Outline Theme and Main Ideas

Turn paragraph titles and observations into a passage outline.

Course lesson

How to complete this study section

This lesson teaches the student to organise the unit according to the author's thought. An outline is not a sermon imported into the text. It is a disciplined summary of the main ideas in their passage order.

Do this

Re-read the unit and your paragraph titles.
Write one theme sentence for the whole unit: what is the unit mainly saying or doing?
Divide the unit into main ideas or thought sections, each with a verse range.
Use wording close to the passage and keep the sequence the author gives.
Check whether every main idea belongs under the theme sentence.

Examples

Galatians 3:6-14 might be outlined as: Abraham believed; those of faith are blessed; law-reliance brings curse; Christ redeems from the curse.
In narrative, outline the movement of the scene: need/problem, action, response, revelation, result.

Quality check

A good outline is short enough to see the flow and specific enough to distinguish this unit from another passage.

Where this fits in the study flow

This lesson belongs to workspace stage 11. Complete the earlier observation and context work before this step, then carry the results forward into the later interpretation, application, source-checking, and teaching stages.