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Bible Translations

Selected Bibliography– Fee/Stuart chapter 2; How To Choose a Bible Translation for All Its Worth
(Gordan Fee and Mark Strauss), One Bible, Many Versions: Are All Translations Created Equal?
(Dave Brunn); Which Bible Translation Should I Use? A Comparison of Four Major Recent
Versions (ed. Andreas Kostenberger and David Croteau)

Reading Questions

What are the important ideas in the chapter?

 The difference between formal and functional translations include . . .

What is the definition of key words?

 External evidence
 Internal evidence
 Apparatus
What is the authors‟ viewpoint on controversial matters?

 Why do Fee/Stuart recommend that we not use the KJV/NKJV?

What are some dangers to avoid?

 The problem with a formal equivalent translation is that . . .

 The problem with a functional equivalent translation is that . . .
What are some good practices to follow?

 For the study of the Bible, Fee/Stuart recommend you use . . .

 Fee/Stuart recommend using which translation?

1. Text Base Difference in NT:

a. More recent Greek texts (farther in time from the original texts: KJV, NKJV
b. Earlier Greek texts (closer in time to the original texts): NIV, ESV, NLT, etc.
2. Three types of translations
a. Formal: KJV, NAS, ESV
b. Functional: NIV, NLT
c. Free: Message
d. Very free
3. Specific Translations
a. NIV

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i. “Old NIV” from 1984

ii. TNIV in 2002: gender neutral terminology
iii. “New NIV” in 2011 (version found on Biblegateway.com)
b. KJV
i. Beautiful translation
ii. Wide influence
iii. Problems:
1. Based on late Greek texts
2. Archaic words and expressions
4. Two Types of Accuracy
a. Literal vs. paraphrase (More literal to more paraphrase: NAS, KJV, ESV,
NIV, NLT)

b. Verbal vs. rhetorical accuracy

i. Verbal (formal literal translations): words are the same

ii. Rhetorical (tend to find this more among functional translation):

same effect on the modern audience as the original audience

5. Odd Translation Features

a. Italics in NAS and KJV: words not in original
b. Red letters (words of Jesus)
c. Lord (Adonai, a title) vs. LORD (YHWH, the name of God) in the Old
Testament
d. Chapter and verse numbers are not original
6. Study Bibles
7. Gender and Translation
8. The Source of Our English Bibles
a. Process:

i. Original text(s) of Scripture

ii. Copies in Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic, as well as other languages

iii. Modern Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic texts

iv. English translations

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b. Old Testament Textual Criticism

i. Dead Sea Scrolls (about 200-100 BC)

ii. Medieval Hebrew manuscripts (900 AD and after)

iii. Greek translations (LXX; Septuagint)

iv. Other ancient translations and versions

1. Samaritan Pentateuch

2. Latin Vulgate

3. Peshitta (Syriac)

4. Aramaic Targums

c. New Testament Textual Criticism

i. Earliest Papyri

ii. Early Uncials

iii. Medieval manuscripts (Basis of KJV)

iv. Lectionaries and citations by church fathers

v. Versions (Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, Ethiopic,

Georgian)

d. Texts not in earliest manuscripts

i. The woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11)

ii. The ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20)

e. Analysis of textual problems:

i. Though our English Bibles might have a few errors, the vast majority
of our Bibles reflect the original text

ii. The doctrine of inerrancy relates to the original texts of Scripture

iii. We can confidant, even if we can‟t be 100% certain

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Spiritual Formation

Selected Bibliography– Knowing Grace (Joanne Jung); The Spirit of the Disciplines (Dallas Willard);
The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality (Evan Howard); Spiritual Formation as if the
Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community (James Wilhoit)

Jung 33-43
What are the important ideas in the chapter?
 According to Joshua, biblical meditation ultimately should lead to
What is the definition of key words?
 The Hebrew word used for meditate literally means . . .
 Psalm 1 is which kind of psalm?
 "Lectio divina"
What is the authors‟ viewpoint on controversial matters?
 Jung says that some Christians are uncomfortable with meditation because . . .
What are some dangers to avoid?
What are some good practices to follow?
 What is the order of lectio divina?

