Bibliology and How To Study The Bible: Local Instructor Guide
Bibliology and How To Study The Bible: Local Instructor Guide
Website: www.vmcdi.com
Contenders Discipleship Initiative
E-mail: [email protected]
Bibliology
How to Study the Bible
Bibliology and
Intro to Bible Study Tools
Hermeneutics
Copyright note:
The Contenders program is provided free of charge and it is expected that those who
receive freely will in turn give freely. Permission for non-commercial use is hereby
granted but re-sale is prohibited.
Contenders Bible School was a tuition-free two-year ministry equipping program started
in 1995 by Pastor Ron Sallee at Machias Community Church, Snohomish, WA. It is now
run as a tuition-free online equipping ministry by Village Missions. The full Contenders
Discipleship Initiative program with pdf copies of this guide and corresponding videos can
be found at www.vmcontenders.org.
Copyright is retained by Village Missions with all rights reserved to protect the integrity of
this material and the Village Missions Contenders Discipleship Initiative.
Student Registration
You must register as a student for the CDI to gain access to the video instruction. You will
find the online registration link at the top of the page at www.vmcontenders.org
You are encouraged to take these classes under the guidance of a Local
Instructor/mentor. If a Local Instructor/mentor is not available in your area, you are
welcome to take these classes on your own. If you take these courses as an independent
distance learner download and use the Local Instructor guidebook in conjunction with the
Student Guidebook as it has additional information.
Table of Contents
Bibliology and How To Study the Bible ..............................................................................5
How to Use This Guide ....................................................................................................6
Registion with the CDI as Local Instructors and Students ...................................................8
Promoting the Class ........................................................................................................8
Classroom Setup ............................................................................................................8
General Classroom Training Tips ......................................................................................9
EstablishIng Ground Rules ............................................................................................. 10
Instructor’s Note: Note Taking, Review Material ............................................................. 10
Student Evaluations ...................................................................................................... 11
Instructor Checklist for Bibliology Course ........................................................................ 12
Instructor’s Note: Ordering Books for Students .............................................................. 13
Bibliology Course Syllabus ............................................................................................. 13
Instructor’s Note: OT/NT Outlines and Biblical TimeLine Prep .......................................... 14
Course Goal ................................................................................................................. 15
Course Schedule ........................................................................................................... 16
Session 1, Part 1– Introduction To Bibliology................................................................... 17
Bibliology Class Content ................................................................................... 17
Class Schedule ................................................................................................ 18
Session 1, Part 2 - Introduction to Bibliology ................................................................... 20
Instructor’s Note: Building a Biblical Timeline ................................................................. 22
Assignment: Survey of the Old Testament ..................................................................... 23
Class Activity: Creating a Bible Timeline Reference ......................................................... 24
Classroom Activity: Adding Books of the Bible to Timeline ............................................... 27
Session 2 - Old Testament Survey ................................................................................. 28
Instructor’s Note: Biblical One-Line Mnemonic ................................................................ 29
Assignment: Finish OT outline and Start NT Outline ........................................................ 31
Session 3 - New Testament Survey ................................................................................ 32
1. Gospels ...................................................................................................... 35
2. Historical .................................................................................................... 35
3. Pauline Epistles ........................................................................................... 35
4. General Epistles .......................................................................................... 36
5. Prophecy .................................................................................................... 36
TEST: Bible Survey Quiz ............................................................................................... 37
Instructor’s Note: Assign Reading For Mid-Term Review .................................................. 39
Assignment: Begin Reading Manners and Customs ......................................................... 39
Session 4, Part 1 - Authenticity of the Old Testament ...................................................... 40
Session 4, Part 2 – Authenticity of the Old Testament ...................................................... 43
Assignment: Continue Assigned Reading Outside of Class ............................................... 49
Session 5, Part 1 – Authenticity of the New Testament .................................................... 50
Section 5, Part 2 – Authenticity of the New Testament ..................................................... 53
Assignment: Continue Assigned Reading Outside of Class ............................................... 55
Session 6, Part 1 - Inspiration of Scripture ...................................................................... 56
© 2016 Village Missions 3 Bibliology version 5.5
Contenders Discipleship Initiative – Bibliology, How to Study the Bible – Local Instructor Guide
Bibliology and How to Study the Bible ~ 2 Timothy 3:16 & 2 Timothy 2:15
This is a composite course that lays a foundation for studying the Bible and then leads
the student in Bible study exercises built upon that foundation.
Bibliology integrates multiple subjects to provide an understanding of what the Bible is,
where it came from, how it was written and why it is to be studied.
How to Study the Bible is a comprehensive Five-Step Bible Study Method that
combines word studies in the original languages with circumstantial, biographical and
topical studies. The final step is to paraphrase the passage studied.
Upon completing this course you will have the tools necessary to study the Bible in the
original languages, knowledge of Biblical culture that will allow you to better understand
the Bible, and a framework to integrate those passages studied with the rest of the Bible.
The ultimate intent is that in correctly handling 'the Word of Truth' you will come to know
what you believe, why you believe it and have the ability to ‘earnestly contend for the
Faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’ - Jude 3.
In order to expeditiously equip laborers for the field, Village Missions is offering this
compact course of instruction. The CDI program consists of six courses that when
combined with pastoral mentoring provide the basic equipping for Christian ministry.
This Local Instructor Guide is your blueprint for the class and is to be used to support the
effective presentation. As a first step register with the CDI at
www.vmcontenders.org/register and review the program materials online on the website
under this course name.
1. Gain familiarity with the program: Reviewing this guide is a convenient way
to familiarize yourself with the curriculum.
2. Prepare lessons: Prior to class, use this Local Instructor guide as a resource
for preparing your lesson plan. It will provide instructions, notes, activities,
and reviews as you lead the class.
3. Utilize worksheets: The Local Instructor Guide includes activity worksheets
which allow your students to apply what they have just learned. A Local
Instructor copy of each worksheet, including answers and hints, follows the
students’ worksheet.
4. Extend or modify lessons: The guide features suggested teaching tips. Use
these tips to extend or modify the unit objectives to best meet the needs of
your students.
5. Assess progress: Finally, this guide includes an assessment that students can
use to test their knowledge.
Please review the online instructions for Local Instructors on the CDI website
Icon Meaning
Group Activity These assignments will be conducted in class. For those
distance learners, instructions are in your guide on how to complete these
activities. It is highly recommended that distance learners complete
these activities.
Assignments Assignments for the class including outside reading.
Special Note
Bibliology and How to Study the Bible was recorded during live two hour classroom
sessions taught by Pastor Ron Sallee at Contenders Bible School of Machias Community
Church.
These sessions, as presented in the Contenders Discipleship Initiative, have been broken
into smaller segments for pastor/mentor-led classes as well as independent distance
learners.
At times throughout the course you will hear Pastor Ron ask students to turn to a specific
page within the Student Guide that was used during those classroom sessions.
Pastor Ron's Student Guide has since been updated to match the structure of the video
course as presented in the CDI and is available as the Student Guide on the CDI website.
Throughout the video course you will see corrections appear on the screen to alert you to
find the correct page numbers and new material added to the new Student Guide for
Bibliology and How to Study the Bible.
The CDI Learning Management System requires all Local Instructors and Students to
register individually. Once registered with the CDI, access to all courses and videos are
open to view and/or download. For those taking CDI courses in a classroom setting the
Learning Management System will track student progress if they periodically log in and
check off lessons completed.
Once you have decided to teach this program begin to make the contacts to your church
and in the larger community to promote the CDI. Set a date for your class to start and
the schedule you intend to follow. You will need to announce this information not just
once but several times to ensure you get the information out.
You will want to promote the class to address the various reasons why people might want
to attend. Some people will want to learn more about their faith, others feel called to
Christian ministry, still others might not be members of your church but are looking for a
way to learn about the Bible.
Remember to take advantage of the media outlets available, including social media, your
own church website and bulletins. You may want to take screen shots of CDI web pages
to share. The CDI has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/vmcdi
If you are an individual distance learner using the Local Instructor guide you might want
to consider gathering a small group to work through the course with you.
CLASSROOM SETUP
Visual aids for this course consist of the videos and printed Instructor and Student Guides.
All equipment should be placed in the room and be checked at least one hour prior to the
class. The following audiovisual equipment checklist will help you prepare:
Downloading the video content prior to your class is best so that you are not
dependent upon your internet connection.
Direct streaming should only be used with an onsite High-Speed internet connection.
If you do not have internet access you can contact Village Missions to see about the
availability of DVDs and Computer disks for the course videos.
Use a Smart TV to show the video or an LCD projector with separate audio output to
a speaker system. Test your set up well ahead of time and before each session.
Large colored markers and butcher paper for class project.
Blue masking/painters tape for class project.
3. Start on time and stay on track. Always start on time, even if only one participant is
in the room. Keep exercises within their time limits. End discussions when they
cease to be productive. Lead participants away from digressions and tangents and
return to the lesson.
5. Mentor participants during the activities. Walk among groups in class as they work on
their activities and answer questions and offer guidance as appropriate. Ensure
participants are on track as they work. Give constructive feedback during the
presentations and discussions.
6. Review Questions: Review the content of each lesson throughout the course to
reinforce the learning outcomes for that lesson and to connect to upcoming material.
Sample review questions are available in the Instructor's guide; however, you should
develop additional questions, as appropriate. Make sure all questions directly relate
to and support the learning outcomes.
