GodStory
BIBLE STUDIES
Digging Out The Ore
What can biblical scholarship, theological studies and scholars teach us?
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was one of Scotland’s most famous personalities. He was a writer, poet, a storyteller, and one of the greatest historical novelists. One of the most influential things he ever wrote was a short quote concerning the esteem he placed on knowledge of the Scriptures.
"The most learned, acute and diligent student cannot, in the longest life, obtain an entire knowledge of this one volume. The more deeply he works the mine, the richer and more abundant he finds the ore." -Scott
The quote should serve as an "agenda” for us as Christians. This collection of studies will guide a group through issues of interest regarding biblical, exegetical, or theological studies.
Storycraft & Bible Study
How does understanding "story" help us understand the Bible?
The Bible is a collection of stories, poetic and wisdom literature, and prophetic writings. From the first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch, through the following thirty-five books of narrative history, poetry, and prophecy one finds what is called “torah,” which means “instruction,” in Hebrew rather than “law” per se. These historical and biographical narrative materials are believed by many to be the oldest collection of stories in the world.
Following this ancient literary tradition is a collection of writings called the New Testament. There are four narrative writings called Gospels with a book of early church history attached to them. There also exists a collection of letters written during the period of the historical narrative called Acts of Apostles. Even though these writings are considered “sacred literature” they are literature none-the-less; and as literature they are best studied as literature; or more specifically, narrative compositions or “stories.” In this course the student is introduced to the discipline called in academic circles “compositional analysis,” but culturally called the “art of storycraft,” the tradition of the making of stories, the telling of stories, and the interpretation of stories.
The Gospel According To Paul
The revelation or “good news” that God himself was coming into the world to bring about the deliverance of mankind was foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures. This was, "made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God." The apostles and prophets wrote of the coming of God into the world in person (see: Isaiah 40:3-5, with Luke 3:4-6). Paul said that this “knowledge” or “wisdom of God” was too great for
the world to accept, even among the greatest thinkers of the world into which God came. This is precisely what Paul says in 1 Cor 2:6-9,
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the accomplished, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this (4) age, who are coming to nothing. (7) No, we speak of God's secret wisdom (theou sophia en musterio), a wisdom that has been hidden
and that God destined for our glory before time began. (8) None of the rulers/leaders (archontes) of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (9) However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” [Isaiah 64:4] (1 Cor 2:6-9)
Telling The Story
Evangelism In The Early Church
What the earliest Christians believed is of great significance if one is looking for the most essential cause of the growth of this community of faith called “the Way,” presented in Acts of Apostles. The conversions of the early Christians came not from the miraculous manifestations of the apostles of Christ; rather, they came from the message of God, the story of Jesus called the gospel - the good news that the long awaited Messiah had come. The long awaited Anointed One was Jesus of Nazareth and his story is called by Paul, “the power of God unto salvation,” (Rom 1:16). The evangelism of the early church was all about this story and their evangelistic endeavors consisted of “Telling the Story” and letting the power intrinsic within that story do it’s work of transfroming the listener.
The Sermon On The Mount
The Teachings Of Jesus
The Sermon on the Mount runs from Matthew chapters 5 through chapter 7. It is prefaced by an editorial comment (5:1-2) and concluded with an editorial comment (7:28-29). What falls in between is a somewhat complex collection of the teachings of Jesus in the form of a sermon. As a compositional piece the body his speech may be broken down into five blocks of teaching material. Each block consists of moral or ethical motifs, all of which contribute to the overall moral theme of the sermon.
Here in this sermon we see the essence of the moral teachings or the ethics of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus’ thinking on moral behavior is to be found in moral character rather than moral codes, the ethical system of first century Judaism.
God Came Down
The Fourth Gospel
There are many grand and intriguing themes running throughout the Fourth Gospel; one theme, however, dominates, the theme of “belief verses disbelief.” In fact, this theme weaves itself throughout the whole composition. John's concern is to inform our faith christologically (i.e., to give content to our faith with reference to the true identity of Nazareth was). But all of this is to one end,viz., that we may believe. During Jesus' ministry many people came to believe in him, while others disbelieved. Why some believed while others did not is a critical question in this Gospel, and it is a question of critical relevance to us today. John's Gospel develops from one text (or scene)
to the next addressing this question. These units of text consist of episodes, monologues or dialogues, and editorial comments in which some aspect of Jesus' Messianic identity is revealed, resulting in either belief or disbelief.
Beliefs of the Early Christians
The Community of Believers
One of the first things the student of the history of Christianity discovers as he follows Christianity’s journey down through the centuries is that there were significant differences between the earliest Christians and Christians of today. The look of the church is very different. The church of the first century was made up of numerous small assemblies (ekklesiai) that met in the homes or small gathering places. There is no trace of the existence a church as an edifice until the fourth century following the edict of Milan by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 AD. Consequently, the worship of the earliest Christians changed from pristine gatherings of small bodies of believers to the culture that as carried Christianity down through the centuries to the present. The beliefs of the earliest Christians (the title of this course) can all be found in the NT writings. The following lessons are a collection of the most essential
beliefs of early Christianity selected so as to give the twenty-first century Christian an opportunity to compare his or her beliefs with beliefs found in the NT, with the intent of reaffirming faithfulness to what Jude called, “the faith once for all delivered to the saints,” (Jude 3).
We Would See Jesus
The Community of Believers
The central figure of the Christian religion is Jesus of Nazareth. But is this the case in the Christianity of the present day, or has this been the case with the Christian religion as it has made its way down through the centuries to the present day? The early Christians
believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah of the Old Testament Scriptures. The New Testament Gospels preserve Christianity's record of this historical figure, Jesus of Nazareth. Who he was believed to be and how that belief transformed the lives of the earliest Christians is the major theme of the New Testament. This study will take up the request of the Greeks who came to Philip in John 12:21 stating, "Sir, we would see Jesus." What is in desperate want today, for the world and for the church, is a greater desire to see Jesus. This series of lesson will provide a look at the Jesus of the Scriptures.
The Life and Teaching of Paul
A Personality Profile of Paul
Why is it important or beneficial to do a personality profile of Saul of Tarsus or Paul the Apostle of Christ? Even though his message is inspired of God, it is still Paul who is the messenger and the message is an expression of his understanding of what has been revealed to him. How he understood what he calls "the gospel" is what we will be looking at in this study.
To Paul, the gospel (story revealed by God) was the power of God with reference to the salvation of the human race. What does he understand by the world salvation (soteri'a)? The answer is found in the whole of his writings, but in 1 Cor 15:1-8, we see the most explicit expression of what he means by this term. What role did the cross (Paul's figure for the ignominious and brutal death of Jesus) in the scheme of his thinking on this subject?
Paul draws from his own scholastic background in biblical studies and his cultural background; especially, his educational and religious training in Tarsus and Jerusalem. But to this must be added his experience of the risen Christ, his exposure to the early Christian community (i.e., the church in Damascus, Antioch, and Jerusalem - Acts 9:19-30; 11:19-30; 13:1-3), as well as Peter and James, not to mention the "missing years" in Arabia and Tarsus (Gal 1:13-2:13).
In The Image Of God
The greatest quest of man is the search for identity; very egocentristic but that’s who man is. “Know thyself” was the challenge of Socrates to the people of ancient Greece. The greatest questions of ancient and modern man have concerned his origins, his purpose, and his destiny. “Who am I?” “From whence did I come?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” have been the most essential questions pursued by man in most every academic discipline of the university, from anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and natural science, to every major religion known to man. But, if man is to ever truly “know himself” he must look beyond himself to the one who created him, in that he is a being created in the image of God, after God’s likeness.
