ABOUT THIS BIBLE STUDY 

Faith From Facts is a personal, noncommercial Bible-study web site by John Bakas who lives in Riverview, Florida, U.S.A. (Riverview is about 12 miles south of Tampa).

First on the site is my testimony to the saving grace of God.  

The site map gives a quick glance at the information available on this web site, and links to other web sites. 

Four Questions is my favorite page because my own discomfort with what I thought I knew (as I look back) involved rethinking ideas that I had accepted as truth, but upon honest examination were seen to be only assumptions. To be able to pursue truth without assumptions is a good skill to develop.   

The Way provides links to other parts of the web site and material.

Is there some purpose or main point to the whole Faith From Facts web site?  

Sure, and it is easy to understand:  Every Christian should keep a written journal, outline, or record of his or her Bible studies, readings, meditations, and prayers; and that written record should be organized under the ten major doctrines of the Bible: 

1. God; 

2. Jesus Christ; 

3. the Holy Spirit; 

4. Angels; 

5. Satan; 

6. Mankind; 

7. Salvation (and the new life it brings); 

8. the Church; 

9. the Bible; and 

10. Last Things.

This site provides three levels of such an outline. Here is what you get with the one you can download.  

The main point is that you should keep your own organized record. 

The benefits of such a plan are obvious, but just in case they are not, here they are:

1. You will be better able to understand all scripture in its context of the whole Bible.

2. Things you study will always be placed in the context of closely related subjects allowing you to see larger truths.

3. You will be encouraged to think through more difficult passages to understand the consistency and detail of God’s word.

4. A study in Isaiah (for example) six months ago will speak to you again when you study a related topic from the New Testament today because today’s notes will be placed in the same place in the Bible study outline.

5. You will better understand that understanding the Bible requires time and effort. You don't get a house by looking at an empty lot.

6. You will be more likely not to get off balance by neglecting some Bible truths.

7. You will really make me happy. After I get just 1 more person to follow this method, I win a free vacation.

8. Your interest in the God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the other topics will expand as you see the Bible as the unfolding of God’s revelation to mankind. The more you know, the more interesting it becomes. Everyone likes stories. True-life stories are the best. And true-life story about the whole human race, its past, present, and future has to be the best story in the universe.

9. After a little while using an outline method, (here’s an example of what your own notes might look like after you added them to the outline), you will find that it is the easiest way to read and study the Bible because none of your effort is wasted. All of your work and thoughts are preserved to be added onto in the future. The records you write are like building blocks, one on top of the other. It’s hard to build a building if the bricklayers throw the bricks this way and then another and then pray earnestly the scattered bricks might somehow form a building. But stacking them one on top of another is the fastest and easiest way to get results. So this is actually the method for people who want to get the greatest gains for the amount of effort put forth.

10. It will be easier for you to remember Bible truths because you have an easy-to-remember structure — the ten Bible topics.

11. Your study of the Bible allows you to better understand how your life fits into God’s plan, and how to apply truth to your life.

The Bible Study Outline is a major section of the web site. The outline comes in three levels of detail. There is a handy compact version you can just cut and paste into your word processor.  You can download the most detailed Bible-study outline. It is a list of headings under which you might organize your Bible-study notes.  Here is what you get when you download the Bible Study Outline.

Bible Study Books is a major section of the web site.  In it you will find six basic types of books a Bible-study library might contain.  Bible Software is nearly a miracle because of the vast resources available to the average lay person. It is relatively inexpensively and so fast it would curl a monk's quill.

The Book Icon library, a subpage in Bible-Study Books, is a set of links to free online resource material.

Is this the only web site for the topics covered by this web site?  No, a Google search for "Bible study" revealed about 800,000 pages. The Featured Bible-study site highlights a particular site, giving more information about the site's content.  All of the sites I include on the separate Bible-study web sites page could be featured sites.   

There are also short articles such as the one about why Christians should never ever state in a conversation with on nonbeliever, "Well, I know that you think it is best to live by hard facts, but I live by faith."  Key articles are listed on the left navigation bar on this page.   

To give a little more dignity to my Bible trivia page, I call it the Bible-Study Quiz so it seems like we are spending our time in meaningful Biblical inquiry.  

Statement of Faith.

I always try to find the link on web sites giving a Statement of Faith because I don't like to spend time at a site only to find out it was developed by real nuts.  So for those who were looking for a Statement of Faith to determine my theology on the Theologica-Nut Scale, I have provided one.