Blueprint

The Blueprint: How I Approach My Studies

This page explains the approach behind the studies I share on Inside the Mind. It is the foundation I return to as I read, ask questions, compare passages, and consider how they connect.

My desire is to seek understanding from God, allowing Him to guide me through what I read. I do not want a human teacher, religious institution, established interpretation, or artificial intelligence to determine in advance what I am allowed to find.

That does not mean I believe I cannot be mistaken. Seeking God’s guidance and understanding everything correctly are not the same thing. These studies remain my personal understanding, and I am willing to revisit them as I continue to learn.

Beginning with the explicit text

My starting point is what the text actually says.

Before deciding what a passage means, I want to look carefully at its wording and context: who is speaking, who is being addressed, what is described, and whether a sequence is stated. I pay attention to repeated words, distinctions, and connections without assuming that familiar explanations are necessarily written into the passage.

Where wording matters, I may compare translations and examine Hebrew or Greek terms in context. My aim is to understand the passage more carefully, rather than select a word or translation simply because it supports an idea I already have.

I want to be clear about the difference between what is explicitly written and what I understand from it. An interpretation may seem convincing to me, but that does not make it a direct statement of the text.

Seeking God’s guidance

Prayer and a willingness to listen are central to how I study. I want to allow God to guide my understanding, even when the direction challenges something I have previously believed.

I do not want to begin with a doctrine and arrange passages around it. I want to read, observe, and allow my understanding to develop from what I find.

When I describe something as what I believe God has helped me see, I am expressing my faith and personal experience. I am not asking readers to treat my interpretation as unquestionable or to set aside their own careful examination.

Following the study

The basic movement of my studies is:

Explicit Text → Observation → Comparison → Landscape

Explicit Text: What does the passage actually say? What does it leave unstated?

Observation: What can I notice directly in its wording, context, distinctions, and sequence?

Comparison: Where do other passages address the same subject or use related language? How do they help clarify what I am reading, and where do their differences matter?

Landscape: What broader understanding begins to emerge when these passages are considered together?

The landscape is the picture I am developing from the study. I want readers to be able to follow how I reached it, including where I have moved from direct observation into interpretation.

A repeated word or similar image may give me a reason to investigate a connection. It does not, by itself, establish that two passages describe the same thing. Where a connection remains uncertain, I want to leave room for that uncertainty.

How I use outside sources

I may look at commentaries, historical material, other people’s interpretations, or other sources for comparison. They can raise a useful question, offer context, or show me a perspective I had not considered.

Their role is comparison, not authority over my understanding. I do not accept an explanation simply because it is widely taught, traditionally accepted, or presented by someone with a recognized title. I want to examine the reasons given and return to the passages themselves.

The same applies when a source agrees with me. Agreement alone does not establish that either of us is correct.

Looking beyond the biblical canon

My study is not limited to the biblical canon. If I believe God is guiding me to examine a writing such as the Book of Enoch, the Gospel of Philip, or another text, I am willing to read it and consider what is there.

Reading a writing does not mean I automatically accept every statement it contains. It also does not mean I have settled its authority simply by choosing to explore it. I want to examine its actual words, identify the source, and explain the comparisons I am making.

When I draw on such a writing, I will make that clear so readers can distinguish it from the biblical passage being discussed. A comparison should remain visible as a comparison; it should not be presented as though one text explicitly says what appears only in another.

My intention is to remain open to where I believe God is leading while continuing to read carefully and take responsibility for my conclusions.

The place of ChatGPT

I use ChatGPT to help organize my studies, compare wording, and express my thoughts more clearly. It is a tool in my process, not my spiritual authority.

An AI-generated explanation is something to examine, not something to accept automatically. I want references and quotations checked against their sources, and I do not want a suggested interpretation to become part of my study simply because it sounds polished.

The thoughts and interpretations I choose to share remain my own, as does the responsibility for what I publish.

Conclusions and open questions

Some studies will contain conclusions I currently consider well supported. Others will preserve questions, possible connections, or ideas that need more examination.

I want to distinguish those things. An open question does not need to be forced into an answer, and a conclusion I have reached can still be revisited.

If further study changes my understanding, I want this atlas to reflect that growth.

An invitation to the reader

You do not have to agree with my interpretations. Sometimes, considering a different perspective can help us notice something we had not seen before.

I invite you to read the passages for yourself, consider their context, and prayerfully examine what I share. My purpose is to make my study process visible—not to ask you to place my understanding above your own responsibility to seek and discern.

The books were opened.

Where the Word leads, I want to follow.