I. What is a topical study?
A. Instead of studying a book or a portion of a book, in a topical study you are seeking to determine what is taught by Scripture on a particular subject. For example, you may wish to study what the Bible has to say about the subject “laziness.”
B. For a doctrinal study, you simply choose a doctrinal topic, such as the doctrine of justification.
C. Because of time available, you may choose to limit your subject by limiting the portion of Scripture from which you obtain your material. For example: “The doctrine of Christ in Colossians,” or “The use of the term children in the writings of John.”
D. The key to a good topical study is the selection of a good topic.
II. How to locate material for a topical study
A. Use a concordance. Look up the use of words that relate to your topic.
B. Cross-references. Once you have found some passages that relate to your topic, you can often find cross-references from these to other passages.
C. Bible dictionary. This may give you both good information and further scriptural references concerning your topic.
D. Subject listings. Sometimes reference Bibles list Scripture references according to subject. There are also topical Bibles, such as Nave’s Topical Bible, which write out the entire text or various passages that relate to certain topics.
E. Limited study. If you have limited your subject to a certain portion of Scripture, such as “Paul’s prayers in his epistles,” you might have to read or scan the material to locate the sections you want.
III. How to arrange what you locate
A. Once you have located your material, study it and make any notes concerning things you want to remember.
B. Study your notes and categorize them. Group together similar ideas under similar topics. The different emphasis of the various verses will suggest various topics for the outline. As you begin to categorize verses, this may suggest to your mind further study in certain areas of the topic.
C. Next, work your material into a logical outline. Begin with a rough tentative outline and polish it as you progress. Try to fit all of your material into the outline.