Inductive Bible Study provides a step-by-step approach to Bible study based on a three-part interpretive framework--observation, interpretation, and application.

This textbook provides students and general readers with clear, accessible guidance for interpreting the Bible. With nearly 120,000 copies sold, it has become a trusted resource for serious students of the Bible. The authors' successful approach shows how proper theory leads to sound practice. This book gives readers not only an understanding of the principles of proper biblical interpretation but also the ability to apply those principles in sermon preparation, personal Bible study, or writing. The authors outline a seven-step hermeneutical process that includes (1) historical-cultural analysis, (2) written contextual analysis, (3) lexical-syntactical analysis, (4) literary analysis, (5) theological analysis, (6) comparison with other interpreters, and (7) application. The third edition has been updated throughout to account for new developments in the field and to incorporate feedback from professors and students. Exercises have also been updated and streamlined. Resources for instructors are available through Textbook eSources.

Baptists in the nineteenth century grew from a small, struggling denomination to the second-largest Protestant denomination in America. They constructed conventions, schools, churches, and benevolent works. American Baptists transformed from cultural outsiders to insiders. Despite this growth in size, organization, and influence, there is surprisingly few attempts to understand them historically. This is even more true for Northern Baptists as opposed to their Southern counterparts, despite the fact that Northern Baptists, in many respects, were the theological leaders of the denomination. This raises questions about what their theology was, what it was rooted in, and how well it could handle the surplus of challenges that nineteenth-century religion threw at it. Chief among these were the challenges toward biblical and theological authority. Perhaps the brightest star of the Northern Baptist constellation, and doubtless the most well-connected, was Alvah Hovey from Newton Theological Institute in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. This book, the first book-length treatment of this Baptist giant since Hovey’s son published a biography in 1929, chronicles Hovey’s life and career focusing on how he coped with the challenges of biblical criticism and a rapidly changing theological context. Hovey produced a theology he understood as thoughtful Christianity.