· Learning how to read the Bible without the use of other publications, or even other books of the Bible.
* No assumptions are made.
* No preconceived notions are allowed.
Just take the Bible for what it says, as it says it.

· The premise for this type of study is obvious. Those who received one of the New Testament Epistles (Letters) from Paul or other writers, may not have had the rest of the New Testament to reference with the Epistle. The persons receiving the Epistle, must have just taken it for what it said, without further explanation. When further Epistles arrived they were obviously read and used, but were compared to what they had already received as truth. Thus making the original Epistle stand on its own.

· Try this type of Bible Study. Read it word carefully and let each verse or passage define the words and begin comprehension as if you have no other reference publication or book of the Bible.

· At first some will object, saying that this might birth heresy or false doctrine. But the opposite is true. It clears up thinking and promotes personal thought and reflection. The reading and rereading of each verse or passage gives the Lord opportunity to speak to us and we hear with comprehension. -->

The Bible was written to all
Anyone can grasp its meaning.
* Education is not necessary.
* A library of references is not necessary.
* Understanding the original languages is not necessary.
* Comprehension of the culture at the time of writing is not necessary.
The Bible was written to people who do not know, so there is no requirement for prior knowledge, language, culture or understanding. Some mistakenly think that you must know the 1st grade in elementary school in order to start the 1st grade. Of course this is ridiculous. You go to the 1st grade to learn what the 1st grade is about. Knowing how to read is not even a prerequisite.
The same is with the Bible, faith does not come by knowing how to read, "faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God".
The Bible can accomplish its purpose, faith, by simply being read aloud or preached or sung.
* without referencing all over the Bible
* without earning a Bible degree
* without the use of commentaries
* without interpretations

The Bible assumes everyone is in the 1st grade and never graduates to the 2nd. It should be read that way.

Acquire a King James Bible
* It is the easiest to understand, 6th grade level.
* It is not copyrighted, so can be copied.
* It was not translated to make money, this is why it is the only version not copyrighted.
* It has the most beautiful prose, poetry and timing.
* It was translated for accuracy, not to appease the reader's taste or supposed needs.
* Its use of out of date words is for a purpose. For instance the Thee's and Thou's and Ye's (all are translated You by modern Bible versions), are for disclosing whether the modern English You is singular or plural. You may not be interested in this fact the first time or two you read your Bible, but sooner or later all the words are important. 

Read through the whole Bible
* do not try to study
* do not try to look up words
* do not slow down
* do not try to memorize (mark some interesting verses to come back later and memorize, etc.)
Read through from beginning to end and simply learn the characters and how they fit in relation to each other. Try to piece together the stories, especially the main stories. Just know somewhat how some of it fits together. Even a vague understanding is fine.

Pick a book in the New Testament
Most will pick one of the Gospels, because they relate a lot of interesting stories and miracles.

Acquire an inexpensive Bible for notes
One that has reasonably large print, if possible. This will be the place for all notes. If you have a computer and Bible program or can operate a Bible program from the internet, the entire book can be copied and pasted on blank sheets and double spaced for notes and drawings. Put these printed sheets in a binder. Do not print front and back.

Acquire some color pencils
The dry type is best. They can be erased. A large array is not necessary. Eight to twelve colors will be fine.

Acquire a Fine Point ball point pen with blue ink
Get one that does not ball up the ink. This will be used to write notes and draw lines in your Bible or the printed out version.

A six inch plastic ruler will be handy
Many are give-aways, but stores also sell them.

Lists
Number natural lists in the Bible.
The Bible will list things like ...
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."  II Timothy 3:7
Notice the word "and" which usually indicates a list of 2. In this case 1. Learning; 2. Not learning truth.
Draw a circle by all the parts of a list, then write a number in the circle. This will automatically draw your attention to the possibility of using this for preaching notes.
Just as a side note, notice that learning may or may not have anything to do with truth. Learning for learning's sake is not valuable.

Write down this list of questions
* Who is talking?
* Who is being talked to?
* Who is being talked about?
* Is there a repeating word in the chapter or book?
* Are there synonyms of the repeating word?
* Is someone or something causing something to happen?
* What is the cause?
* What is the effect or result of the cause?
* Begin to add to this list with questions of your own.

Read the book of your choice
This is where intelligence plays a part and maybe the only part. Some can read a passage or book of the Bible once or twice and have it memorized. Others may have to read it five times. I usually must read the book about ten to twelve times before I begin to get a feel for what it is saying as a whole. This is the threshold for me to obtain comprehension and retention.

While reading, watch for words that repeat
Circle these words with the Fine Point pen and fill in the circle with the same color pencil.

Watch for similar words, circle and color them the same color, too. Much of the time, these words will indicate the theme of the passage or book. Pay no attention to the outline that the Bible publisher offered. They are often wrong or overstate the obvious.

Verses or passages will begin to standout as being priority or obscure
Try to fit the obscure verses with an explanation to go with the theme. They often explain the rest of the verses. Do not assume the first theme that occurs is correct. Really try to understand what the complete passage is saying. How does it fit in with the other passages?

Once when teaching the passage in the Gospel of John on Foot Washing, the class offered as many explanations as there were students. Everyone missed the point which was for the disciples to forgive each other, like Jesus had just forgiven them. Not for their salvation, which would take a complete washing, but for continued fellowship, just washing their feet which had become dirty since salvation. The same with the saints.

Obscure
The Gospel of Matthew offers in Chapter 7 the exhortation to not cast your pearls before swine. This is almost impossible to understand, unless the reader understands judgment in the previous verses and even then verse 1 usually throws readers off for comprehension of the verses about the mote and beam. All taken together makes the whole simple, clear and reveals and a principle to live-by.

Harmony
Remember when reading and looking for the meaning that every thought must fit with the rest of the verses. There can be no contradictions or clashes with the other verses, or anywhere else in the Bible

Be careful not to assume
In the same passage above, Jesus speaks to all twelve as if they were all saved, but He carefully mentions that not all are saved. Judas was the  betrayer.

You will learn some tricks as you go and will begin to grow in Bible knowledge
As you grow, also learn to employ Bible principles in your life. Install them one at a time. For instance in the above passage, determine to forgive fellow saints and fellowship with them for more growth, not just fried chicken. Exhort each other for bigger and better things.

The Purpose
The whole point of this type of study is to determine, is the Bible saying what you think it is saying, or is it saying something else?