1&2
What is the result of the human search for answers?
ideas
Special revelation:
God revealing himself through scripture
Define authority
Influence and Command
What is the only proper response to the scriptural understanding of God?
worship
What role did God assign human beings in creation?
After creating man and woman, God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and
subdue it and
have dominion”
Describe what the Bible is and is not
The Bible is not a book of rules, or a book of heroes. It is a story of how God loves and rescues his children.
General revelation
God revealing himself through nature
What do you know about the composition of the Bible?
____ books in the ____Testament
Old Testament sections: history, poetry and prophecy
____ books in the ____ Testament
Main sections: history, epistles (letters), and apocalyptic books
39 books in the Old Testament
Old Testament sections: history, poetry and prophecy
27 books in the New Testament
Main sections: history, epistles (letters), and apocalyptic books
If God is beyond comprehension, how can we get to know him?
God has revealed himself in creation and the Bible. However, the fullest way we know God is through Jesus Christ.
What can we learn about God’s nature and character from the creation account?
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 the God who redeemed his people from Egypt and brought them into covenant relationship with himself.
4 Important reasons to study the Bible
The Bible is 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
Worldviews and their sacred texts
______- Quran
_________- Humanist Manifesto
Libertarians- Atlas Shrugged
________- The Communist Manifesto
Hindus- Bhagavad Gita
Christianity- Bible
Muslims- Quran
Secular Humanists- Humanist Manifesto
Libertarians- Atlas Shrugged
Marxists- The Communist Manifesto
Hindus- Bhagavad Gita
Christianity- Bible
What are the 3 most common objections to the authority of the Bible:
The Bible was only written by men.
The Bible has been corrupted over time
The Bible is incomplete; important books have been left out
What is a metanarrative?
A metanarrative is an overarching grand story that explains the world and everything in it. It’s the story by which we make sense of all other stories.
What different contexts will help us understand the creation story in Genesis?
Literary context: includes things like genre, structure, grammar, and a text’s place within the larger perspective of Scripture.
Historical context: considers 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?
8 characteristics of God’s authority
hard/ soft
intrinsic/ extrinsic
relational/hierarchical
obligatory/persuasive
How the Bible is different from other holy books
The Bible is
Special _______ from God
________ by God
________ in the original documents
Influential in human history
The Bible is:
Special revelation from God
Inspired by God
Inerrant in the original documents
Influential in human history
American’s concept of God can be arranged into what 4 categories?
authoritative, benevolent. critical, distant
How do postmodernists treat all metanarratives, including the biblical one?
Postmodernists believe that all metanarratives should be regarded with suspicion. No overarching story of life actually encompasses the truth about all reality, not even the Bible. Truth is subjective.
What does the biblical creation account affirm about creation and the creator?
The direct hand of one God in every phase of _____
The distinction between creation and the ______
That creation is purposeful and _____
The special creation of _______
The direct hand of one God in every phase of creation
The distinction between creation and the creator
That creation is purposeful and good
The special creation of humanity
5 questions we all must answer:
_____: where did we come from?
______: who are we?
______: what is real and true and how do we know?
______: how should we live?
_______: what happens next?
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?
Benefits gained from careful study of the Bible
________
Insight into how to bear ________
_______ from spiritual bondage
______ in life
The ability to grasp truth and defeat error
Benefits gained from careful study of the Bible
Blessing
Insight into how to bear spiritual fruit
Freedom from spiritual bondage
Direction in life
The ability to grasp truth and defeat error
Incommunicable and Communicable Attributes of God
I: Holy, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and unchanging
C: Wisdom, righteousness, love, mercy and grace
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 came as king and accomplished 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
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 own way.
Sin is an act of irresponsibility, a failure to care for others.
Sin is an act of rebellion, an active choice to go against what God says is best.