7. Lesson Outcomes: At the beginning of each lesson, review that lesson's outcomes.
Make sure participants are fully aware of the topics to be addressed in the lesson. At
the end of each lesson, review the outcomes once again using review questions or an
activity/exercise to ensure the outcomes were met.
Every effort has been made to ensure the guide and videos are correct. However, if you
do see something you believe is in error, please use the web form at:
www.vmcontenders.org/feedback.html
Prepare the following ground rules on a flip chart page. (Cover the ground rules with the
flip chart pad's cover or a blank flip chart page, and leave it covered until you review it
during the class. Then post it on the wall so it is visible during the entire course.) In
training sessions the term “parking lot” is used when you want to capture questions that
cannot be answered during the session.
These questions are written down on the flip chart and then the instructor follows up with
the participants with the answers at a later time. This way class time is not taken up
with questions that are of interest to the class, but may not be vital to the course
material.
GROUND RULES
• Be on time.
• Stay on task.
• Share responsibility for training.
• Do reading, homework.
• Participate in activities.
• Listen when others talk.
• Turn off cell phones.
• Some questions will be placed in
parking lot on flip chart.
While some note taking is beneficial, too much note taking can keep students from
paying active attention to the lecture. Student notebooks have been designed to strike a
balance between required note taking and material already supplied.
All tests and quizzes should be open note / open book / open Bible.
Before each class session, review the session notes and material to be presented and
have a good grasp on the subject.
STUDENT EVALUATIONS
Students who subsequently apply to Village Missions will need to have these evaluations
recorded in the CDI Learning Management System for each course.
The student’s Self Evaluation summarizes his or her accomplishments while taking the
course, any new understandings achieved, and the student’s goals for the future.
Remember, all exams and quizzes are open book, open note and open Bible. They are
designed for review and for reinforcing key concepts. They are not primarily intended for
evaluation. They should be assigned as take-home tests. The following session can then
be used to have students evaluate (“grade”) their own tests. This presents a great
opportunity for answering questions and correcting any misunderstood concepts.
One Month Prior Two Weeks Prior to Class One Week Prior Class Ongoing after Class
Gather Registrations
Contact Students
Send Reminders
Collect Book Fees
Order Materials
Print Course Materials
Test Internet Speed
Ensure PC is Virus Free
Conduct Classes
Conduct Quizzes
Write Assessments
Answer Class
Questions and E-mails
Follow-up Mentorship
Answer E-mails
Prepare For Next
Class
Print and bind the Student Guide pdf for each person in your class
Or arrange for printing at an office supply store or print shop. Printing cost may be
recovered from students without violating the CDI copyright.
This course is designed to give the student an appreciation for the Bible as God’s Word
and the necessity of in-depth study. Those who complete this course will have the tools
to conduct independent studies of Scripture and the ability to apply the Rules of
Hermeneutics for proper interpretation of the text.
The Biblical Timeline is a classroom project completed during the last half of the first
session and the first half of the second session. It allows the students to see the whole
scope of Scripture and to visual integrate with the Old and New Testament Survey
sessions.
Outlines of OT/NT are completed by writing down chapter/passage descriptions from the
Students’ Bibles. This assignment teaches them to use resources already at hand and it
integrates all of the Biblical stories they have learned in the past with the Biblical
Timeline classroom project. Assign the OT outline at the end of the first classroom
session to be completed by the third classroom session. Assign the NT outline at the end
of the second classroom session, also to be completed by the third classroom session.
COURSE GOAL
The goal of the course is that the student be able to understand the meaning of a
passage of Scripture and be able to communicate that to others.
The Five-Step Bible Study Method which is taught during the How to study the Bible
portion of this course concludes with paraphrasing the passage being studied. To
effectively paraphrase a passage requires one to first understand
what is being said and then what that means.
The Five Step Bible Study Method is foundational to the Homiletics portion of the last
course.
The Five-Step Bible Study is mandated by the doctrine of Inspiration and built upon the
discipline of Hermeneutics as laid out during the first half of this course.
Additional notes:
• Assignments for the Five-Step Bible Study are given out of 1 John 1:1-2:2.
• The Exegesis is of the whole passage.
• Circumstantial Study is of Ephesus and answering the 12 questions.
• Biographical Study is of John the Apostle.
• Topical Study is limited to koinonia with a further topic limit by student.
• Paraphrase is of the whole passage.
Below is a sample schedule for working through this course in 2-hour sessions twice per
week. This is the fast-track pace that completes the full CDI in two years.
Feel free to make a schedule that will work for your group. Some are doing one 3-hour
session per week which works out to completing the full CDI in three years. Others have
taken a much slower pace of one 2-hour session per week for one course per year.
Schedule
Monday & ________
Day(s) _________ Thursday Time(s)__________
7-9pm
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
2 Timothy 3:16
New King James Version (NKJV)
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…
Written work for each of the five steps in the Bible Study Method
1) Word study
2) Circumstantial study
3) Topical study
4) Biographical study
5) Paraphrase
Session Schedule
Introduction
Old Testament Survey
New Testament Survey
Old Testament Authenticity
New Testament Authenticity
Inspiration of Scripture
Authority of Scripture
Introduction to Hermeneutics
Rules of Interpretation
Typology
Bible Study Tools / Take Home Mid-Term Test
Bible Study Methods – Exegesis
Bible Study Methods – Circumstantial Study
Bible Study Methods - Topical Study
Bible Study Methods - Biographical Study
Bible Study Methods – Paraphrase
Final Test / Review
2. Biblical Culture – Understanding the culture of the time the Bible was written. You
should have already ordered a copy of “The Manners & Customs of Bible Times” by
Ralph Gower.
6. Typology – Old Testament Pointing to the New Testament (persons, places and
things)
Introduction to Bibliology
Theistic Belief Systems:
1. Pantheism - All is God
2. Polytheism - Many Gods
3. Atheism - Belief in no God
4. Deism - Belief in a non-personal God
5. Theism - Belief in a personally involved God
General Revelation
1. Nature’s witness
Psalm 19:1-4; Acts 14:17; Psalm 104:5-9; 2 Peter 3:4-5; Romans 1:19-20
2. History's witness
I Kings 8:56; Acts 7:2-53; Acts 17:26-28
3. Conscience's witness
Ecclesiastes 3:11; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 2:14-15
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Special Revelation
Spoken Word
Genesis 1:3 , 2:16; Jeremiah 1:9; Hebrews 1:1
Examples:
"saith the Lord" - 854 ; "Lord said" - 221 ; "Lord God said" - 4 ;
"Lord spake" - 144 ; "Lord speaketh" – 2; "word of the Lord" - 258; "words
of the Lord" - 19; "voice of the Lord" - 50 ; "mouth of the Lord" - 11
; "God Commanded" - 14; "Lord commanded" - 105.
1,682 thousand six hundred eighty two references to the spoken Word.
Written Word
All Scripture is about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible tells one story and it is His story.
The Bible
The Bible was written by a diversity of 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years,
in a variety of locations. However, the Bible is uniquely one book, with one voice,
consisting of 66 different books.
Its authors came from all walks of life. Some were kings, shepherds, warriors, fishermen,
even a Gentile doctor and a tax collector.
1. Have five different colored “Sharpie” pens available for each group. (4 students per
Timeline, if possible.)
2. If space permits arrange three 8 foot tables end to end for each time line covered
with 24 feet of butcher paper. (Adjust dimensions for smaller spaces/tables.)
Draw a line down the middle with seven equal divisions of 36 inches totaling 21
feet. Mark these as shown:
This assignment must be completed BEFORE the next class session. The worksheet will
be used to add the approximate dates written and time period covered for the books of
the Bible to the timeline during the first part of the next two class sessions. This is a very
important illustration and helps students understand how the Bible came to exist and the
nature of the “unfolding revelation.”
Assignment Number 1. Copy the headings or passage summaries from each chapter in
your Bible. Don’t take a shortcut and copy an outline find somewhere in your Bible or
online. The point is to go through every chapter in your Bible and write down the
headings to see how all the people, places and events flow into the OT.
Assignment Number 2. Find the approximate date when each of the books of the Bible
was written and the time period it covered. Use the worksheet in this guide book. For
this part of the assignment you can use any resources available.
ADAM - 4000/3070BC
SETH - 3870/2980BC
METHUSELAH - 3310/2350BC
NOAH - 2950/2000BC
SHEM - 2450/1850BC
ABRAHAM - 2170/1990BC
ISSAC - 2070/1890BC
JACOB - 2010/1860BC
JOSEPH - 1920/1810BC
MOSES - 1530/1410BC
ISAIAH - 740/690BC
JEREMIAH - 630/580BC
EZEKIEL - 590/570BC **
DANIEL - 610/540BC
HOSEA - 760/720BC
JOEL - 840/?BC
AMOS - 760/750BC
OBADIAH - 850/840BC **
JONAH - 780/750BC
MICAH - 740/700BC
NAHUM - 660/650BC **
HABAKKUK - 610/600BC **
Complete this page along with OT and NT outline assignment. Use a different color
“Sharpie” when adding these to the timeline.
