An Inductive Study of Genesis

“And I come to the grammatical principle. That’s when I begin to look at the structure itself. Now, I understand the scene, I understand the plot, I understand what it says. Now, I’m really going to dig deep. I look at the prepositions, the pronouns, the verbs, the nouns, I begin to analyze the passage, I begin to analyze the structure of the passage, put it all together, words, phrases, antecedents. And this is…this is the exercise that we call inductive Bible study. You know the background, you know the words. Now what do they say? What are they really saying? And that’s when you study the sentence structure.

How to Study Your Bible: Closing the Gaps
John MacArthur

Deductive logic is different. You start with the general and then you work toward the particulars. You apply the general to the particulars.

Inductive–you start with particulars and you work toward the general.

So, the idea is you’re looking at the text of scripture; all of the words, and the sentences, the sentence structure, and the repetition. You’re looking at all these things and you’re inferring, what is the main point that God is trying to get across in this passage? So, you’re trying to draw that from the text.

Senior Pastor Ty Blackburn