The title so suggests. It does not enter into the
deeper things. It simply aims to lay bare the surface facts. It is expressly designed to
serve as a foundation for later detailed searching of the Word. It is flexible. The teacher
can add or subtract as time or local conditions demand, and is earnestly exhorted so to do.
One book may be omitted and another added at the teacher's discretion. A part of the
questions may be omitted, or additional ones inserted. The outlines may be enlarged or
diminished or changed to suit the needs of the class according to the teacher's personal
judgment.
3. REQUISITES FOR STUDY
Let each scholar be provided with a cheap tablet, a well-bound blank book of two
hundred pages, a small Bible Dictionary of recognized merit, and a copy of the American
Revised Version of the Bible. (Standard Edition of Nelson & Sons, 1901, bourgeois 8vo,
is good.) The teacher should provide for reference, to which the pupils should have
constant access, a copy of the Rand-McNally Bible Atlas, by J.L. Hurlbut, D.D., a copy
of Young's Complete Analytical Concordance, and a copy of a large and complete Bible
Dictionary.
4. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

To secure the best results the following plan, tested by experience, is suggested: Let the
assigned lesson be wrought out and recorded by the pupil in the cheap tablet. At the next
recitation let this recorded lesson be read and corrected. At the following recitation this
lesson first assigned and corrected is to be recited from memory. So at each recitation the
following will be the general order: (1) The assigning of the advance lesson. (2) The
reading and correction of the lesson assigned at the previous recitation. (3) The reciting
from memory of the lesson corrected at the previous recitation.
The work as soon as corrected is to be recorded by the scholar in the blank book
according to a simple set of rules. The following rules have been used with good results:
DIRECTIONS FOR BIBLE BOOKS
1. Record each lesson the evening after its correction. (Commit the work, as you record,
for recital.)
2. Begin each large division at the top of the page.
3. Capitalize and underline all headings.
4. Leave a vacant line between small divisions.
5. Where questions are used, record both questions and answers.
6. The books will be graded substantially as follows:
Correctness of record, 35. (Includes spelling and grammar.)
Fullness of record, 35.
Neatness and care, 10.
Mechanical accuracy, 10.
Originality, 10.
It would be well to place a printed copy of these rules in the hands of each student, to be
pasted in the front of the blank book. These blank books should be examined and graded
every four or six weeks and should constitute at least a third of the student's grade. The
recording of the work in the blank books may be omitted in the community or church
classes, at the option of the teacher. But the record of the work by pencil in a cheap tablet
should be insisted upon as absolutely necessary for the best results. In the academy and
college classes the painstaking record in ink has been found by experience to be a most
valuable portion of the study.
Let the teacher review constantly. Drill the students, singly and collectively, in the
recitation material. Emphasize the avoidance of mechanical study. Secure as much
consecutive reading of the Word as possible. Feed upon rich truths. Make practical and

personal applications of the Word. "All Scripture is profitable."

CHART OF THE SIXTY-SIX BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

INTRODUCTORY LESSON. CHART OF THE SIXTY-SIX BOOKS
+--------------+------------+-------------+-----------+---------------+--------------+ | | I | II | III |
IV | V | |NAMES OF |THE KINGDOM | THE KINGDOM |THE KINGDOM| THE