hidden With patience you will not give in to such enemies as discouragement and weariness A fresh approach is important in Bible study In survey, read the book as though you have never read it before, in order to awaken your heart and mind from the dangerous sleep of letting the fantastic, earth-shaking story of the evangel become commonplace, trite, and ordinary Some of the things that you will be doing in the three stages of survey study are described below.2 Stage One: Getting acquainted with the book a Scanning Scan the book in one sitting if possible This is the cursory reading, intended to break the ice, launch you on your project, and give you a taste of good things to come It is not necessary to read every word or line at this time, especially of long books If your Bible has paragraph divisions, reading the first sentence of each paragraph will suffice If your Bible has chapter or paragraph headings, note those as you scan the book b First Impressions Write down your first impressions of the book First impressions are not always enduring, nevertheless, they are necessary You should always seek to be impressed, although you not need to ask yourself in machine-like regularity, “How does this impress me?” The question is pertinent at the close of your reading; during the course of reading, maintain a spirit of openness and pliability so that you can be impressed c Atmosphere Try to identify the atmosphere of the book as a whole This is not always detectable at an early stage Atmosphere words are tone words, such as love, conflict d Keys List any key words and phrases that stand out as of this first reading You may not find many of these in this first reading But you will notice some Stage Two: Working with the individual segments a Using the set of segment divisions supplied by this manual,3 scan each of the segments and determine the main subject of each (A segment is a group of paragraphs that represents a unit of thought A segment may be longer or shorter than a chapter.4) NOMENCLATURE OF BOOK UNITS b Assign a segment title to each unit and record these on paper (A segment title is a strong or picturesque word or short phrase, preferably taken from the text, intended to serve as a clue to at least one main part of the segment For example, a segment title for Hebrews 1:1—2:4 could be Angels.) The value of this step of survey is not only in the segment title itself, but also in the mental process of beginning to identify parts and movements of the book c Now that you have begun to look at ... 1:1—2:4 could be Angels.) The value of this step of survey is not only in the segment title itself, but also in the mental process of beginning to identify parts and movements of the book c Now that... many of these in this first reading But you will notice some Stage Two: Working with the individual segments a Using the set of segment divisions supplied by this manual,3 scan each of the segments... The question is pertinent at the close of your reading; during the course of reading, maintain a spirit of openness and pliability so that you can be impressed c Atmosphere Try to identify the