Lesson 10 | Long Passages
Discovering the Message of a Book
Here's a crazy thought. You do not have to merely look through the book summaries you find in study Bibles and commentaries, and pick out your favorite. You can actually work through the central message of a book yourself! Is there value in what theologians have concluded? Absolutely! But in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit too.
One excellent way to do this is by creating a “macro arc”—that is, a summary arc that seeks to connect large sections, or even entire books together. Here are a few keys to working through a macro arc.
You are not going to want to break the passage down into single propositions, as this will overwhelm you with an arc that is too long to be helpful. This leaves two options. The first is to arc together the main point summaries for each section. This is what will be demonstrated in the next step. The other option—if the section is not exceedingly long—is to use the actual text of the Bible, but to only divide it up on major breaks. This is what you will be doing in your final assignment as you are asked to make an arc covering all of James 1.
While arcing an entire book can certainly be intimidating, the principle has not changed. Just as you have learned to connect larger pieces of your arcs by writing main point summaries, so too you will do with a macro arc.
The toughest part of a macro arc is deciding which pieces ought to be connected first. Even if you feel like you are just guessing, you will need to start by making a choice with the understanding that that choice should be revisited later on.
For a far more extensive handling of this issue, look for the future Path Course entitled Macro—Getting at the message of an entire book.
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything
2 Timothy 2:7