III SURVEY A PREPARING TO SURVEY We have studied the background of the fourth gospel in order to have a greater appreciation for how it came into being Now as we enter the stage of survey study, our goal is to learn what this gospel emphasizes regarding Jesus’ life and ministry Open your Bible to the gospel of John and rapidly turn the pages of its twenty-one chapters As you this prepare your mind to get a general overview of this book Have you ever tried thumbing through a magazine rst for a casual acquaintance and then returning to read the individual articles and features? Two things that you should observe in this preliminary glance are the lengths of the chapters and the topical headings at the top of the pages of your Bible.12 For your survey studies you should be using a Bible edition in which you will not hesitate to make pencil notations Always keep a pencil in your hand as you read the Bible text, and use it to record your observations B FIRST READING Your rst reading of the text of John should be a scanning Spend about an hour (averaging three minutes per chapter) viewing only some of the prominent features of each chapter.13 Do not try to be exhaustive in this stage of your study The main purpose of scanning is to make a rst acquaintance by identifying the book’s major contents Things to look for in scanning are main characters (e.g., Lazarus, chap 11), main events, and key words and phrases You may choose to read only the rst verse or two of each paragraph in a chapter, rather than all the verses of the chapter (For survey study, keep training your eyes to see things without tarrying over the details.) What are some of your rst impressions of John’s gospel after your first reading? C WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL SEGMENTS Note on Chart 45 that the rst verse of each chapter of John begins a new segment, and three additional segments are made: at 1:19; 10:40; and 12:36b Mark those additional segment indicators in your Bible Read John’s gospel segment by segment, recording segment titles on Chart 45 as you read What are your further impressions of this gospel? Have key words and phrases begun to stand out? ...preliminary glance are the lengths of the chapters and the topical headings at the top of the pages of your Bible.12 For your survey studies you should be using a Bible edition... read only the rst verse or two of each paragraph in a chapter, rather than all the verses of the chapter (For survey study, keep training your eyes to see things without tarrying over the details.)... only some of the prominent features of each chapter.13 Do not try to be exhaustive in this stage of your study The main purpose of scanning is to make a rst acquaintance by identifying the book’s