1. Spiritual formation
a. God‟s work in our lives:
i. It is not magic, but it gives God space to work
ii. Based on the gospel
iii. Spiritual formation = formation by the Spirit
b. Goal is to restore the image of God in us as modeled by Jesus
i. Effects in all of life, not just “sacred” side of life
ii. A clear mark of spiritual maturity is how you approach the little
things
c. Spiritual formation is intentional:
i. Consistent (and sometimes boring) practicing of spiritual disciplines
ii. Creating a script: responding to life based on the gospel
d. Spiritual formation ≠ “experiencing Jesus”
e. Spiritual formation is communal

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2. A Definition: “Spiritual formation is the continuing response to the reality of God‟s

grace shaping us into the likeness of Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy
Spirit, in the community of faith [with results for] the world.” Jeffrey Greenman

3. Meditation

a. Eastern and biblical meditation

b. Why meditate?
i. Exegetical reason: Commanded in Scripture
ii. Theological reason: the Bible is God‟s life-giving word to his people
iii. Practical reason: forces us to slow down
c. Lectio Divina (Spiritual Reading)
i. Reading the text (including “academic” study)
ii. Meditation on text: reflect on the text
iii. Dialoguing with God about the text
iv. Contemplating the text
1. Think about later
2. Talk with others
d. Possible dangers of meditation

e. How do we meditate today?

i. Memorize Scripture
ii. Reading same section of Scripture repeatedly
iii. Do assignments in advance, not the night before they are due
iv. Conference: Discuss Scripture with others as a pattern of life
f. Personal devotions
i. Be active in your personal relationship with God.
ii. Don‟t become legalistic about personal devotions

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Letters

Selected Bibliography– The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World (Bruce
Longenecker and Ben Witherington) Select Papyri (Arthur Hunt); Introduction to Biblical
Interpretation (William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard)

Reading Questions

What are the important ideas in the chapter?

 What is the crucial fact to keep in mind when reading the letters? (F/S 3)
What is the definition of key words?
 Exegesis (F/S 1)
 Hermeneutics (F/S 1)
 Epistle (F/S 3)
 Occasional (F/S 3)
What is the authors‟ viewpoint on controversial matters?
 In the problem passages, Fee/Stuart recommend . . . (F/S 3)
What are some dangers to avoid?
What are some good practices to follow?
 The most important tools for exegesis include . . . (F/S 1)
 Reading in paragraphs (F/S 3)

1. Genres

2. Ancient letter form

a. Introduction
i. Author
ii. Recipient
iii. Greeting
b. Body
c. Conclusion
3. Identifying letters

a. Letter form

b. Occasional (written for a specific context)

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c. Paragraph is the basic unit

4. Asking questions

a. Learn

b. Be humble (“Honesty is synonymous with humility”)

c. Engage with community

5. Types of questions for all genres

a. Historical context: everything outside the book

b. Literary context: in the book and outside of the text

c. Interpretation/Teaching point: text itself

d. Application: how does this text relate to us?

6. Historical context: everything outside of the book

a. Areas related to historical context: Author, Audience, Geography, Social

customs, Economic issues, Political issues, Religious issues

b. Tools: Commentaries, Bible handbooks, OT and NT surveys and

introductions, Atlases, Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, OT and NT
histories, Special studies on ancient life and culture

c. Important historical context for letters: empire in power, author, date of

writing, life context of author, destination, life context of people receiving the
letter

d. Examples:
i. Modesty

ii. Commands to households

iii. Lukewarm water

7. Interpretation

a. Teaching point (big idea)

i. Something that summarizes the text

ii. Something that is relatively unique to this passage

b. Communicating the big idea: Divide the text into section, and then go

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through the text and explain for each section (verse) how the author shows
the teaching point

i. Words/phrases (especially rare or hard to understand words)

ii. Literary context

8. Example: Paul‟s Prayer in Philippians 1:9-11

9. Suffering: Paul in prison (Philippians 1:12-18) uses his difficult situation to spread
the gospel and glorify God

10. Literary context: what we learn from the rest of the book

a. Two important parts of literary context

i. Overarching themes of the book that appear in the text (for the prayer
in Philippians 1, love is a major theme of the book that appears in the
prayer)

ii. Flow of thought: the verses before and after the text

1. Paul prays for the Philippians (1:9-11) because he loves them

(1:7-8).

