Divine Grit
Derek Rowntree’s, Learn How to Study is a tried-and-proven resource book that helps students learn skills and approaches to improve their study habits. First published in 1970, the book has undergone six revisions, the latest in 2016. Rowntree, once a professor at the United Kingdom’s Open University, has been teaching university level students how to study and adapt to the advance of information technology for almost 50 years. This book, primarily focusing on the improvement of study skills and learning approaches helped me go “back to the basics” when surveying my dissertation problem on spiritual warfare. In other words, Rowntree inspired me to focus on the how-to study essentials and carefully walk the phenomena of spiritual warfare through a rigorous bibliographic examination. My hopes and prayers are that the results will not only help me know God and reflect Christ, but also achieve success in training, equipping, and multiplying disciples who can survive and overcome the devil’s schemes while advancing the Kingdom of God. Obtaining the support and scrutiny from scholarly advisors and reviewers is the academic challenge for learning how to study. Therefore, this brief book review will concentrate on Rowntree’s SQ3R model while engaging its essential tasks, behavioral traits, and useful strategies. My goal is to identify and integrate study skills and learning approaches that will help me develop a personalized study plan for spiritual warfare.
SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recall, and Review.[1] Rowntree says we need to survey the problem and phenomenon that drives me to want to know God, reflect Christ, and help disciples defend against spiritual warfare. I am a hunter-warrior by practice and a servant-shepherd by calling. As a result, my life experiences, vocations, travel, and 15-year journey as an Armor of God Bearer gives me a unique voice and perspective to survey the realm of spiritual warfare. Upon initial overview, the problem is vast! Not only with the North American church, but on a global scale. Spiritual warfare spans time since the Garden of Eden, reaches across the world, invades all cultures, and does not discriminate between the young, old, rich, or poor. Spiritual warfare effects all aspects of life, even to the point of cursing the ground beneath our feet.[2] Even though the survey is massive, Learn How to Study helps me focus on the North American church, and the Christian leaders who God calls to shepherd His flock. My bibliographic survey will lead me to the next phase of the SQ3R, asking the Question.
According to Rowntree, some of the questions I should be asking about spiritual warfare are: what is in this for me, what do I already know about this, what are the unanswered questions, and what are the questions the church will not ask?[3] Knowing God, the devil is real, putting on the whole armor of God, and gaining discernment about the permissive will of God are the themes that I will analyze to find answers to question of spiritual warfare. My initial shot at a dissertation question is, “Why is the North American church marginalizing its response to the threat of spiritual warfare?” I sense that it still needs more narrowing, but it is a starting point for beginning my research; most of which will involve a lot of electronic library searches, reading and non-reading.
The next letter in the SQ3R acronym is Read. I will use my previously adopted Adler and Bayard techniques to read the history, theology, practices, and lessons learned about spiritual warfare. I will add a critical eye toward the authors, their ideas, and the churches present response to spiritual warfare. I will strive for accurate, credible, and scholarly works that are documented in peer-reviewed journals and book reviews. On a reflective note, I do not feel as overwhelmed with the prospect of reading and researching as I did before I joined the Elite-8.
Recall, the 2nd R in SQ3R, is the slight modification that I believe will yield some of the greatest results. Suggesting that we forget 50% of the ideas we learn within just a few hours of reading, Rowntree really got my attention.[4] I see confusion, poor memory, and lack of retention as another form of subtle spiritual warfare. Yes, I do! While Satan may not be able to read your thoughts, he nevertheless knows your pattern of behavior, and introduces all kinds of distractions and deceptions to decrease your recall, especially on divine truths that threaten his power and position. So, I do support Rowntree’s recall principles, and add that if you are wearing the full armor of God, especially the helmet of Salvation, your recall will improve. The next phase, Review, involves re-running SQ2R, Survey, Question, Read, and Recall.
The purpose of Review is to “get feedback about how well you have recalled.”[5] Rowntree says to repeat each section, establishing a pattern that helps you recall what you have learned. This section gives great return for such a small investment. When I share about the armor of God, I use the “3P” approach to spiritual warfare; Put-it-on, Pray, and Persevere. The Put-it-on section involves learning about the metaphorical relationship between Jesus Christ and the six pieces of the armor of God. Precisely ordered, Paul instructs Christians to put on a belt, breastplate, and shoes and then take a shield, helmet, and sword. Prayer and Perseverance follow.[6] Rowntree says that good study habits require “grit and self-control.” [7] I like this analogy, because wearing the armor of God in spiritual battle produces a type of divine grit and self-control that wins over evil.
In conclusion, Learn How to Study is a good resource to develop a personalized study plan for spiritual warfare, and a solid foundation on how to study at the graduate level. While I could not find any scholarly articles or reviews on this book, I did find a useful Amazon review from an international student who studied Rowntree over 30 years ago and says, “Our study techniques had us adjust our patterns of reading, writing, skimming, and discussion by simply minor modifications whose affects were incredible.”[8] I totally agree this assessment, and after adapting the study and reading approaches from Rowntree, Adler, and Bayard I believe my personal scholarship and academic voice is beginning to improve.
