NEW TESTAMENT FLOOR PLAN

o When you are in a Bible study group or listening to a sermon and you are asked to turn to a book in the New
Testament, do you always know which way to turn the pages to get there? How about this: Can you quickly
recite the books of the NT backwards? If not, then you may find the NT floor plan to be an excellent
navigational tool to help you move through the 27 books of the New Testament.

 This floor plan enables you to learn the location of the books of the NT through visual-spatial rather
than sequential learning. To understand this concept, try to recite the alphabet backwards. It’s not easy
because the alphabet is learned sequentially, so it is difficult to recite any other way than from the
beginning. Visual-spatial learning, on the other hand, enables you to know where items are located
relative to their position in space.

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o Benefits:

a. Learn the 27 books of the NT and the order in which they are arranged in the Bible (forward &
backwards).

b. Navigate smoothly through the NT (know which books are next to each other and which way to quickly
turn to get to a particular book).

c. Teach new believers how to find their way around the NT. New believers do not automatically know
where books in the Bible are located and it can be frustrating or intimidating for them to have to
constantly go to the table of contents or ask where a book can be found. This is an easy way to give
them confidence in navigating through God’s Word.

o When teaching people how to use this tool, walk them through the floor plan, explaining as you go.

o Tell them how to best lock it in:

 Study the floor plan and the relative position of each room. Take a mental snapshot by absorbing the
image to the best of your ability.

 After a couple of minutes, look up and mentally project the floor plan on a blank wall and practice saying
it forward and backwards to see if you’ve got it down.

o After the exercise, ask for a volunteer to recite the books of the NT backwards. Note: The volunteer must
already have a working knowledge of the Bible in order to successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of this
method since a new believer is still becoming familiar with the names of the books.

o Ask the following navigation questions:

 If you are in the corner room/Corinthians, which way do you flip to get to the tea room/Titus?

 If you are in the boys’ room/I & 2 Peter, which way do you flip to get to the butler’s pantry/James?

o Encourage the class or individual to keep the floor plan with their Bible until they learn it well. Also encourage
them to practice the Timothy Principle by teaching others the New Testament Floor Plan. To learn about the
Timothy Principle, turn to 2 Timothy 2:2 where Paul tells Timothy to pass along what he has taught him to
reliable men who are also qualified to teach others. This verse models four spiritual generations: Paul . . .
Timothy . . . reliable men . . . others.

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