Chapter 1
5 Questions we must all answer
- Origin: where did we come from?
- Identity: who are we?
- Meaning: what is real and true and how do we know?
- Morality: how should we live?
- Destiny: what happens next?
Describe what the Bible is and is not, and two ways God reveals his character
- The Bible is a compass/love story that shows what God has done, but it isn't an instruction manual or rulebook. While the Bible can be an inspiration or a guide, taken out of context, people can seem to misunderstand its true meaning
- Special revelation, or general revelation
Define authority
- Authority is from the Latin word meaning "influence" or "command"
American's concept of God can be arranged into what 4 categories?
- 31% believe in an authoritative God who is both engaged and judgemental
- 21% believe in a benevolent God who is engaged and non-judgemental
- 16% believe in a critical God who is disengaged and judgemental
- 24% believe in a distant God who is disengaged and non-judgemental
What is a metanarrative?
- Metanarrative: Narrative means "story," and "meta" means "beyond." A metanarrative is the story beyond the story—the story by which we make sense of all stories
8 characteristics of God's authority
- hard
- soft
- extrinsic
- intrinsic
- obligatory
- persuasive
- hierarchical
- relational
4 important reasons to study the Bible
- The Bible is a part of world literature
- The Bible changed western civilization
- Knowledge of the Bible is the mark of an educated person
- Knowledge of the Bible is the mark of a moral person
What are some assumptions Christians bring to the study of the Bible?
- Christians believe that God makes himself known through scripture
If God is beyond comprehension, how can we get to know him?
Although we cannot know God exhaustively, we can know him truly. This is possible because God has chosen to reveal himself. He wants to be known and, through revelation, enables us to know him. God has revealed himself in creation and the Bible. However, the fullest way we know God is through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2)
God reveals himself both by what he does and who he is. We can search the scriptures to understand more clearly about God’s nature and characteristics. While an infinite God is ultimately beyond reason, our understanding of him can still be reasonable. Scripture shows us how to understand him as he wants to be understood.
Scripture, Creation, and Jesus Christ.
How do postmodernists treat all metanarratives, including the biblical one?
- Postmodernists believe that all metanarratives should be regarded with suspicion. No overarching story or life encompasses the truth about all reality, not even the Bible. Truth is subjective.
What is the result of the human search for answers?
- You get a bunch of different opinions, ideas
Worldviews and their Sacred Texts
Muslims - Quran
Secular Humanists - Humanist Manifesto
Libertarians - Atlas Shrugged
Marxists - The Communist Manifesto
Hindus - Bhagavad Gita
Christianity - Bible
What do you know about the composition of the Bible?
- 39 OT books
- 27 NT books
Incommunicable attributes
- Holy
- External
- All-knowing
- All-powerful
- Everywhere Present
- Unchanging
Outline the biblical story as a drama about the kingdom of God
- ACT 1: God established his kingdom through creation
- ACT 2: Humans rebelled
- ACT 3: God initiated redemption by choosing the nation of Israel
- ACT 4: Christ comes as king and accomplishes redemption
- ACT 5: News of the king's redemption spread and this formed the church
- ACT 6: The king returns and completes God's plan of redemption
How the Bible is different from other Holy Books
- Its the only true one, we have evidence of the Bible's existence and the people in it
- Special revelation from God
- Innerhant in the original documents
- Influential in human history
What are the most common objections to the authority of the Bible and do we respond to them?
1. The Bible was only written by man
2. The Bible has been corrupted over time
3. The Bible is incomplete: important books have been left out
Communicable attributes
- Wisdom
- Righteous
- Loving
- Gracious & Merciful
What different contexts will help us understand the creation story in Genesis?
- Literary context: includes such things as genre, structure, grammar, and a text's place within the larger perspective of all of Scripture.
- Historical context: consider the time and place in which the author wrote and what the author and audience would have assumed to be true about life and the world.
- Theological context: includes the balance provided by the whole bible. How did other biblical authors speak of creation, and how did this affect the way their hearers lived?
Benefits gained from careful study of the Bible
- Our faith
- Blessing
- Insight
- Bear spiritual fruit
- Direction in life
- Ability to know the truthWhat is the only proper response to the scriptural understanding of God
- The only proper response to the scriptural understanding of God is worship. We bow down in humble awe and reverence to the perfect, utterly trustworthy, only wise, self-existent, personal, completely unselfish, great, good God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
What can we learn about God’s nature and character from the creation account?
- The creation account is first and foremost about God. Although Christians might disagree about the "how" and the "when" of creation, we should all agree on the who and the why. God is "who," and his glory is "why." The two most common Hebrew words for God demonstrate who he is:
- Elohim ("God") is a generic designation for deity and focuses on God as the creator of the whole world.
- Yahweh ("the LORD") is the personal and covenantal name of God. Preeminently, he is the God who redeemed his people from Egypt and brought them into a covenant relationship with Himself.