Timeline Reference
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE (find approximate time period covered & when written):
1. GENESIS 2. EXODUS
3. LEVITICUS 4. NUMBERS
5. DEUTERONOMY 6. JOSHUA
7. JUDGES 8. RUTH
9. I SAMUEL 10. II SAMUEL
11. I KINGS 12. II KINGS
13. I CHRONICLES 14. II CHRONICLES
15. EZRA 16. NEHEMIAH
17. ESTHER 18. JOB
19. PSALMS 20. PROVERBS
21. ECCLESIASTES 22. SONG OF SOLOMON
23. ISAIAH 24. JEREMIAH
25. LAMENTATIONS 26. EZEKIEL
27. DANIEL 28. HOSEA
29. JOEL 30. AMOS
31. OBADIAH 32. JONAH
33. MICAH 34. NAHUM
35. HABAKKUK 36. ZEPHANIAH
37. HAGGAI 38. ZECHARIAH
39. MALACHI 40. MATTHEW
41. MARK 42. LUKE
43. JOHN 44. ACTS
45. ROMANS 46. I CORINTHIANS
47. II CORINTHIANS 48. GALATIANS
49. EPHESIANS 50. PHILIPPIANS
51. COLOSSIANS 52. I THESSALONIANS
53. II THESSALONIANS 54. I TIMOTHY
55. II TIMOTHY 56. TITUS
57. PHILEMON 58. HEBREWS
59. JAMES 60. I PETER
61. II PETER 62. I JOHN
63. II JOHN 64. III JOHN
65. JUDE 66. REVELATION
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
The Bible's OT - NT division
The Differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant
Jewish Divisions of Scripture
The Septuagint
2 Timothy 3
New King James Version (NKJV)
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
The Bible is divided into two main sections called the “Old” and “New” Testaments. The
word “Testament” means a “covenant” or an “agreement.”
Both covenants are sealed by “blood” and both are mediated by a man.
“the NEW is in the OLD contained - the OLD is in the NEW explained”
“the NEW is in the OLD concealed - the OLD is in the NEW revealed”
NOTE: There are 24 books in the Hebrew OT - Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-
Nehemiah, and “the Twelve” minor prophets are one-volume books in the
Hebrew Canon of Scripture.
Have students supply their own one-line mnemonic for the seventeen prophetical books.
The following can be found at the Blue Letter Bible:
www.blueletterbible.org/study/parallel/paral15.cfm
a) Major - 5 books
b) Minor - 12 books
38) Zechariah - Prophecies Relating to the Rebuilding of the Temple and the
Messiah
39) Malachi - Prophecies Relating to the Calling of the Gentiles and the Coming of
Christ
Finish the Old Testament outline and start the New Testament Outline.
Write down the chapter headings in the New Testament. If there are headings in
between the chapter headings, write those down as well.
Ensure you write the book of the Bible and the chapter number. You might want to use
this outline later.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Time Compression
400 “Silent” Years between the OT and the NT
Outline of the New Testament and its Four Divisions
The General Epistles of the NT
Review
• OT survey
• Integration of prior Bible knowledge from past sermons, Bible study, and devotional
reading
• Understanding of the scope and flow of history and how the Bible fits
• A sense of time compression, where the distant past isn’t so distant after all
• Bible events become current events
• A personal connection to Bible characters and stories
• God is really here!
Vatican Council of 1870, is that these books are equal with the rest of Scripture and
pronounce a curse upon anyone who does not accept this view.
2) Early Protestant view that while the Apocrypha is not to be considered equal with the
rest of Scripture it is useful and good for devotional reading.
3) Later Protestant view rejects totally the Apocrypha and in fact the term Apocryphal
has taken on a pejorative connotation.
4) Modern view rejects the authority of the Apocrypha as Scripture, but does see value in
the historical content for gaining an understanding of the times in which they were
written.
The Pseudepigrapha
Intertestamental literature not accepted into the Christian or Jewish canon of Scripture
and often attributed to an ancient hero of faith.
Some ancient Christians and the Roman church have used the term "Apocrypha," since
for them what Protestants call Apocrypha is part of their canon.
1. Gospels
1) Matthew - Messiah the King
2) Mark - Messiah the Servant
3) Luke - Messiah the Son of Man
4) John - Messiah the Son of God
2. Historical
5) Acts - sequel to Luke: the developing church
3. Pauline Epistles
a) Church Epistles
6) Romans –
Chapters 1-11 defining Christian doctrine
Chapters 12-16 defining Christian living
7) I Corinthians correcting everything
8) II Corinthians follow up on correction
9) Galatians justification by faith
10) Ephesians
Chapters 1-3 heavenly doctrine
Chapters 3-6 practical Christianity
11) Philippians encouragement by example
12) Colossians the preeminence of Christ
13) I Thessalonians encouragement, return of Christ
14) II Thessalonians but first the Apostasy & Antichrist
b) Pastoral Epistles
c) Special Epistle
4. General Epistles
20) James practical Christianity
21) I Peter encouragement
22) II Peter warning against doctrinal error and end time scoffers
23) I John fellowship & love
Read 1 John Chapter 4 (the Love Chapter)
24) II John warning against heresy & false teachers
25) III John commendation & condemnation in the church
26) Jude historical apostasy illustrates coming apostasy
5. Prophecy
27) Revelation symbolic/apocalyptic history of spiritual war
Place the books of the Bible in the correct division and order:
Old Testament
Pentateuch
Historical
Poetical
Prophets
Major
Minor
New Testament
Gospels
Historical
Epistles
Church
Pastoral
General
Prophecy
Assign outside reading project at the end of session three to be completed before the mid-
term review.
Have your students read through and look up all Scripture references.
Explain to them that the Final Test will include questions from this assignment.
The purpose of this assignment is to show that there is a cultural context to Scripture.
Make sure your students know that this one reading assignment is only meant to show the
need for further study in this regard.
Begin reading ”The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times” by Ralph Gower.
Write down any questions you have so you can ask them in class.
The entire book needs to be read by the time the class gets to Bible Study Methods and
Tools.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Internal Proofs
Theistic View - Given by God then kept by God
We believe that God has chosen to reveal Himself – Scripture claims to have come
from God.
We believe that God will keep His Revelation pure - Scripture claims to be kept by
God.
Fulfilled Prophecy
Israel
Inauguration - Genesis 12:2
Preservation - Exodus 19:4-6
Condemnation - Hosea 4; Jer, 3
Restoration - Jer 29:14, Amos 9:14-15
The Nations
Rise & Fall of Kingdoms - Daniel 2:27-
Dream revealed and explained by Daniel
Judgments of God on Kingdoms and Cities - Ezekiel 26
Cyrus named and appointed 200 years before born - Isa 45:13, Ezra 1:1-4
Amazing Prophecy: 100 years before Babylon becomes a nation, 150 years before
Jerusalem taken captive.
Reared by a shepherd after his grandfather, the king of Media, ordered that he be killed.
As an adult, Cyrus organized the Persians into an army and revolted against his grandfather
and father. He defeated them and claimed their throne. Cyrus' military exploits have
become legendary. However, he is best remembered for his policies of peace. His famous
decree in 539 BC (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4) freed the captives Babylon had taken
during its harsh rule. Among these prisoners were the Jews taken from Jerusalem in 586
BC.
They were allowed to return to rebuild the Temple and city. Along with this freedom Cyrus
restored the valuable treasures of the Temple taken during the Exile. Since the Jews had
done well in Babylon financially, many of them did not want to return to the wastes of
Judah. From these people Cyrus exacted a tax to help pay for the trip for those who did
wish to rebuild Jerusalem.
Messiah
lineage
place of birth
childhood
ministry
rejection - Ps 118:22
death - Isaiah 53
resurrection - Psalm 16:9-10, Job 19:25
Gen 22:5
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
External Proofs
Archeology - Secular History - Jewish Nation - Jesus Quotes the OT
Apostles quote the OT - Early Church Fathers Quote the OT
Methods of Transmission
Writings Materials Used to Record Scripture
Languages of the Old Testament
Translation of the Old Testament Hebrew into Greek
Canon of the Old Testament
External Proofs
Archeology
The Existence of the Hittites
The Walls of Jericho
Archeology Review
Secular History
Jewish Nation
Jesus Quotes the OT
Apostles Quote the OT
Early Church Fathers Quote the OT
Gospel of Jesus was preached exclusively from the OT!
Method of Transmission
Autographs & Manuscripts
Autographs
The Original MSS of the OT (autographa) are Not Available
Used, Worn out, Destroyed
Copied and Recopied
MSS
The Hebrew text is Amply Represented by both pre- and post-Christian MSS
The first collection of Hebrew MSS made by Benjamin Kennicott (1776-80), published by
Oxford, listed 615 MSS of the OT.
Later Giovanni de Rossi (1784-88) published a list of 731 MSS. The main MSS discoveries in
modern times are:
The Cairo Geniza (I890). In the Cairo synagogue attic store room alone were discovered
some 200,000 MSS and fragments. 10,000 of these are Biblical.
The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered between 1947 and 1960 in a cave on the western Dead
Sea shore near a ruin called Khirbet Qumran. Eleven caves from the Qumran area have
since yielded manuscripts, mostly in small fragments.
These date between 200 B.C. and A.D. 70, mostly around the lifetime of Jesus.
2. Some non-biblical Jewish books known from elsewhere (such as First Enoch and
Jubilees);
The Dead Sea Scroll Old Testament (DSS. OT) essentially the same as our modern
OT!
The total number of OT Hebrews MSS fragments throughout the world is enormous!