2. Paul prays for the Philippians (1:9-11) even when he is in jail

(1:12-18); his suffering does not prevent him from caring for
others

b. Identifying breaks in a paragraph (the basic unit of a letter)

i. Follow your translation

ii. Grammatical (Therefore, then, etc.)

iii. Genre change (prose to poetry, etc.)

iv. Topic change

v. Vocative (“brothers,” etc.)

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Application

Selected Bibliography–Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and

Robert Hubbard); Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of
Literary Knowledge (Kevin Vanhoozer); The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical Linguistic
Approach to Christian Doctrine (Kevin Vanhoozer)

Reading Questions

What are the important ideas in the chapter?

 How do you construct a principlizing bridge? (Duvall/Hays)

What is the definition of key words?

What is the authors‟ viewpoint on controversial matters?

 Boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk (Robinson)

 Legitimacy of extended application (F/S 4)
What are some dangers to avoid?

 Applying the book of Ruth to the treatment of our in-laws (Robinson)

 The greatest flaw in the common evangelical hermeneutic is . . . (F/S 4)
What are some good practices to follow?

1. The Bible is not . . .

a. A magic-answer book

b. A list of commands to obey

c. A list of promises to claim

d. A textbook (of systematic theology)

2. Definitions

a. Meaning: “That which the author wishes to convey with his signs.”
(Duvall/Hays 178)

i. Meaning does not change over time

ii. Hermeneutics is the determination of the original meaning of the text

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(Different definition than Fee/Stuart, who identify hermeneutics with

application)

b. Application/significance: “Response of the reader to the text” (Duvall/Hays

178)

i. Application varies depending on the situation

ii. Correct application is much more difficult than correct interpretation

3. Application according to Duvall/Hays

a. Metaphor: Principlizing bridge

b. Criteria for good theological principles:

i. Reflected in the text

ii. Timeless and not tied to a specific situation or culture

iii. Correspond to the teaching of the rest of Scripture

4. Application according to Robinson

a. Metaphor: abstraction ladder

b. Similar situation=little abstraction.

c. Very different situations=farther up the “abstraction ladder”

d. Pondering Philippians 4:13

5. Extended application: authority in application

a. The authority in our applications drops for two reasons.

i. The fewer parallels between the ancient context and our context, the
less authoritative the application.

ii. When we begin with an idea that is not central in the text.

b. Robinson‟s authority spectrum (similar to Fee/Stuart‟s extended

applications)
i. Necessary
1. You must follow this application
2. What author wanted original audience to do

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ii. Probable
1. You should probably follow this application
2. This is not the original application, but we know from
elsewhere this is what God wants all his people to do
iii. Possible
1. You might follow this application
2. God only wants a minority of his people to do this
iv. Improbable
1. You probably should not follow this application
2. God has only required this on rare occasions
v. Impossible
1. You must not follow this application
2. God does not want his people to do this
c. Why Use Applications Lower in Authority?
i. Make more of the Bible relevant
ii. Help us with motivation
d. Application for SIMs
i. Must be drawn from teaching point
ii. Must be specific (measurable)
1. An action
2. A way to respond to a situation
3. A truth to meditate on
e. Examples
i. Daniel Diet
ii. “Where two or three are gathered in my name” (Matthew 18:20)
iii. Jeremiah 29:11

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Identity with Christ

Selected Bibliography– The Common Made Holy: Being Conformed to the Image of God (Neil
Anderson and Robert Saucy)

1. Discussion

a. “Deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be. But it's not
who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you.” (1:10)

b. “It‟s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me” (1:56:30)

c. “Christian maturity is understanding biblical principles and trying your

best to follow them.”

d. “Let go and let God defeat your sin problem.”

