Topical presentations, usually in question (sometimes in outline) form with the answers read from the Bible—a method of Bible evangelism practiced extensively in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. From the 1880s the method was used systematically by ministers and Bible instructors, and also by lay members, in house-to-house visitation.
A Bible study may be completely informal, given in response to an inquiry on a specific subject; or it may be, and more often is, one of a progressive series of studies planned for the purpose of systematic instruction in Bible doctrines and Christian living or of preparation for baptism. Since Bible studies are usually given to an individual or a small group, they can be constructed with reference to the problems and questions of the individual and varied in order and difficulty according to the circumstances and the skill of the instructor. On the other hand, there are various series of published Bible studies, either in printed form or recorded on sound tape, complete with the Bible answers, which may be used along with filmstrips and portable projectors, and, more recently, on videotapes. These aids, which enable even inexperienced laypersons to present standardized courses of Bible study, include filmstrips and tapes keyed to the Twentieth Century Bible Correspondence Lessons, Friendship Bible Study Cards, Better Life Picture Roll, a Bible chain-marking plan, and the “My Bible Says” series of printed studies.
In 1883 the plan of conducting Bible studies was introduced to SDA s as a major method of evangelism, by S. N. Haskell, the “father of the Tract and Missionary Societies,” who at that time was the president of the California Conference. As he later told the story, he gave his first “Bible reading” during a southern California camp meeting held near Lemoore in May 1883. When a downpour of rain prevented his holding one of the regular meetings, he gathered a group around him in the center of the tent and began to announce texts of Scripture to be read by various persons in response to questions related to the subject under discussion. This method of communicating Bible teachings and Christian faith was received with enthusiasm and was endorsed by church members and leaders.
Two months later, also in southern California, two ministers, E. A. Briggs and M. C. Israel, joined with several colporteurs each morning for a Bible class, training themselves to use this new method. Haskell quotes one of these men as follows: “We have been having a drill on different subjects, and each person has a short form of Bible reading questions in his Bible, so when the Sabbath question or any other subject comes up, each one makes it a point to have the person or family visited get a Bible, and have the subject cleared up right from the Scriptures. In this way a controversy never arises; but the people are in almost every case convinced that the Bible teaches that doctrine. . . . I do not see why very many of our brethren and sisters may not be educated in this way to make efficient workers. By practice they could soon get so they would not have to look at the questions. They could get companies of neighbors together, and have prayer with them, and Bible-readings” ( Review and Herald 60:486, July 31, 1883).
Haskell recommended that every family study the Bible in this way, and thus teach their children and others. When Haskell attended the Michigan Conference in September, and reported the success of Bible readings in California, Nebraska, and elsewhere, the conference voted approval of the plan for use by colporteurs, and a 10-day Bible Reading Institute was announced for Battle Creek, to begin Oct. 30, preceding the General Conference session. Haskell reported: “The subject of Bible readings has been one of interest on the Pacific Coast, and has been considered of that importance that there is a special department in that College [Healdsburg College] devoted to it. Those who have adopted this method in their colporteur work speak of it in the highest terms, as it avoids all discussion, and simply calls the attention of the people to the Word of God” ( ibid. 60:649, Oct. 16, 1883).
To this institute Haskell invited ministers and licentiates, licensed colporteurs, and church officers, at least one from each church. He conducted such Bible studies at the institute and during the General Conference session.
The conference voted to recommend the Bible study method and proposed the publication, by a “Bible reading Bureau,” of a monthly sheet containing one or more lessons for each week, to be sent out to those who would pay $1 a year and furnish one or more original readings each month; others were to pay $5 for the publication. This Bible-Reading Gazette was issued monthly through the year 1884. Afterward it was bound and sold as a book, and later was replaced by the much larger book still published, after many editions, as Bible Readings for the Home .
This same 1883 General Conference session recommended the establishment of “Missions” in the principal cities ( see City Missions ) as centers of evangelism. In the 1880s a number of these were opened, containing combination reading room, lecture hall, Tract and Missionary Society depot, and colporteur headquarters. In these missions the new method of giving Bible studies was used with excellent results, and the missions became training centers for workers, especially young women, in this method. Referred to as “Bible workers,” they became what are now known as Bible instructors, full-time assistants to evangelists or pastors, carrying on personal evangelism mainly through Bible studies with individuals. Bible instructor training came to be offered in SDA colleges, and the giving of Bible studies by lay members has been encouraged, and training courses for laypersons have been offered in the churches.