Since we no longer have the original manuscripts how can we be sure that the
manuscript copies we have are still the Word of God?
Textual Transmission
How can we be sure that our present MSS are reliable?
To answer this question, we need to explore the way scribes copied the original manuscripts
of the Old Testament and passed the copies belong to us. Scholars call this process textual
transmission.
Scribes
• When the Old Testament writers finished their scrolls, there were no copying
machines or printing presses to duplicate their writing for the public. They depended
on scribes - men who patiently copied the Scriptures by hand when extra copies
were needed and when the original scrolls became too worn to use any longer. The
scribes attempted to make exact copies of the original scrolls, and the scribes who
followed them attempted to make exact copies of the copies.
• By the time Jesus was born, the most recent Old Testament book (Malachi) had been
copied and recopied over a span of more than four hundred years; the books that
Moses wrote had been copied this way for more than fourteen hundred years. Yet
during that time the scribes guarded the Old Testament text very well.
Sopherim
Jeremiah is the first to mention the scribes as a professional group in Jer. 8:8
• The Hebrew word sopherim literally means "the counters”; the early scribes earned
this title because they counted every letter of every book of Scripture to make sure
they didn't leave out anything.
• Before he began his work each day, the scribe would test his reed pen by dipping it
in ink and writing the name Amalek, then crossing it out (cf. Deut. 25:19). Then he
would say, "I am writing the Torah in the name of its sanctity and the name of God
in its sanctity."
• The scribe would read a sentence in the manuscript he was copying, repeat it aloud,
and then write it. Each time he came to the name of God, he would say, "I am
writing the name of God for the holiness of His name." If he made an error in writing
God's name, he had to destroy the entire sheet of papyrus or vellum that he was
using.
• After the scribe finished copying a particular book, he would count all of the words
and letters it contained. Then he checked this tally against the count for the
manuscript that he was copying. He counted the number of times a particular word
occurred in the book, and he noted the middle word and the middle letter in the
book, comparing all of these with his original. By making these careful checks, he
hoped to avoid any scribal errors.
Writing Materials
Clay tablets – Not Very portable
Papyrus – Not Very Durable
Vellum – Both Portable and Durable
Paper – Not available
Scrolls and Codices (Codex) – Two Binding Methods
Disposal – Unrepairable Copies Destroyed
ׁקדש
(note that Hebrew reads right to left)
We will use phonemes from English (the basic symbols that represent sounds) to represent
those Hebrew characters:
קדשq d sh
= קדשqdsh = the idea of holiness
qadosh = holy
qodesh = holiness
qadash = he was holy
yiqdosh = he will be holy
eqadash = I will be holy
qidshu = be ye holy
qaddeshu = make holy
Meqaddesh = making holy
yithqaddashu = they will sanctify themselves
None of the vowel sounds were written. They had to be supplied by the reader
from memory !
ׁקדש
The q d sh sounds could represent:
holy, holiness, he was holy, he will be holy,
I will be holy, be ye holy, make holy,
making holy, they will sanctify themselves
Even though it was a simple language, with a limited vocabulary Biblical Hebrew required
the reader to know the content first in order to be able to read it!
Languages of the OT
From the time King David, the sopherim had used a round Paleo-Hebrew (early Hebrew) script
to copy the Old Testament manuscripts, because they could write it on parchment, unlike the
wedge-shaped cuneiform script of the Canaanites.
An important change in the Hebrew language occurred around 500 BC. Aramaic had become
the common language of commerce and education in the Near East. The sopherim began using
a square Aramaic script that they learned during their Exile in Babylon.
Papyrus manuscripts from a Jewish colony on Elephantine Island (in the N Delta) prove that the
old cursive script was no longer used in 250 BC. The Dead Sea scrolls cover this period of
transition; some of these are written in the rounded Paleo-Hebrew script, but most are in the
square Aramaic.
Note that Hebrew scribes did not begin using the Aramaic language; they simply borrowed its
script and used it to express their own Hebrew words. They could do this because both Hebrew
and Aramaic were Semitic languages, and their scripts stood for the same alphabet, which in
turn signified many of the same sounds in both languages. (We see a modern example of this
in English and French. Since they were both shaped by the same classical language, Latin, their
alphabets and some of their sounds are the same.)
When Hebrew scribes had borrowed the Aramaic script, they also started borrowing Aramaic
words and phrases to express traditional Hebrew ideas just as we commonly use the French
words coiffure and lingerie). Gradually they came to insert Aramaic words into the text to take
the place of older Hebrew words that they no longer used. And sometimes they added editorial
notes in Aramaic to clarify what the text said; Jeremiah 10:11 is such a note.
Vowels
Paleo-Hebrew had no vowels, and early scribes probably used dots to separate their words,
as the Phoenicians did. They did not put spaces between words, as we do. In the tenth
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century BC, the Arameans (who lived in what is now Syria) had begun putting special letters
at the end of each word to indicate final long vowels.
Two centuries later, Moabites of Canaan began doing the same, and they passed the idea on
to the Hebrew scribes.
After the Exile, Hebrew scribes began to associate four of the Hebrew consonants with
vowel sounds aleph א =a heh ח =e vav ו =o yud י =i
Language experts call these letters the matres lectionis (Latin, "mothers of reading"). But
the Hebrew scribes did not develop a system for showing the vowel sounds until after AD
500.
A person who read an Old Testament manuscript in the time of Jesus found a continuous
string of letters, and had only the three simple devices (dots between words, final long
vowels, and the matres lectionis) to guide him in identifying, breaking up and pronouncing
the words. He had to supply a good deal, in fact, from memory.
For example, let us say we were going to write Isaiah 61:1 (in English) the way it would
have appeared in the scroll that Jesus read in the synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4: 18): "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me ..." If we use the letters from our
English translation but write it in the old Hebrew style, it would look something like this
TH.SPRT.F.TH.LRD.S.PN.M.BCS.H.H.NNTD.M.
That's not easy to read, is it? But Hebrew and other Semitic languages ran from right to
left; so to get a better picture of what the verse looked like, try this:
.M.DTNN.H.H.SCB.M.NP.S.DRL.HT.F.TRPS.HT
Aramaic
Language close to Hebrew
Became the spoken language of Jews in Palestine
Six chapters of Daniel and four chapters of Ezra
Septuagint
The Old Testament has come down to us in other languages besides Hebrew and Aramaic.
After 300 BC, Greek versions began to appear.
A community of 70 Greek-speaking Jewish scholars in Alexandria compiled a Greek version
of the Old Testament called the Septuagint or LXX.
Cannon of O.T.
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Definition:
• Greek "kanon", meaning a rod
• Hebrew "quan", meaning a reed
Books of Old & New Testament measuring up to the standard of Scripture established before
and used in the Septuagint
Centuries before Christ
Confirmed by:
• Jews - historic & contemporary
• Essenes
• Jesus
• Apostles
• The Early Church Fathers
Continue reading ‘The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times’ and finish before
Mid-Term Test.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Internal Proofs
Theistic View
Theme and Scope
Fulfilled Prophecy
External Proofs
Apostolic Martyrs – eye witnesses sealing their testimony with their blood
Early Christian Martyrs – close enough to verify and convinced enough to die
Historical Corroboration – Josephus, Tacitus, etc.
Existence and Persistence of the Church
Internal Proofs
Given by God then kept by God (Theistic View)
Theme and Scope
The new is in the old contained, the old is in the new explained.
Fulfilled Prophecy
Genesis 12:3 “descendant of Abraham” Matthew 1:1; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:16
Psalm 110:4 “ministered as a priest (though not a Levite)” Hebrews 5:1-10; 7:1-28
Isaiah 53:3 “rejected by the Jews” John 1:11; 5:43; Luke 23:18; Acts 3:14-15
Isaiah 35:5-6 “deaf, dumb, blind and lame healed” Luke 7:22
Isaiah 61:1 “good news preached to the poor and broken hearted” Luke 7:22
Isaiah 50:6 “beaten and spit upon” Mark 14:65, Matthew 27:30
Psalm 22:6-8 “taunted with ‘No help from God for you!’” Matthew 27:39-43
Psalm 22:18 “clothing parceled out, but one piece gambled for whole” John 19:23-24
Psalm 22:7 “insulted while dying with wagging heads and scorn” Matthew 27:39
Hosea 6:2 “rise from the dead on the third day” Matthew 27:57-28:6
Matthew 27:57-28:6
• Christ was in the tomb for the part of one day, a whole day and the part of another
day… legally three days as reckoned by the Jews, but closer to two days if reckoned
by the hour meter on the tomb.
External Proofs
Apostolic Martyrs – eye witnesses sealing their testimony with their blood
Early Christian Martyrs – close enough to verify and convinced enough to die
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Canon - Measuring device. Word used to describe those books of the Old and New
Testament that measured up to the standard of Scripture.
Must have been accepted from the beginning by the Church as Scripture
Did not gradually attain to the status of Scripture
Immediate acceptance and recognition by the Church as Scripture
Many pseudepigrapha and extra canonical writings
Canon Complete
By the close of the first century all of the NT books were in circulation
Not all books available in every location at first nor was the canon collated
Second century early church fathers Irenaeus of Lyons first used the terms OT and NT
He quoted the 4 Gospels and included quotations from all of the NT books except Philemon
and 3 John
The Muratorian Canon at the close of the 2nd century listed all of the books in the NT except
for Hebrews, James and the two epistles of Peter
The third council of Carthage in 397 AD recognized the NT canon of 27 books
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History of Transmission
Pre-Press
Hand copied manuscripts
"Sopherim" - counters
Destruction of mistakes
Disposal of worn out manuscripts
Post-Press
Guttenberg's Bible
French philosopher, Voltaire, 1694-1778 his house became a Bible publishing house.