2. Colossians 3:9-10

a. Historical context

b. Literary context

i. Flow of thought

ii. Major themes

c. Interpretation

i. Death

1. Col 2:13

2. Col 2:20

3. Col 3:3

4. Col 3:5

5. Col 3:9

ii. Life

1. Col 1:15

2. Col 2:13

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3. “New self”

iii. Commands

iv. Philippians 2:12-13

d. Teaching point

3. Identity with Christ

a. A saint: set apart for God‟s service (Eph 1:1)

b. Chosen by God (Col 3:12)

c. God‟s workmanship (Eph 2:10)

d. Bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20)

e. Made alive (Eph 2:5)

f. Citizen of heaven (Phil 3:20)

g. Free from condemnation (Rom 8:1)

h. Free from the power of sin (Romans 6:1-6)

i. Slave of righteousness (Rom 6:18)

4. C. S. Lewis

a. Unenchanted

b. Enchanted: desire is awakened

c. Disenchanted: find that the object of that desire cannot satisfy

d. Reenchanted: find satisfaction in Christ, everything else is restored in value

in its proper spot

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Preunderstanding

Selected Bibliography– Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes (Randy Richards and Brandon
O’Brien)

1. Preunderstanding

a. The information from our background that we bring to the text

b. Usually we do not recognize our preunderstanding

2. Examples

a. Trauma can affect the way we read the Bible

b. Colossians 3:15

c. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

d. Ephesians 5:16

3. Recognizing preunderstandings

a. Observe details in the text carefully and ask lots of questions

b. Interact with people who not like you

i. History

ii. Other cultures (study abroad)

4. Good Preunderstandings

a. The Bible is the Word of God

b. The Bible is trustworthy

c. Supernatural events can happen

d. The Holy Spirit works in us as we read the Bible

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5. The Holy Spirit and Preunderstandings

a. Interpretive virtues (from Uche Anizor)

i. Fear of God (forget who God is)

ii. Humility (forget who we are)

iii. Delight (forget what we are reading)

b. The Holy Spirit‟s role in reading the Bible

i. Primarily in application

ii. Reading the Bible is not a magic act

iii. Minimally in cognitive understanding

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Application Problems

Selected Bibliography– Biola Biblical Position Paper on Same-Sex Behavior; Fee/Stuart 4; Flame of
Yahweh: Sexuality in the Old Testament (Richard Davidson); Love into Light: The Gospel, the
Homosexual, and the Church (Peter Hubbard); Understanding Sexual Identity (Mark Yarhouse);
People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is not Just an Issue (Preston Sprinkle)

1. Romans 16:16
2. Homosexuality
a. Two views among Christians
i. Side A gay Christians: same-sex behavior and relationships are
permissible. Gay Christians are free to enter gay marriages.
ii. Side B gay Christians: same-sex behavior and relationships are not
permissible. Gay Christians are called to lead celibate lives.
b. Old Testament
i. Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19)
ii. Gibeah (Judges 19)
iii. “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have
committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their
blood is upon them.” (Lev 20:13 ESV; also Lev 18:22)
iv. David and Jonathan?
c. New Testament
i. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality” (1
Cor 6:9 ESV)
ii. “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For
their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary
to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with
women and were consumed with passion for one another, men
committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the
due penalty for their error.” (Rom 1:26-27 ESV)
d. Wesley Hill
i. The Christian story promises forgiveness of sins through God‟s grace

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ii. All Christians face frustrations based on our natural desires

iii. All humans are creatures made by God
iv. The Christian story calls for long-suffering endurance following
Christ
3. Divorce
a. Biblical texts
i. Creation account
ii. "For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the
LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the
LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be
faithless." (Mal 2:16 ESV)
iii. “But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the
ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and
whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matt 5:32
ESV)
iv. “To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who
is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not
divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and
he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him… But if the
unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or
sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.” (1 Cor 7:12-13, 15
ESV)
b. Permitted (not commanded) divorce in NT:
i. Sexual immorality
ii. Non-Christian leaves the marriage
4. 1 Timothy 2
a. Egalitarianism (not relevant today):
i. Not a rejection of biblical authority
ii. Reject relevance because of historical context
b. Complementarianism (relevant today)
i. Not a question of value
ii. Paul does not mention education, but creation

