Inductive study compares related Bible texts in order to let the Bible interpret itself, rather than approaching Scripture with predetermined notions of what it will say.;Dr. Traina's Methodical Bible Study was not intended to be the last word in inductive Bible study; but since its first publication in 1952, it has become a foundational text in this field.;Christian colleges and seminaries have made it required reading for beginning Bible students, while many churches have used it for their lay Bible study groups.;Dr. Traina summarizes its success in this comment: "If the truths of the Bible already resided in man, there would be no need for the Bible and this manual would be superfluous.;But the fact is the Bible is an objective body of literature which exists because man needs to know certain truths which he himself cannot know.;There are two main approaches open to the Bible student.;One is deduction, which begins with generalizations and moves for their support to the particulars.;By its very nature deduction tends to be subjective and prejudicial.