The Bible has become the all time best-seller
Translations
Hegesippus quotes from Syriac Version about 150 AD
Jerome's Latin Vulgate
383 AD completed the Gospels
385 AD completed the NT
386 AD moved to Bethlehem to study Hebrew
405 AD completed OT
Theories of Translation
"Formal Equivalence": the translator attempts to render the exact words, form for form, or
word for word of the original language into the receptor language.
"Dynamic Equivalence"
The reproduction in a receptor language (e.g., English) of the closest natural equivalent of
the source language (e.g., Hebrew or Greek) message, first in terms of meaning, and
second in terms of style.
Examples:
Strictly literal:
• New American Standard Bible
Literal:
• New King James Version
• Revised Standard Version
• New American Bible
Thought-for-thought:
• New International Version
• New Jerusalem Bible
• Revised English Bible
• New Jewish Version
Paraphrase:
• The Living Bible
• The Message Bible
Continue reading ‘The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times’ and finish before
Mid-Term Test.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Special Revelation - given to some for all: spoken, written, Walking Word
General inspiration
"To effect with an emotion or thought and thus influence or stimulate to action."
Can be positive or negative, e.g., "inspired poem" - "inspired with fear."
Special inspiration
Theopneustos – God Breathed
Process by which God caused His Special Revelation to be communicated to man.
Scripture:
Jer 1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD
said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Cor 2:13 (NIV) This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom
but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
2 Pet 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Verbal Inspiration and Plenary Inspiration (Plenary will be covered in next session)
Verbal Inspiration
Definition: each word of the original text is inspired
Examples:
Each word
Prov 30:5-6 (KJV) Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in
him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Prov 30:5-6, Rev 22:18-19, Deut 4:2
Each tense
Mat 22:31-32 (KJV) But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that
which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
_____________________________________________________________________
Galatians 3:29
In Christ we are the seed.
Each gender
1 Tim 2:1 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same
commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
1 Tim 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to
be in silence.
Each number
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:
for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Plenary Inspiration
Proofs of Inspiration
Methods of Special Inspiration
The Bible Is Inspired – not the Bible characters
What does that mean for Christian doctrine, practice and living?
Examples:
Exodus 34:27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of
these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
1 Chr 28:19 "All this," David said, "I have in writing from the hand of the LORD upon me,
and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan."
Luke 1:1-3 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things
accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
servants of the word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having
investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive
order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things
you have been taught.
2 Tim 3:16 (NASB) All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness;
External
The Church: survival in spite of enemies without and within, substitution
The Believer: transformed lives, testimonies sealed in blood
The Bible: survival unadulterated over the centuries
The Bible is inspired - not men - the Bible records the lies, mistakes, sins, etc. of men, but
do not lie itself.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Review
Revelation – Truth Revealed
General Revelation: nature, history, conscience
Special Revelation: spoken, written, walking Word
Inspiration
General Inspiration: to effect with emotion or thought
Special Inspiration: process by which God conveyed the Special Revelation to man
1 Cor 2:10-13
1 John 2:27
Definition Review
Infallible – cannot fail
Inerrant – without error
Immutable – cannot be changed
Science books change their avowed theories
Even religions change
God’s Word never changes
Because Scripture is God Breathed
2 Timothy 3:16-17
2 Timothy 4:1-2
Faith as Religion - built upon the Infallible, Inerrant, Immutable Word of God
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Apologetics
The study of defending Christian Doctrine.
Views on inspiration
Scripture – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Early Church Fathers - Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian
Medieval Fathers - Augustine, Thomas Aquinas
Reformation Fathers - Martin Luther, John Calvin
Orthodoxy - A.A. Hodge, B.B. Warfield
Liberalism - Harold DeWolfe, Harry Emerson Fosdick
Fundamentalism - John R. Rice
Neoorthodoxy - Karl Barth, Emil Brunner
Liberal-Evangelical - C.S. Lewis
Neoevangelical - G.C. Berkouwer, Jack Rogers (Fuller Seminary)
"I believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible and that it is the infallible, inerrant
and immutable Word of God and the sole source of authority for all faith and practice."
What Greek text is your English translation based on? Does illumination imply a private
interpretation?
1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
II Tim. 3:16,17; II Peter 1:21
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son
and Holy Ghost. Gen. 1:26; Matt. 3:16; John 14:16
3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life,
in His miracles, in His substitutionary and atoning death through His shed blood, in
His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His
personal return in power and glory. John 8:58; Heb. 9:11-14; Rom. 5:8; Acts
1:10,11
4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man regeneration by the Holy
Spirit is absolutely essential. John 3:3
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the
Christian is enabled to live a godly life. John 14:25-26
6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved
unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of
damnation. John 5:28
7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, who have the
mutual responsibility of helping each other grown in grace and knowledge of Jesus
Christ. Eph. 4:4-6; Gal. 6:1-10
At the end of this session, you will be able to answer the following:
What is hermeneutics?
Why is hermeneutics necessary?
What is required of the Biblical interpreter?
2 Timothy 3:16
New International Version (NIV)
16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness,
Hermeneutics
What is hermeneutics?
Why is hermeneutics necessary?
What is required of the Biblical interpreter?
What must be avoided for correct interpretation?
What tools are required for correct interpretation?
What preparation is necessary?
Word study
12 circumstantial questions to ask
What is Hermeneutics?
Defined: The Science of Interpretation - Especially Biblical Interpretation
Described: Establishes and classifies principles, methods and rules by which the meaning an
author can be ascertained.
“Choose God's will and you'll know the doctrine..." If you desire God’s will then you will
know the truth. John 7:17
God is working in you to both will and do His good pleasure…" Phil 2:13
At the end of this session, you will be able to answer the following:
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
A. There are over 200 distinct figures of speech some of which have 30-40 variations!
B. Figures may be classified as to whether they affect the words or affect the thought.
C. THREE Classification of figures of speech:
1. Figures involving omission (ellipsis) where something is omitted in the words
themselves or in the sense conveyed by them.
2. Figures involving addition (pleonasm) where words are added by way of
repetition, amplification.
3. Figures involving change where words are changed in meaning, order and
application.
D. If you fail to take into account figures of speech you will misinterpret Scripture!
Digression - the subject actually changes to another subject. Sometimes what starts as a
Parenthesis ends up becoming a Digression if there is no return to the original subject.
Chiasm – A chiasm is a writing style that uses a unique repetition pattern for clarification
and/or emphasis
Correspondence
Parallelism
Alternation
Introverted
Complex
Comes from the Greek letter X (chi)
Galatians 2:16
knowing that a man is justified
not by the works of the law
but [ justified ] by faith in Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
that we might be justified by faith in Christ
and not by the works of the law;
for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Ellipsis - something is missing! You the reader must supply it. In the example of a Chiasm
there was a word missing in Galatians 2:16 that the attentive reader would automatically
supply. Some translations supply the Ellipsis and indicate it by putting the text in italics
but [ justified ] by faith in Jesus Christ
This is not adding to the Word of God! To not supply the Ellipsis would actually be taking
away from the Word of God!
BUT – Who supplies the Ellipsis?
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Idiomatic usage
“Hebraisms” and Greek idioms
Those who are ignorant of Hebrew and Greek idioms make many mistakes trying
to understand what the Bible is saying!
Using the definition of Figures of Speech, identify, the figures of speech used by Jesus in
Matthew 7.
Verse: Figure:
7-8 Acrostic
16 Antithesis
12 Apostrophe
21-23 Climax
3-5 Hyperbole
9-10, 16 Interrogation
3 Irony
2, 15 Metaphor
24-27 Parable
24,26 Simile
17-18 Synecdoche
6 Synthetic Proverb
Book to Study
“Figures of Speech in the Bible Explained and Illustrated” by Ethelbert Bullinger
ISBN-13: 978-1614271949
Bullinger sets out 217 distinct figures of speech present in Scripture. He gives for each the
pronunciation and etymology of its name, and then a number of passages of Scripture in
which it appears, accompanied by a full explanation.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
2. TAKE THE WORDS IN THE SENSE THAT THE WRITER NORMALLY USED THEM
The “writer’s context” indicates how the writer intended his words to be
understood. This can change over a lifetime and why a Biographical Study is
important.
3. TAKE THE WORDS IN THE SENSE THAT THE PHRASE INDICATES also called the
"SHORT CONTEXT"
Examples of context-sensitive words: meaning depends on usage within the passage.
The word "Faith" system of belief or act of trusting
The word "Salvation" from disease or from sin
The word "Grace" free, unmerited favor or God-given gift / ability / ministry
The word "Flesh" meat, tissue or sin nature
The word "Blood" red, viscose liquid or life
Example: the Greek word Koinonia/Koinonos
Note: The Greek word koinonia will be used later in the 'Topical Studies session.”