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Psalms

Selected Bibliography– The Psalms: Language for All Seasons of the Soul (edited by Andrew Schmutzer
and David Howard); Interpreting the Psalms (Mark Futato); A Theological Introduction to the
Book of Psalms (J. Clinton McCann, Jr.); Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (E. W. Bullinger)

Reading Questions (Fee/Stuart 11)

What are the important ideas in the chapter?

What is the definition of key words?

 What is an acrostic psalm?

What is the authors‟ viewpoint on controversial matters?

 What was the basis for the validity of the psalmist calling down judgment on the enemies in the
imprecatory psalms?
What are some dangers to avoid?

 According to Fee and Stuart, which of the following are not basic benefits of the psalms?
What are some good practices to follow?

1. Poetry: not about information, but emotion

2. Application
a. Big idea or theological principle (bridge of Duvall/Hays and ladder of
Robinson)
b. Script: The Bible is the script of YHWH‟s drama. We are not the lead actor,
but supporting actors
c. We use the psalmist‟s story and emotions as a script
i. Teach us how to handle our emotions
ii. Teach us how to emote
iii. Teach us how to emotionally respond to theological truth when life is
not going well
3. Historical context of psalms: Beyond knowing that it was written in ancient Isarel,
we do not know much about historical context of the psalms. For a SIM of a psalm,
skip the historical context section
4. Literary context of psalms: skip this section of an SIM for a psalm

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a. Flow of thought only relevant for each psalm, not the surrounding psalms
b. Frame of the Psalms: Psalm 1 and 2 instruct how us to read Psalms
i. Psalm 1: Meditate
ii. Psalm 2: The anointed one is of central importance in a hostile world
5. Orientation psalms: The happy psalms for when life is going well
a. Creation psalm: Power and grace of God as seen in creation (Ps 147:14-18)
b. Torah psalm: Praising God for his Word (Ps 1)
c. Song of well-being: Life is going well; a focus on my own circumstances (Ps
133)
d. Psalm of praise: Focus on attributes and nature of God (Ps 113)
6. Identifying poetry
a. Singing
b. Emotion
c. Parallelism
i. The basic unit of OT poetry is parallelism: two lines with parallel
thoughts
ii. Most parallel lines advance beyond the previous
d. Imagery: Figurative language
i. Why imagery?
1. Touch emotions
2. Concrete pictures of abstract topics
3. Creates associations
ii. Analyzing images
1. Source domain: what is being used to describe something else
(often concrete)
2. Target domain: what is being described (often abstract)
3. Connections: between target and source domains
4. Emotional impact: how the image affects your emotions
iii. Examples
1. “You prepare a table before me”
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a. Source: preparing a meal (concrete)

b. Target: God prospers the psalmist (abstract)
c. Emotional impact: think about the best meal you have
ever had
2. “Valley of the shadow of death”
a. Source: fear or discomfort walking through a dark
valley (concrete)
b. Target: going through a difficult time of life (abstract)
c. Emotional impact: think about a time when you were
scared of the dark or a shadow
3. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life”
a. Source: stalking someone (concrete)
b. Target: YHWH strongly desires to act in a good way
toward his people (abstract)
c. Emotional impact: someone following you and you can‟t
get rid of them
iv. Caution: Watch out for literal statements that are not images
1. “counsel of the wicked”
2. “Delight in the law of YHWH”
7. Interpretation of psalms
a. Identify images
b. Break the psalm into sections. For each section describe the psalmist‟s
emotion, their relationship with God, and their relationship with other
humans
c. Summarize what the psalm tells us about YHWH and how his people relate
to him
8. Benefits of the Psalms (Fee/Stuart 223)
a. Guide to worship
b. Script for emotions
c. Demonstration of honesty before God
d. Demonstration of meditation on what God has done for us

