Reading Scripture Like a Detective

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Good Bible study begins with good reading. And this happens as we train ourselves to make careful observations, ask important questions and recognize key points in the text. Millions of people have discovered great value in reading the Bible with a pencil or highlighter in hand. This course series brings the pencil and highlighter to the digital age and lays out core principles for a thoughtful study of the Word.

None. As a course among the “first steps” of Biblearc’s Path Courses, the Paraphrase Course will not require a prior knowledge of arcing/bracketing, although there may well be students whose experience in arcing has stirred an interest in paraphrasing. Neither will it require an in-depth knowledge of grammar terminology or rules.

This course is composed of ten lessons, with each lesson ending in an assignment. A single lesson will take the average student three hours to complete. Students are invited to progress at their own pace. Your coach will inquire as to your intended pace shortly after you begin and help keep you accountable to stay on schedule.

Path courses all end with an assessment to determine your grasp of the skills learned and material covered. Successfully passing an assessment requires a high degree of understanding and is meant to serve as a motivation to take your study seriously as well as a catalyst to improve the standard of Bible study in the Biblearc community.

Students who pass the assessment will have their Biblearc account marked with a proficiency badge indicating their accomplishment. They will also earn exciting rewards. 

If you do not pass an assessment, you may retry after one week’s time.

If you are accessing this course via a church or ministry website and not directly at Biblearc.com, then this course is restricted to members or regular attenders of the local church or organization associated with this site. If you are interested in taking this course outside of this capacity, you may enroll through Biblearc.

Biblearc owns all permissions of this course. However, understand that you may be viewing a modified version, personalized for your church or organization. You can find the original course here. 

This course is currently available in English only.

Interested in helping us develop this courses in other languages? Let us know.

The Biblearc Paraphrase course will help students improve their personal study of Scripture by developing skills in careful reading, discerning the main point, creating an outline, and writing a summary and paraphrase. The course will acquaint students with a variety of tools and methods involved in each discipline and will provide guided practice aimed at honing these skills. As paraphrasing is itself a tool for (and a test of) understanding, the ultimate aim is that students grow in the sound handling of Scripture. This means study rooted in prayerful meditation, leading to an accurate understanding, which then stirs a heartfelt treasuring, which prompts an eager obedience to the Word of God.

[[ This course is currently under maintenance and thus closed for enrollment. If you are already enrolled, you may continue in the course unhindered. ]]

Reading Toward a Better Understanding

Paraphrase (Old Version)

Assessment

Lesson 1 | A view to the whole: reading and outlining

Lesson 2 | Learning to slow down: making observations, comparing versions

Lesson 3 | Pressing in deeper: author's tone, probing questions and restating

Lesson 4 | Links in a chain: connecting the parts

Lesson 5 | Don't miss it: identifying the main and supporting ideas

Lesson 6 | Expansion and contraction: the art of summarizing

Lesson 7 | Avoiding the pitfalls

Lesson 8 | What about...? Dealing with special cases

Lesson 9 | Takeaways: discerning the key teaching points

Lesson 10 | Putting it all together

Greek Reading Self-Assessment

Coming soon...

Hebrew Reading Self-Assessment

How to share your work with a Biblearc group

Arcing Path Course in [Language]

Arcing: curso em português

Biblearc Path Course Translation

Cours de cheminement en français sur le Arcing

Cours de cheminement en français sur le Bracketing

“Arcing in Minneapolis”—Our First-Ever Workshop!

ESV Cross-Reference System

Sandbox Demo

New Testament Bracketing

Matthew 8:23–27

Landing Page

Biblearc Partners

The Apostles’ Creed

The Nicene Creed

Greek Paradigm Songs

Markup: The 7 Lenses of Bible Study

Frequently Asked Questions

Learning Resources Video Library

Contact us

Welcome!

Facebook Live

Self-Paced Tracks

Rewards

Devotional: Psalm 119:17-19

Devotional: Isaiah 30:18

Devotional: Luke 15

Devotional: Melchizedek

Devotional: 1 Peter 1:22-25

Devotional: 2 Timothy 2:15

Devotional: Psalm 119:9-16

Seek as for hidden treasure

Own the value of meditating on God's Word

A grave danger: misunderstanding the main point

Assignment: Sharing Your Work

Instructor’s work

Next steps along the Path

Using the Outline module

Divide and conquer: But where to divide?

Assignment: Create an outline

Encouragement & review

Assignment: Ask questions

Devotional: Psalm 119:32

Paraphrasing: test the main point

English versions, how they differ

Using the Discourse module

Using the Notes module

How to make breaks and more

Overview of course

Sketch a roadmap of the whole

Assignment: Peter quotes Psalm 34

Assignment: Discern takeaways

Make careful observations

Compare versions

The value of slowing down

The value of paraphrasing: Why restate it in your own words?

Enjoy the fruit of discovery

How we communicate: units of thought

The ubiquitous and versatile "and"

Paraphrasing: unpacking the connections

A taste of Phrasing and Bracketing

Why summarize?

The difference between paraphrasing and summarizing

Lesson intro: refining your skills in paraphrasing

Evaluating your paraphrase

Look for the means

Strategies for a comprehensive study (Course Review)

Don't leave it on the shelf

Assignment: Main point summary

Assignment: Discern the main point

Assignment: Words that connect ideas

Short answer questions

Complete a short study

Assignment: Record observations

The ultimate aim: heartfelt treasuring that prompts eager obedience

Identify the main and supporting points

Five strategies for better reading

Quiz

One way to say five things: discerning the author's tone

Ten ways to say the same thing

Implied connections

Links connect forward and back

All things are not equal

Strategies for identifying the main point

What's the big idea? Strategies for shaping the main point summary

This is not a (good) summary! What not to do

More examples to help you

Eisegesis

How you say something matters as much as what you say

Unpacking figures of speech

Encountering the Old Testament in the New

Contemporary cross-cultural issues

A critical juncture: life transformation

Look for the commands

Look for the motivations

Look for the anchors

Life together

Recognizing various biblical genres

Ask questions of the text

Assignment: Refine your skills

Links in a chain: words that connect ideas

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Markup for Dartmouth

Markup for Hickory

Searching

Bible Logic

Block Diagramming

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Path courses (inaccurate completion percentage since only completed enrollments from the old site were copied over)