The Benefits of Handwriting Scripture Using The Bible Study Journal and The Bible Study Notepad
- Jessica Hutton
- May 4
- 5 min read
Updated: May 5
Have you ever read a chapter of the Bible and realized that your mind was somewhere else the entire time, and you have no idea what you just read?
There is a good reason for that, which you may not have given much thought to, especially when it comes to Bible reading.
The reason is that you were engaged in passive reading.
Your eyes were moving across the page, looking at words, but your mind was not actually processing them. And that's because reading, by itself, is a surprisingly shallow mental activity.
When reading is the only thing required of you, and you have nothing to write, no question to answer, and no one to discuss your reading with, your brain can move through an entire passage, taking in every word, without ever grasping what those words actually mean. Yet, if someone were to ask you what you read, you would likely feel confident about your ability to answer their question because you’ve read the text, and the words are familiar, and sometimes familiarity can feel a lot like understanding.
Researchers call this the "illusion of competence," which is an overestimation of one’s knowledge, understanding, and competence.
As it pertains to reading, the illusion of competence emerges when an individual has read and re-read a text to the point of familiarity and assumes that recognizing the text reflects one’s understanding and ability to recall what they’ve read.
An uncomfortable truth that Bible readers must acknowledge is that you can recognize every word in a passage without grasping what the passage means.
You can follow the flow of a paragraph without retaining any of it minutes later.
And, you can finish an entire chapter, close your Bible, and walk away with almost nothing, and it’s not because you weren't paying attention, but because reading does not, in and of itself, result in learning and understanding. That’s because you must activate different areas of your brain and body to retain what you learn, and one way to do that is to slow down and write what you're reading.
The Benefits of Handwriting Scripture
Studies comparing handwriting and typing consistently show that writing by hand leads to better understanding and retention of information than typing, because handwriting engages more of the brain systems involved in movement, vision, and memory, causing you to be more attentive to what you are reading and writing.
When you handwrite Scripture, you naturally move more slowly and must pay attention to every detail, which makes it harder to "skim on autopilot" and easier to stay mentally present as you write.
This isn't just a modern insight; Scripture itself points to it.
Israel's kings were instructed to write for themselves a copy of the law and read it regularly so that they would learn to fear the Lord and keep His commands (Deuteronomy 17:18–19). That command is specific to kings, but it shows a pattern: ongoing engagement with God's word through reading and writing is meant to shape character, not just fill the mind with information.
Ongoing engagement with God's word through reading and writing is meant to shape character, not just fill the mind with information.
I believe that if done attentively and prayerfully, handwriting Scripture can be a spiritual discipline that is just as meaningful and spiritually formative as the rest of the Bible‑study process because it engages your heart and mind, helping you be more attentive and responsive to what God has communicated through His Word.
Writing Scripture is also a simple, doable step that lowers the barrier to starting Bible study for the week, even on days when you feel tired, distracted, or otherwise tempted to put your time with God off until another day. Its simplicity is precisely why I designed The Bible Study Notepad and The Bible Study Journal to begin the week of Bible study with "Scripture Writing."
How to Use The Scripture Writing Page in The Bible Study Journal and The Bible Study Notepad
Every Monday, after selecting the passage you will study for the week, you will use the "Scripture Writing" page from The Bible Study Journal or The Bible Study Notepad to write the passage you've selected word‑for‑word.
I recommend that you always study a passage of Scripture rather than an isolated verse.
A passage consists of at least one paragraph of biblical text unified by a common theme or topic. Studying at the passage level is important because meaning in the Bible is communicated through connected units of thought rather than isolated verses.
Studying at the passage level is important because meaning in the Bible is communicated through connected units of thought rather than isolated verses.
When you confine your study to a single verse, you risk misreading it by separating it from the argument or narrative it belongs to.
Studying a full passage allows you to follow the literary flow, identify the key ideas, and see how the text develops and builds toward its major point, which in turn enables you to summarize the passage accurately, capturing what the author intended to communicate within that particular unit of thought.
Since The Bible Study Journal and The Bible Study Notepad have double-sided pages, there is ample space to write your passage, and if the passage you've selected is short, I encourage you to write it in at least two translations from different areas of the translation spectrum so that you get a fuller view of the text's meaning.
How to Write Scripture Summaries
After you finish handwriting the passage, you will write a summary. Your summary should consist of 2-3 sentences written in your own words, giving a high-level overview of the text’s key ideas or content.
Here are a couple of examples from my own studies:
Haggai 1: Haggai, the prophet, receives a word from the Lord, confronting the people who had returned from exile for neglecting to rebuild the temple of the Lord and prioritizing the reconstruction of their own homes. He admonishes the people to consider their ways and prioritize rebuilding the temple (that is, prioritize God) over their own paneled houses. The people respond in obedience, and the Lord affirms that He will be with them.
Ruth 1:1-18: After Elimelech moved his family from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab during a famine, he died, leaving Naomi with her two sons, who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Then, about ten years later, both of her sons died, leaving Naomi with her two daughters-in-law. Upon hearing that the Lord had provided food back home, Naomi set her mind on returning to Bethlehem and told her daughters-in-law to return to their families in Moab. Orpah did. Ruth insisted on going with Naomi, vowing to worship Yahweh.
What’s Next?
Slowing down to read and write those passages helped me notice things I had never noticed, even though I had read and listened to the books of Ruth and Haggai multiple times, in different translations. Some of those details will come back up on day three of the study, when we get to "Observations," so I'll save them for then. But first, day two is "Context," and you can read that post here.
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