Thinking about the Bible

Thinking about the Bible

Thinking about the Bible: Divine Revelation and the Scriptures

Bring your questions and look forward to exploring the Bible’s history and how we might read it in the context of a God who chooses to reveal himself to his Creation through Words and Actions.

4-week CBBC Teaching Series
Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30pm at CBBC
with Dr Stephen Spence
June 20, June 27, July 4, July 11

June 20: The Nature of Revelation

  1. The Creator God is unknowable (God must self-reveal; God reveals through encounter because “knowing” is about “relationship with” not “knowing about”).
  2. Both General Revelation and Special Revelation is inadequate because they describe a passive God who is apprehended rather than an active God who encounters.
  3. All Revelation is Sacramental – God choosing to meet with us through our senses. What might it mean that God speaks to me/us?
  4. The Bible is a form of authoritative Sacramental Revelation – God encounters the community of his people through a written text.

June 27: The History of the Bible

  1. How God’s word took on written form – manuscripts, editors, and scribes.
  2. The development of a canon of Scripture. The role of the Church.
  3. Key debates: inspiration (God-breathedness is a living act), inerrancy, authority.
  4. Translations.

July 04: Hearing God through Scripture

  1. The nature of meaning: author’s intent, text analysis, reader’s response
  2. The otherness of the Bible: Genres, Historical/Cultural contexts
  3. The Bible as a Grand Narrative (in six acts)
  4. The purpose of the Bible and the challenge of hearing the word of God to us
  5. Jesus is the Word of God

July 11: Questions and Discussion raised by the Study

  1. Submitted questions collected over the 3 weeks
  2. Spontaneous questions and discussions

Explore Some Resources: The Bible Project is a free resource that helps you explore the context and content of the Bible. Check out their four-part series: What is the Bible (5’47”), The Story of the Bible (5’17”), Literary Styles (4’48”), and Ancient Jewish Meditation Literature (4’09”).