Communion 2 Cor 13:14
Partake 1 Cor 10:20-21
Participation 2 Cor 6:14
Partnership 2 Cor 8:23
Fellowship 1 Cor 1:9
Benevolence 2 Cor 8:4
Contribution Rom 15:26
Distribution(OKJV) / Sharing 2 Cor 9:13
Communication / Sharing 1 Tim 6:18; Heb 13:16
Communicating / Sharing Faith Philemon 1:6
Partakers Matt 23:30; 2 Cor 1:7; 1 Pet 5:1; 2 Pet 1:4
Companions Heb 10:33
Partner(s) Luke 5:10; Philemon 1:17
How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written
already)
The whole passage from Ephesians 1-3 (specifically 1:9 to 3:12) explains what is
meant by the word ‘mystery’ and we understand that it was something that had
been unknown, but was now being made known – not ‘mysterious’ – Not mystery
religion
b) Exact parallels: Less specific than a quote but directly addressing the same
subject
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge / Nave’s Topical Bible
c) ‘Proof Texting’ is not valid – Do not take a single verse and attempt to use it
to validate a peculiar doctrine or teaching!
TEST: HERMENEUTICS
All tests and quizzes are open book and open notes. Rote memorization for a test is soon
forgotten. The idea is to learn how to use available resources.
1. Born again for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of
God..." 1 Cor 2:14
2. Love the truth or God will send delusion..." 2 Thess 2:10
3. “Choose God's will and you'll know the doctrine..." If you desire God’s will
then you will know the truth. John 7:17
4. Desire the sincere milk of the Word..." 1 Peter 2:2
5. Receive it as it is indeed: The Word of God..." 1 Thess 2:13
1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is being spoken to?
3. What is the occasion?
4. What is the intent of the speaker?
5. What is the response of the one(s) spoken to?
6. When is this occurring?
7. Where is this occurring?
8. Where does this appear in Scripture?
9. Are there any parallel passages?
10.Are there any significant numbers?
11.Are there any repeated phrases, words or themes?
12.How is the speaker speaking: plainly or with figures of speech?
Give the name and explain three figures of speech used in the Bible.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Typology (definition)
The relationship between OT & NT typology
The relationship between the type and antitype
Scriptural foundation for typology
Definition of Typology: a type is an Old Testament person, place, thing, or occurrence that
prefigures a person, place, thing, or occurrence found in the New Testament called the
antitype.
acronym PPTO
an OT example is a type
the prefix anti in this case means ‘instead of’ rather than ‘against’
1. A type is inferior to its antitype in that it is only a shadow of the real thing.
2. Not all elements of the type have a direct bearing on the antitype
3. A type differs from a symbol in that it foretells of something to come.
Paul begins and ends this passage with the tupos translated examples.
In between he gives four examples from the OT of God’s people suffering judgment because
of sin.
Luke 24:27
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself.
Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms concerning Me."
John 5:39
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me.
People Ran from Him Ex 34:30 People Ran to Him Mark 9:15
Servant in the House Heb 3:5 Son over the House Heb 3:5-6
40 days on a Mountain Top and Was 40 days in the Desert and was Visited by
Visited by God Ex 34:28 the Devil Matt 4:2
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Classifications of Types
Rules for Interpreting Types
Numerology
Classification of types:
PERSONS:
MELCHIZEDEK – strong type of Christ (Hebrews 5:10; 6:20; 7:1-21)
JOSEPH – unstated strong type of Christ
ADAM and MOSES - "antithetical" types of Christ (Rom 5:14)
INSTITUTIONS:
Sabbath Col 2:16-17
Cities of refuge Heb 6:18
Passover I Cor 5:7
OFFICES:
Prophet Deut 18:15
Priest Heb 10:11-12
King Rev 19:16
EVENTS:
Jonah and the “whale” - Matt 12:39
The Flood - Matt 24:39
Canaan's conquest - Heb 4:8-11
OBJECTS:
Noah's ark 1 Peter 3:21
Tabernacle and furnishings Heb 9:21-23
Brass serpent John 3:14
David's Tabernacle Acts 15:14-16
ACTIONS:
Working at the potter's wheel Jer 18:1-6
Crowning the priest Zech 6:11-13
Interpreting Types
1. Start with the clear statements of the New Testament concerning a type
2. Stay with sound Scriptural doctrine - types are only for illustration
3. Take a type no further than the real point of likeness or contrast
4. If a type is not clearly defined as such in the NT exercise extreme caution
5. Refuse fanciful and farfetched interpretations of types
6. Refuse unwarranted typological illustrations
7. Look for Jesus - the Bible is Christocentric!
Numerology
Definition: The study of the spiritual significance of numbers
Danger:
a) Can be misleading
b) Used by the occult
c) Jews used numbers symbolically
d) Greeks deified mathematical precision
Complete The Strong Type of Joseph: find and record the NT fulfillment of Jesus
Number enigmas (24 definitions, 14 match ups, etc.) are “extra credit”. Some students will
figure these out, and others may not pay attention to them unless you call their attention to
them when reviewing this “test”.
If the students do not do well on any of the open book quizzes in this guide, then you
should help them reassess and reinforce those areas where they should concentrate further
study.
14 Match ups for the 14 Generations from Abe to Dave to Bab to Babe:
1. Psalm 119
2. Matthew 13:52
3. 2 Timothy 2:4-6
4. 1 Corinthians 14:2-4
5. Revelation 20:5
6. Genesis 11:4
7. Romans 6:1
8. John 3:10
9. Luke 15:11-32
10. Ephesians 3:17-21
11. Proverbs 30:33
12. Judges 9:8-15
13. 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
14. Proverbs 12:21
15. Isaiah 40:13
Acrostic 1
Antithesis 4
Antithetical Proverb 14
Apostrophe 5
Climax 10
Fable 12
Hyperbole 6
Interrogation 7
Irony 8
Metaphor 3
Parable 9
Simile 2
Synecdoche 13
Synthetic Proverb 11
Ellipsis 15
1. John believes that God not only word of God. What is missing from Sue's
created the world but that He is still glowing testimony? The Bible is:
watching over it and reveals Himself to
mankind through the Bible. John is: A) inspired B) comprehensive
C) infallible D) inerrant
A) a nice guy B) an Atheist
C) a Deist D) a Theist
6. David Goldstein has a Torah, Nebi'im
2. When I go outside on a clear night and Kethubim. These are:
and look at the stars I am awestruck by
the vastness of God's creation. This is A) Law, Prophets and Writings
an example of: B) bagels, lox and cheese
C) the Septuagint
A) inspiration B) general
revelation
C) Special revelation D) worship
7. Phil told me that the major prophets
are different from the minor prophets.
3. Bob read in the Bible that "the wages He is:
of sin is death." This is an example of:
A) right because the minor prophets are
A) illumination B) general revelation not as important as the major prophets
C) special revelation D) warning B) right because the major prophets
have more prophecies concerning
messiah
4. To study the original language of the C) wrong because God is no respecter of
Old Testament I would have to: persons
D) wrong because "major" and
A) learn Greek B) learn Hebrew "minor" refer to the length of book
C) move to Israel D) eat kosher not to the prophet
9. Carol's NIV has a note at the bottom 11. Gloria sees visions and hears God
of a page that says "oldest and best speak to her. Gloria listens to
manuscripts omit verses ..." Should everything God has to say and then
Carol investigate further? reads the Bible to find verses that
support her revelation. Gloria has:
A) yes; because oldest does not
necessarily mean the best. A) direct access to special revelation
B) yes but; many scholars agree B) experiential theology
with the Greek text translated by the C) Biblical theology
NIV.
C) yes but; no major doctrine is in
dispute because of textual 12. When Jesse found a contradiction in
differences. the Bible he ignored it at first but it
D) no; margin notes are inspired and began to bother him and he eventually
should be accepted without question. left the church because he couldn't trust
religion to be true. He should have:
10. Jim says that the Bible contains the
Word of God. What incorrect view of A) continued to ignore the difficulty
inspiration does he have: B) bought a new Bible
C) explored it - not ignored it
A) thematic insp. B) partial insp.
C) incomplete insp. D) mechanical insp.
T or F Jewish marriages were not consummated until the Rabbi filled out the papers.
T or F Jewish women enjoyed equal rights with the men.
T or F Cloak and tunic were different names for the same garment.
T or F The Jewish calendar had twenty eight days in each month.
T or F The Jewish day began at sundown.
T or F "Herod" was a family name.
T or F Jewish women are more likely to contract cervical cancer.
T or F The "Bundle of the Living" refers to the pouch that held food.
T or F The grape vine is a symbol of the nation Israel.
T or F Joseph walked while Mary rode the donkey.
The amazing Strong Type of Joseph is even more remarkable in that it is not mentioned
as a type in the New Testament. It was left for us to discover its marvelous fulfillment in
Jesus.
At the end of this session, you will have completed the following:
The New Testament writers used the Old Testament typology to demonstrate that Jesus
is the Christ.
What do you think of the fact that none of the New Testament writers mentioned the
strong type of Joseph?
Why didn’t they use such a detailed OT type to demonstrate the amazing fulfillment in
Jesus?
This a great ‘proof’ that the Holy Spirit of God is the author of the Bible who guides His
servants in selecting narratives and facts to include in the Inspired Special Revelation.