[1] Derek Rowntree. Learn How to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university: A virtual tutorial with Professor Derek Rowntree. Kindle ed. (Wappingers Falls, NY: Beekman Books, 1989). Location 316.
[2] Gen. 3:17, ESV.
[3] Rowntree, How to Study, 2346.
[4] Ibid., 2450.
[5] Ibid., 2506.
[6] Eph. 6:10-18.
[7] Rowntree, How to Study, 336.
[8] Zeech, “Learn How to Study,” Amazon, October 24, 2014, accessed October 17, 2017, https://www.amazon.com/LEARN-HOW-STUDY-Developing-approaches-ebook/dp/B00UUD3JGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508229746&sr=8-1&keywords=learn+how+to+study+rowntree.
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Mike
8 responses to “Divine Grit”
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Great post Mike. I think you were one of the few who did not rip the book apart but did find some helpful study tips within its pages. I too appreciated some more elaboration on the SQ3R technique that Jason shared with us and I loved how you applied it to your topic of spiritual warfare. I’m also going to remember and put into practice your “3P” approach to spiritual warfare; Put-it-on, Pray, and Persevere. Awesome job!
Jake,
Awesome! You remembered the 3P’s on the armor of God. Put-it-on, Pray, and Persevere.
You remind me of the Adventures of Walter Mitty. You have that look sometimes on our Hollywood Squares “face-to-face” that makes me think you are “off somewhere” on a grand adventure. Take me with you sometime, I love adventures.
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Okay Mike, first, I was really waiting for some John Wayne analogy to start off this post, but sadly, he did not. However, you definitely got down to the nit and “grit” on this post. I know a lot of people struggled with this reading, but I love how you are always looking at a reading to tie into your very passionate view of the spiritual warfare. I know as Christians, there should always be something that drives us, and it is very clear that you connect on a very spiritual level with the armor of God; that is inspiring.
I found a lot of what in this week’s reading to be about purpose, and that includes the purpose that we have when we read as much as when we minister. If we come to a reading with a particular goal in mind, then we have a better chance of taking something away from it, rather than if we are just reading out of obligation.
I also appreciate the emphasis you gave to “recall”. In regard to many of these books we have had to read lately, perhaps we should take this opportunity to recall the skills that we learned so long ago, and realize that those skills still hold great merit as we embark upon this higher education. Kyle had mentioned in his post the caution of pride, but sometimes its not our pride, but rather our stubbornness that prevents us from learning anything.
Great post.
Shawn,
I always enjoy reading your thoughtful and insightful comments. I reserved my John Wayne “grit” comments and blasted them onto the comments for Jay’s post. Check them out.
Thanks for recognizing the armor of God and my hope and prayer is that some if it rubs off on you and our fellow Elite-8 members along the way. Too often I see those who are supposed to be closest to God, the most vulnerable for attack and periods of blindness.
Yes, the practice of recalling what you read helps improve retention dramatically. My technique is simple, write down brief notes, quotes, and page numbers. When I’m ready to write a post or report, I recall the information quicker and my brief notes point the way for more information or footnote.
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Hi Mike,
I was looking forward to a picture of the Duke, John Wayne, in your post. True Grit–John Wayne or Jeff Bridges, which one had more?
I think I know your answer…
I am in full support of your statement, “…after adapting the study and reading approaches from Rowntree, Adler, and Bayard I believe my personal scholarship and academic voice is beginning to improve.”
I believe we all are showing those signs of improvement. Thanks for the post, Mike.
Jay,
John Wayne, the original, had more grit!
Yes, I think our GFU LGP reading plan is a strategic work of art. Transforming our diverse band of Christian leaders into a unified and focused team who are ready to engage global issues at the doctoral level.
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Hi Mike,
I thought your post was an excellent mash-up of Rowntree and Spiritual Warfare. I am learning that our blogging should interact with both the text and our research, so you are leading the way in that regard.
It occurred to me as I read your post that you and I may struggle with our research. I know that with my research on philanthropy, I find that there is a lot out there that is not filtered through a peer-reviewed process. My blog post from this week explains one example I just uncovered and which I’ll likely not include in my final bibliography.
I am wondering if you are also discovering the same thing regarding spiritual warfare? It would seem to me that it would be challenging to find peer-reviewed articles and an academic approach to this important topic. Is this true?
May God be with you, surrounding and protecting you, this week.
Mark,
Thanks for your review and comments. I think you will find it helpful to always merge your “philanthropy” research question into every thing we review and write about. It helps me actively fulfill the SQ3R each week, adding to my preparation for the upcoming work and writing we will be doing for our dissertations.
Yes, finding scholarly and peer-reviewed works on “spiritual warfare” is thin on sources, but I am still looking. So far I have found a handful of peer-reviewed journal articles, e-books, and book reviews. There are a lot of popular, google based articles, books, and sermons that I will have to put my critical eye to work on before adding any of that to my research. I am interested in seeing what Luther and others have to say.
During the Advance, Dean Conniry helped me with the “survey” of my research question by characterizing the problem as “spiritual terrorism.”
I look forward to following your research and findings.
Stand firm,
M. Webb