Study notes are now completed for 1&2 Thessalonians!  It was my joy to team-teach through this book with my good friend Tom Weitzenkamp. Here are our notes:  1&2Thess-Main-Notes-BLOG    

What is arcing?    

What are study tools that we have to mine the treasurers of God’s Word so that we may know Him through Jesus?  

Arcing is a way to trace an argument in Scripture.  The Bible argues, and arcing is a great tool to identify the logical flow of a passage.  It is a tool most helpful in understanding the Epistles and other conversation-like passages of the Bible.   

A simple sentence or a “proposition” always has a SUBJECT and a VERB.  A proposition makes a statement about something.  For example, saying “I ate” or “I walked” makes a statement about what I did. “I” is the subject and “ate” or “walked” is the verb or action.  Arcing shows HOW one proposition relates to another proposition or group of propositions.   

Through asking key questions of the text, through “arcing” the logical flow of each paragraph, through looking for repeated words, and through other simple study tools, we can get at the main point or “headline sentence” that the author is trying to convey to his readers.  

Completed Prined Copies:  

1&2 Thessalonians: 1&2Thess-Main-Notes-BLOG   

Galatians: Arcing-Galatians-Blog     

Working Drafts: 

Colossians: Colossians – Main  

James:  James-Main-Notes   

 1 Peter: 1 Peter – Main  Ephesians: Ephesians – Main    

Sample from James chapter 1:   

Arcing:				Passage:
			Idea	19Know this, my beloved brothers:
			Explanation	let every person be [under this persevering under trial vs 3]             a. quick to hear,             b. slow to speak,             c. slow to anger;
			Ground	20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.
			Inference	21Therefore             1. put away                        a. all filthiness                        b. and rampant wickedness             2. and receive with meekness the implanted word,                          which is able to save your souls.
				[paragraph break]
			–	22But be            a(+): doers of the word,            b(-): and not hearers only,                        deceiving yourselves.
		Ground		23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
			Ground	24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
			+	25But the one who            a. looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty,            b. and perseveres,                        being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts,he will be blessed in his doing [i.e. his persevering under trial in delight vs 3].
				[paragraph break]
			If	26If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart,
			Then	[then] this person’s religion is worthless. [while in trial we don’t slander in vengeance][1]
				27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:            a. to visit orphans and widows in their affliction,[2]            b. and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

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[1] Matt 15:18-19 teaches that the heart is revealed by what comes out of our mouths, especially during trials like this in James 1:3 that he is trying to help us / train us by God’s grace to walk in a godly fashion when we go through trial (2 Cor 12:10) trail = hardships and insults too;     

[2] Luke 12:12-14 – what good is it to give to those who can repay you?  Give to widows and orphans especially because they typify those who CANNOT repay.