The glaring omission by the New Testament writers of the strong type of Joseph proves
to me beyond a shadow of doubt that:
1) The details of the story of Jesus were not contrived or Joseph would have been surely
have been mentioned
At the end of this session, you will have completed the following:
1. John believes that God not only created the world but that he is still watching over it
and reveals Himself to mankind through the Bible. John is:
A) a nice guy B) an Atheist
C) a Deist D) a Theist
2. When I go outside on a clear night and look at the stars I am awestruck by the
vastness of God's creation. This is an example of:
A) inspiration B) general revelation
C) special revelation D) worship
3. Bob read in the Bible that "the wages of sin is death." This is an example of:
A) illumination B) general revelation
C) special revelation D) warning
4. To study the original language of the Old Testament I would have to:
A) learn Greek B) learn Hebrew
C) move to Israel D) eat kosher
5. Sue said that she believes the Bible is the most wonderful book imaginable and while it
might not be in step with modern science that's okay because it was never meant to be a
science textbook anyway. She says it supplies her every need, has never failed her and
is in fact the very word of God. What is missing from Sue's glowing testimony? The
Bible is:
A) inspired B) comprehensive
C) infallible D) inerrant
7. Phil told me that the major prophets are different from the minor prophets. He is:
A) right because the minor prophets are not as important as the major prophets
B) right because the major prophets have more prophecies concerning messiah
C) wrong because God is no respecter of persons
D) wrong because "major" and "minor" refer to the length of book not to the prophet
9. Carol's NIV has a note at the bottom of a page that says "oldest and best manuscripts
omit verses ..." Should Carol investigate further?
10. Jim says that the Bible contains the Word of God. What incorrect view of inspiration
does he have:
A) Thematic Insp. B) Partial Insp.
C) Incomplete Insp. D) Mechanical Insp.
11. Gloria sees visions and hears God speak to her. Gloria listens to everything God has
to say and then reads the Bible to find verses that support her revelation. Gloria has:
A) direct access to special revelation
B) experiential theology
C) Biblical theology
12. When Jesse found a contradiction in the Bible he ignored it at first but it began to
bother him and he eventually left the church because he couldn't trust religion to be true.
He should have:
A) continued to ignore the difficulty
B) bought a new Bible
C) explored it - not ignored it
1. Jewish marriages were not consummated until the Rabbi filled out the papers. False
2. Jewish women enjoyed equal rights with the men. False
3. Cloak and tunic were different names for the same garment. False
4. The Jewish calendar had twenty eight days in each month. True
5. The Jewish day began at sundown. True
6. "Herod" was a family name. True
7. Jewish women are more likely to contract cervical cancer. False
8. The "Bundle of the Living" refers to the pouch that held food. True
9. The grape vine is a symbol of the nation Israel. True
10. Joseph walked while Mary rode the donkey. False
1. The NEW is in the OLD contained; The OLD is in the NEW explained.
2. The Bible is Christocentric .
3. Scripture is its own Best interpreter.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Check the CDI website for Bible study tools on the web.
www.vmcontenders.org/bible-study-resources/
e-Sword (Windows)
Starting with the best free Bible software program, e-Sword gives you more than you
might expect from a free program, including several free add-on Bible versions,
dictionaries and commentaries. It's easy to use with tutorials, manuals and training
demos all provided for free on the e-Sword Website. An Android version of e-Sword is
also available for free from your phone’s application store.
BibleHub.com
Bibleletterbible.com
BibleGateway.com
© 2016 Village Missions 105 Bibliology version 5.5
Contenders Discipleship Initiative – Bibliology, How to Study the Bible Instructor Guide
BibleGateway.com is my absolute favorite online Bible search tool! It's completely user
friendly and easy to navigate. You can search by passage (verse), keyword or topic. You
can choose multiple versions of the Bible, including many of the contemporary
translations and paraphrases, along with several foreign language translations. The site
also offers a wealth of other Bible study resources such as an audio Bible, commentaries,
e-books, dictionaries and study tools.
Looking Up Words
Make sure you use some of the class time to discuss how to look up a Hebrew or Greek
along with an English word using Strong's Concordance.
The book that would allow you to look up usage of a particular Hebrew or Green word is
still called a concordance but rather than being an English word (or Spanish or any other
language) it would be called a Hebrew Concordance or a Greek Concordance.
Most editions of the book version of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the KJV include
a Hebrew and a Greek Concordance.
Many online or Computer based electronic Bible Study programs also allow you to do a
search on the Hebrew and/or Greek words if you are searching a Bible version that
includes the Strong's numbers. For example, using e-Sword, select the KJV+ (which
includes Strong's numbers) then in the search window type g2842 for instances of
koinonia used in the New Testament.
Note that with e-Sword you can choose to search Strong's numbers with any Bible
version that has the + symbol such as LXX+ (Septuagint) GNT-WH+
(Westcott/Hort Greek New Testament) or even the HOT+ (Hebrew Old Testament
-Tanakh).
Searching on just one number will only give you instances of that particular root word so
you might want to also search on related roots like g2843 and g2844 for instance.
Another thing to keep in mind, is that when you look a word up in Strong's you are only
seeing the 'root' word. That is why we also want you to dig into the TVM
Tense/Voice/Mood of the word. When you actually look at the Hebrew or Greek
manuscript the word may appear differently that in the Strong's entry for that word. This
is because of the TVM.
For example, in English a root word might be fish which could be a noun describing
something that swims in the water or a verb that describes trying to catch the thing that
swims in the water. Additional nouns that come from the root fish are
fishermen/fisherman/fisherwoman descripting the people that try to catch things that
swim in the water. And then there are verbs with tenses such as fished (something that
was done) fishing (something that is being done or will be done: “let's go fishing”) and
the adjective-class words like fishy as a figure of speech that could mean of questionable
veracity (from slippery 'truth') or something stinks (smells like a fish.)
The assignment for this session now appears at the end of Session 12, Part 2.
This might not match information in the video.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
EXEGESIS
Critical examination of a text -
Studying the words in the original language.
EXEGESIS
Answers the question: “What does it say?”
Necessary because of Verbal Inspiration
EXEGESIS
Verbal inspiration applies to original languages:
Hebrew (OT) and Koine Greek (NT)
Differ from English in grammar & structure
EXEGESIS
Hermeneutics answers the question: “What does it mean?”
EXEGESIS comes before HERMENEUTICS
Assign exegesis of 1 John 1:1-2:2. Have your students go past the chapter break -
demonstrate chapter breaks not inspired.
www.preceptaustin.org/new_page_40.htm
ASSIGNMENT: EXEGESIS
The assignment for this session now appears at the end of Session 12, Part 2.
This might not match information in the video.
Examine the morphology of each word of the passage and write down anything of
note.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
πρὸς ἐλεγμόν
pros elegchos
prahs ellieKHASS
for reproof
πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσις
pros epanorthosis
prahs eppanORthosis
for correcting
πρὸς παιδεία
pros paideia
prahs pieDIEah
for training
τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ
ten en dikaiosune
tehn ehn deekiahSOONeh
in righteousness
EXEGESIS
Critical examination of a text -
Studying the words in the original language.
EXEGESIS
Answers the question “What does it say?”
Necessary because of Verbal Inspiration
EXEGESIS
Verbal inspiration applies to original languages:
Hebrew (OT) and Koine Greek (NT)
Differ from English in grammar & structure
EXEGESIS
Hermeneutics answers the question “What does it mean?”
EXEGESIS comes before HERMENEUTICS
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of
life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have
seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our
fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to
you that your[a] joy may be full.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light
and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in
darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses
us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is
not in us.
2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins,
we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL STUDY
Answer the 12 internal questions:
1. Who is speaking?
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY
• Author of passage under study
• Others named in passage under study
• Brings personal context to study
• Allows application of Hermeneutics 2nd rule: “the writer’s context”
There is a difference between young John the disciple and aged Apostle John. How are
we going to find out the difference?
Compare the three Synoptic gospels with the Gospel of John and how he writes about
himself.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
God the Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Antichrist, Devil, Cain, Able (Cain’s brother), false
prophets/spirits.
Part 2 Write a paper describing the change that took place in John.
Remember:
Any doctrine of the Bible is a doctrine of the whole Bible ~ not just one or two verses.
With Topical Studies we search all of Scripture to let the Bible be its own best
commentator Tools for Topical Studies
Topical Bibles
1. Nave’s
2.Thompson’s Chained Reference
Example Topic
κοινός – common (unholy)
κοινόω – make common (defile)
κοινωνία – fellowship
κοινωνέω – to share with others
κοινωνικός – willing to give
κοινωνός – Companion
Fellowship
Communion
Participation
6. Use a Concordance or Nave’s Topical Bible or any other resource you need.
At the end of this session, you will be able to explain the following:
Remember:
Any doctrine of the Bible is a doctrine of the whole Bible ~ not just one or two verses.
With topical studies we search all of Scripture to let the Bible be its own best
commentator.
Repeated words/concepts
Emphasized words/concepts
A “Word Cloud” is a visual representation of the frequency of word usage. What do you
think a Word Cloud of 1 John 1:1-2:2 would look like? I used www.wordle.net and
entered the NKLV English text of 1 John 1:1-2:2 and this is the Word Cloud that was
generated.
The Short context (how the word is being used) is the reason why this same Greek word
needs many different English words to translate it ‘in context’.
