Chapter 5
What does the biblical creation account affirm about creation and the creator?
The biblical creation account affirms the following:
- The direct hand of one god in every place of creation
- The distinction between creation and the creator
- The creation is purposeful and good
- The special creation of humanity
What is the doctrine of original sin?
- This principle says that humans are so thoroughly fallen that nothing remains unaffected by our fallenness, including creation itself
Why did God raise up prophets in the Old Testament?
- God raised up prophets to call his people back to faithfulness to his law and their mission, Idolatry and Injustice
When is it appropriate to ask, “What does the text mean to me”?
- What does it say? (exegesis)
- What does it mean? (hermeneutics)
- What does it mean to me? (application)
Why is it important to understand “genre”?
- Genres in the Bible include poetry, historical narratives, legal prescriptions, prophecies, psalms, proverbs, parables, letters, and apocalyptic literature.
- Understanding the genre helps us to determine how to interpret a passage properly. It also helps us grapple with some of the uncomfortable things in the Bible's historical narratives.
What role did God assign human beings in creation?
The biblical creation account affirms the following:
- The direct hand of one god in every place of creation
- The distinction between creation and the creator
- The creation is purposeful and good
- The special creation of humanity
What is the nature of sin?
- Sin is an act of unbelief, a refusal to trust God
- Sin is a desire for autonomy, a drive to do things our way
- Sin is an act of irresponsibility, a failure to care for others
- A sin is an act of rebellion, an active choice to go against what God says is best
What is the "gospel"?
- Good news, Jesus's life and work, Old Testament
What is "hermeneutics"?
- Hermeneutics is the process of devising the best methods for understanding and interpreting Scripture. The term comes from the Greek word hermeneutic, “to interpret.” Good hermeneutics can help us apply intellectual discipline and avoid common mistakes when studying the Bible.
What’s the difference between “descriptive passages” and “prescriptive passages”?
- In general, context is the discourse surrounding a passage that gives meaning to the content or the historical background and literary setting of a text that helps clarify meaning.
- Historical Context refers to the time and culture of the author and his audience, that is the geographical, topographical, and political factors that are relevant to the setting. It also refers to the occasion of the book, letter, psalm, prophetic oracle, or other writing. Two good historical questions to ask are: “What occasioned the writing?” and “What is the purpose of the writing?”
- Literary context refers to the genre, structure, and grammar of a text. As Fee and Stuart explain, biblical sentences for the most part only have cla ear meaning in relation to preceding and succeeding sentences… The most important contextual question you will ever ask is “What is the point?”
How did God respond to the Fall?
Divine Grace
What is the "church"?
- The ecclesia
What is "exegesis"?
- Exegesis refers to the proper interpretation of a passage of Scripture based on careful size study and analysis. Large-scale interpretation (hermeneutics) must begin with small-scale wrestling with each chapter, verse, line, and word (exegesis)
- We must be careful of the danger of eisegesis, which means reading our own biases and cultural assumptions into the text
- The key to good exegesis is to learn to read the text carefully and to ask the right questions of the text
What are the major covenants in the Bible and how are they ultimately secured by Jesus Christ?
- Creation covenant: made with Adam to establish an environment of shalom (peace) with those made in God's image.
- Noahic covenant: made with Noah in Genesis 9. The sign of the covenant was the rainbow. Jesus fulfills this covenant by ushering in the new creation.
- Mosaic covenant. Through Moses, God made a covenant with the people of Israel, setting them apart, and giving them the mission to reach the world.
- Abrahamic covenant. This covenant, made with Abraham, established a new nation that would be a blessing to all the other nations.
How can we ensure we’re reading the Bible in context?
- Rather than focusing on our present circumstances, we must instead approach the text focused on God. If we stop trying to claim promises as belonging to us in ways they may not, we might be free to focus on God and on what he wants.
What are some distinctive of the Abrahamic covenant?
- Seed
- Relationship
- Nationhood
- Land
- Blessing
How do we go about choosing a good Bible translation?
- A good translation of the Bible will reflect the realities of the original texts. There 3 types of translations.
- Formal Equivalence Translations: attempt to keep the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek but to put their words and idioms into what would be the normal way of saying the same thing in English (NAB, NLT)
- Functional Equivalence Translations: attempt to keep the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek bit to their words and idioms into what would be the normal way of saying the same thing in English (NAB, NLT) NIV AND TNIV are between formal and functional translations.
- Free Translations: attempt to translate the ideas from one language to another, with less concern about using the exact words of the original. A free translation, sometimes also called a paraphrase tries to eliminate as much of the historical distance as possible and still be faithful to the original text. (NEB, LB, MSG)