I teach youth and this was a very concise way of compiling different study methods. This easy-to-understand guide offers 12 different Bible study methods to help you explore biblical truths, apply them to your life, and grow as a disciple. Personal Bible Study Methods will help you develop a customized, personal approach to exploring and studying the riches of God's Word. It was easy to understand and broken down comprehensively. Another great book by a great author with a gift of teaching.

I needed a guide to help me better study the Bible; I'm afraid this is not what I got, but I am dealing with it. In this Guide, there are more fill in the blanks than instructions, but as usual, unlike the Purpose Driven Church, I will try and make this work to my advantage.

Rick Warren has me a little 'symied' with his latest writings; the Church book and the study methods..Is the gentleman tired of "sharing" his awesome messages, (to us) that he has become a little distracted and lax on some subjects?

And trust me I'm a fan of his; but at this point a puzzeled one.

I needed a guide to help me better study the Bible; I'm afraid this is not what I got, but I am dealing with it. In this Guide, there are more fill in the blanks than instructions, but as usual, unlike the Purpose Driven Church, I will try and make this work to my advantage.

Rick Warren has me a little 'symied' with his latest writings; the Church book and the study methods..Is the gentleman tired of "sharing" his awesome messages, (to us) that he has become a little distracted and lax on some subjects?

And trust me I'm a fan of his; but at this point a puzzeled one.

I just started reading this and I'm sure it will take me a long time to finish. There is so much information and I want to glean as much as possible before moving on to the next chapter.

Rick Warren does a great job of reviewing basic methods one will need to study the bible. In my humble opinion this is a great resource for the money. Here is how it's set up.

He previews how materials you will need, and how different study resources are used. He also tells you which ones are considered some of the strongest.

He gives you a preview of the 12 bible study methods and then goes into each more in depth. The 12 bible study methods are: The Devotional Method, Chapter Summary Method, Character Quality Method, The Thematic Method, The Biographical Method, The topical Method, the Word Study Method, Book Background Method, Book Survey Method, Chapter Analysis Method, Book Synthesis Method, and the Verse By Verse Analysis Method.

He also has 7 appendices in the back. These appendices are to aid you in what you just learned. He also has a list of other bible study books in the back for further learning.

In Conclusion, I feel this is a good book to learn various methods for personal bible study. The book is inexpensive (I got it for less than ten dollars), detailed, it teaches you what you will need and why, and gives you the keys to applying these various methods. I give it four stars because it is not as detailed as it could have been. However, if your looking to dig deeper he shows you which books to go to. This is a 4 and a half star purchase in my humble opinion.

While others enjoy Kay Arthur's inductive method study books (I own Discover the Bible for Yourself & How to Study Your Bible), I have found this book to probably be one of the most practical in my library. As another person mentioned, this is an update of an older book. Possibly the one someone mentioned that they received through Billy Graham's organization or this may really be an update of "12 Dynamic Bible Study Methods" by Warren and Shell. It does continue from where RA Torrey "How to Study the Bible" has left off and adds other methods that would be helpful to any student of the Bible. This book gives the tools necessary to help you to dig in the Word and will reinvigorate your Bible Study. All the Bible to interpret the Bible, take it literally wherever at all possible and preach the Word.

I had been searching for a way to teach others how to study the Bible. This book is such an incredible tool. Basic and straight forward with ample opportunity to practice each method. I can't recommend it highly enough. We are using it in our church and have a group of 25 working through it this summer and fall.

This book is very easy to read and understand. I found this book so helpful in my spiritual life that I gave it as gifts to four other people. It is informative and allows the reader to work at their pace. The author ask that you not move from one method until you have totally mastered it.

I also like the fact that Rick Warren explained various Bible translations and provided a list of tool to use during Bible Study. His explanation of each Bible study tool is so helpful. It is great that he provided a list of good commentaires and so forth to use. His explanations enabled me to purchase several good tools for my library and to know how to use them.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in studying God's word. I gave the book to a new minister, and two Church School teachers. They all found the book to be very helpful.

This is a quote from the opening page of Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life":

"The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he took 40 days:
* Noah's life was transformed by 40 days of rain
* David was transformed by Goliath's 40 day challenge
* Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness"

If this is any indication of the "Bible Study Methods" used by Rick Warren, then this book is not worth the time. To make such a sweeping statement that "whenever" God prepared someone, he always took 40 days is just silly. But then the list that follows doesn't even support that exaggerated claim. Noah wasn't "prepared" by God *during* the 40 days of rain. Thankfully the preparation came much earlier, or he wouldn't have obeyed God's command to prepare for the flood in the first place! Second, David wasn't even there during the whole 40 day challenge of Goliath. If anyone was being prepared for God's purpose during those 40 days, it was Goliath being "prepared for destruction"! And third, Jesus was and is the omnipotent God of the universe. He was not "empowered" by his 40 days in the wilderness. His anointing by the Holy Spirit came at His baptism anyway.

Needless to say, I would think that there are much better resources out there for learning to study the Bible for yourself. Mr. Warren is riding a popularity wave right now, so no doubt this will sell well unfortunately. But The Purpose Driven Life is all the testimony you need to evaluate Rick Warren's "Bible Study Methods".