Fellowship with God seems to be the ultimate message of 1 John: To Know God >Love
God > Walk with Him in the Light > To Walk with Him in the Light >Fellowship with Him
Fundamental Principle:
The Bible is its own best Interpreter / Commentator
Paraphrase
1. A restatement of a text in another form to clarify meaning
2. A restatement of a text in other words as a studying or teaching device
"Formal Equivalence"
• translator attempts to render the exact words of the original language into the
receptor language [parent>daughter]
• aka “form for form” or “word for word”
• Requires interpretation of the short context
• Does not attempt to resolve figures of speech nor take into account idiomatic usage
“Dynamic Equivalence"
• reproduction in a receptor language of the closest natural equivalent of the source
language message
• aka “thought for thought”
• first in terms of meaning second in terms of style
• translation aims to have the same dynamic impact upon modern readers as the
original had upon its audience
Process of Paraphrasing
• Re-phrase the passage to bring out the dynamic equivalence – this is NOT a
translation
• Involves interpretation - must be supported by hermeneutics
• Review and reassessment will be necessary
• Provides the basis for Biblical teaching and preaching
Nehemiah 8:8 “they read distinctly, gave the sense and helped the people understand
the meaning”
Start work on the paraphrase assignment in class in small groups and then complete the
paraphrase individually outside of class. A follow up session should be devoted to sharing
the results of this paraphrase assignment.
For those using these videos as a distance learner, please share your completed
paraphrase assignment with another trusted individual for assessment and critique.
Define:
Explain the relationship between the Old and the New Testament:
The New is in the Old contained, the Old is in the New explained
What two main languages was the Bible originally written in?
Hebrew and Greek
Why are the oldest manuscripts considered not to be the best manuscripts?
Do not agree with Majority text in some areas, three main ones do not agree
with each other in some areas
Define:
1. Exegesis: the critical explanation or analysis of text, a word study.
2. Hermeneutics: The science of interpretation, especially biblical interpretation.
3. Type: Person, Place, Thing or Occurrence in the OT foreshadowing a PPTO in the
New Testament.
4. Antitype: PPTO in the NT that was prefigured by the type found in the OT.
Antitype superior.
5. Parallel Passage: Scripture passages dealing with same subjects.
6. Parallel Exclusion: absence of a proposed interpretation of a passage in other
parallel passages.
7. Idiom: localized figure of speech in which words do not convey their usual
meaning.
8. Illumination: Holy Spirit gives understanding to the human heart.
© 2016 Village Missions 133 Bibliology version 5.5
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1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is being spoken to?
3. What is the occasion?
4. What is the intent of the speaker?
5. What is the response of the one(s) spoken to?
6. When is this occurring?
7. Where is this occurring?
8. Where does this appear in Scripture?
9. Are there any parallel passages?
10.Are there any significant numbers?
11.Are there any repeated phrases, words or themes?
12.How is the speaker speaking: plainly or with figures of speech?
Genesis 12:3 “descendant of Abraham” Matthew 1:1; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:16
Psalm 110:4 “ministered as a priest (though not a Levite)” Hebrews 5:1-10; 7:1-
28
Isaiah 53:3 “rejected by the Jews” John 1:11; 5:43; Luke 23:18; Acts 3:14-15
Isaiah 35:5-6 “deaf, dumb, blind and lame healed” Luke 7:22
Isaiah 61:1 “good news preached to the poor and broken hearted” Luke 7:22
Isaiah 50:6 “beaten and spit upon” Mark 14:65, Matthew 27:30
Psalm 22:6-8 “taunted with ‘No help from God for you!’” Matthew 27:39-43
Psalm 22:18 “clothing parceled out, but one piece gambled for whole” John 19:23-
24
Psalm 22:7 “insulted while dying with wagging heads and scorn” Matthew 27:39
Daniel 9:24-26 “died at the appointed time foretold to Daniel” note 1 below
Hosea 6:2 “rise from the dead on the third day” Matthew 27:57-28:6 note 2 below
Note 1: Seven seventies (490 years) is the determined time. The death of Christ
happened at the Passover in the month Nisan, in the four thousand seven hundred
and forty-sixth year of the Julian period. Four hundred and ninety years, reckoned
back from the above year, leads us directly to the month Nisan in the four thousand
two hundred and fifty-sixth year of the same period; the very month and year in
which Ezra had his commission from Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia, to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
Note 2: Christ was in the tomb for the part of one day, a whole day and the part of
another day. Legally three days as reckoned by the Jews, but closer to two days if
reckoned by the hour meter on the tomb.
GLOSSARY
Apocrypha - The Apocrypha is the title given to 14 books included in the Roman
Catholic cannon of Scripture between the OT and the NT Apocrypha means "hidden
things" and originally implied that these writings were only for the "inner circle - kept
for the wise among the people. Later it came to identify the obscurity of origin and
authorship of these books. They were never accepted as Scripture by the Jews and
were never quoted by Jesus, the Apostles. The early Church did not accept them as
Scripture.
Apologetics – Presents a rational basis for the Christian faith, defending the faith
against objections.
Bibliology – The Study of the Bible, including its origin, preservation, interpretation,
inerrancy, infallibility, canonicity, authority, and languages.
Biblical Worldview - A personal perspective on humanity, deity and the rest of the
universe based on the Bible. The Protestant biblical worldview includes eight beliefs:
• Absolute truth exists.
• The source of moral truth is the Bible.
• The Bible is without error in all of its teachings.
• That eternal spiritual salvation cannot be earned through works while on
earth.
• Jesus led a sinless life while on earth.
• Everyone has a responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others.
• Satan is a living entity, not just a symbol of evil.
• God is the creator of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient who still rules the
universe today.
Canon –canonicity – The issue of what books should be included as Holy Scripture
which has been settled. There are 66 books that are orthodox to all Christians.
Catastrophism – The doctrine that major changes in the earth's crust result from
catastrophes rather than evolutionary processes.
Exegesis – From the Greek meaning to “lead out,” it is the critical explanation or
interpretation of Biblical text.
Gospel - Gospel means “good news” or “glad tidings,” specifically the Good News of
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for our salvation, healing, and provision; and the
hope of eternal life that Jesus made available to us by God's grace.
Idiom – Localized figure of speech in which words do not convey their usual
meaning.
Inerrancy of the Scriptures - Scripture, having been inspired by God the Holy
Spirit, is free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit. The sinfulness and human limits of
the writers of Scripture did not in introduce distortion or falsehood into God’s Word.
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Koine - The common form of Greek spoken and written during Hellenistic and
Roman antiquity. Koine is the language of the Christian New Testament, of the
Septuagint (the 3rd-century BC Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), and of most
early Christian theological writing by the Church Fathers. Koine Greek is also known
as "Biblical", "New Testament" or "patristic” Greek.
Papyrus - Writing material made from papyrus reed, not very durable.
Septuagint - A version of the Old Testament, so called because it was the work of
seventy interpreters.
Sopherim - Jewish scholar and teacher (of law as based upon the Old Testament and
accumulated traditions). The Hebrew word sopherim literally means "the counters;" the
early scribes earned this title because they counted every letter of every book of
Scripture to make sure they didn't leave out anything.
Special Revelation - Given to some for all: spoken, written, Walking Word.
Synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Synoptic means with one eye,
signifying that the synoptic gospels, as opposed to the gospel according to John,
tend to have the same perspective on Jesus’ ministry.
Testament - The name of each general division of the canonical books of the sacred
Scriptures; the Old Testament; the New Testament. The name is equivalent to
covenant, and in our use of it, we apply it to the books which contain the old and
new dispensations; that of Moses, and that of Jesus Christ.
Vellum - writing material from animal skins, durable, also called parchment.
INDEX
A F
Acrostic, 73
Fable, 70
Allegory, 70
Formal Equivalence, 130
Anthropomorphism, 71
Antithesis, 73
G
Apocrypha, 32
Apocryphal books, 33 General Epistles, 36
Apologetics, 65 General Revelation, 56
Apostrophe, 71
Apothegm, 73 H
Aramaic, 48
Authority, 63 Hermeneutics, 18
Historical book, 29
B Hyperbole, 72
Biblical Culture, 18 I
Biblical Interpreter, 68
Biblical Timeline, 14, 22 Illumination, 62
Inspiration, 56
C Instructor Checklist, 11
Interrogatory, 71
Chiasm, 74 Irony, 72
Classroom Setup, 8
Clay tablets, 45 M
Climax, 73
Course Goal, 15 Metaphor, 70
Course Schedule, 16 Metonymy, 72
D N
Dead Sea Scrolls, 44 Numerology, 89
Digression, 71
Doctrinal Statement of Faith, 66 P
Dynamic Equivalence, 55
Papyrus, 45
Parable, 73
E Paradox, 73
Ellipsis, 74 Paraphase, 130
Enigma, 72 Parenthesis, 71
Pentateuch, 29
Personification, 71
Plenary Inspiration, 59 S
Poetical books, 30
Process of Paraphrasing, 131 Scribes, 45
Promoting the Class, 8 Scrolls and Codices, 45
Septuagint, 48
P Seven Rules of Hermeneutics, 130
Simile, 70
Prophecy, 36 Sopherim, 45
Prophetical books, 30 Special Revelation, 56
Proverb, 73 Statement of Faith Concerning, 65
Pseudepigrapha, 34
Pseudepigraphical books, 34
Student Evaluations, 11
Symbol, 72
Synecdoche, 72
T
Theistic Belief Systems, 19
Torah, 143
Type, 72
Typology, 85
U
Uniformitarianism, 143
V
Vellum, 45