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9. Disorientation psalms: Psalms for the bad times: when everything becomes
disorientated
a. Self-imposed caused by personal sin (Psalm 51) and are easily explainable
b. Lament psalms: cause is unknown
i. Structure of laments (individual and community)
1. Lament (13:1-2) ↓
2. Prayer (13:3-4) ↓
3. Trust (13:5-6)
ii. God is blamed for the problems of the psalmist
iii. Examples of laments: Ps 13, 77, 73
iv. Change of mood in lament
1. Entry into temple with God‟s people (Ps 73:16-17)
2. Meditation on God‟s word (Ps 1)
3. Talking to oneself (Ps 42)
v. Suffering
1. Psalms teach us to be honest in our grief and disappointment
in God
2. We often must be broken before we can grow
3. Be honest with each other
c. Imprecatory psalms (such as Ps 58)
i. Based on the covenant
ii. Prayer
1. Prayer itself is statement of trust
2. God to act
3. Punishment proportional to actions

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Old Testament Narrative

Selected Bibliography–The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (Steven Mathewson); Reclaiming
the Old Testament for Christian Preaching (ed. Grenville Kent, Paul Kissling and Laurence
Turner); Bible Story Handbook (John and Kim Walton)

1. Basics about Narrative

a. The words “story” and “narrative” do not imply non-historicity
b. Collective memory: forgetfulness of history leads to self-deception
c. Shows us truth rather than tells us truth
d. Helps us experience truth as we identify with the characters
e. Narrative is “theological history”: it is all about God
i. Omri
ii. Kings/Chronicles cover the same material, but with different
emphases
2. Identifying narrative
a. Plot
i. Exposition: background, introduction of characters and setting
ii. Complication: the problem that makes the story interesting
iii. Resolution: how the problem is resolved
b. Characters
c. Setting
d. The main unit of narrative is a scene
3. Historical Context
a. For OT narrative books, ignore the following:
i. Authorship
ii. Place of writing
iii. Date of writing
iv. Original audience
b. Pay attention to the following:
i. Geographical location
1. Geography of Canaan
a. Highly coveted
b. God put Israel in the center of the world to be a witness
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for him
c. God gave Israel a land that would not support a large
empire.
2. Find locations in the story by looking at maps and the internet
ii. Time in Israel‟s history
1. Patriarchs (Genesis)
2. Exodus (Exodus 1-15)
3. Wilderness (Exodus 16-Deut 34)
4. Entrance into Canaan (Joshua)
5. Judges (Judges)
6. United Monarchy (1-2 Samuel)
7. Divided Monarchy (1-2 Kings)
8. Exile and return from exile (Ezra-Esther)
iii. Ancient Near East: the secular historical context describing who is in
control in Canaan (or other territory discussed in the biblical text)
1. Egypt (1570-1125 BC). Egypt is the earliest power in Canaan
and rules it until about halfway through the book of Judges.
2. Age of Nations (1040-740 BC). The decline of Egypt‟s power
led to a time that allowed small kingdoms to create mini-
empires in Canaan, lasting from about halfway through Judges
to 2 Kings 15. Amos, Hosea, and Jonah also write during this
time.
3. Assyria (740-640 BC). Based in northern Mesopotamia,
Assyria rose to power and began to dominate Canaan from 2
Kings 15-21. Assyria conquered the northern kingdom (Israel)
in 722 BC. Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum live under Assyrian
domination.
4. Babylon (640-540 BC). Babylon, the eternal enemy of Assyria,
threw off their Assyrian overlords and took over the Assyrian
influence in the west, eventually conquering the southern
kingdom (Judah) in 586 BC. Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and
Zephaniah wrote in Canaan during this time, while Ezekiel
and Daniel lived in exile in Babylon.
5. Persia (540-332 BC). After a century in power, Babylon fell to
Cyrus the Great of Persia, who then allowed small groups of
Jews to return from exile to Canaan. Daniel and Esther lived in
exile in Persia, while Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi lived in Persian-controlled Canaan.
iv. YHWH‟s Drama
1. Creation (Gen 1-2)
2. Fall (Gen 3)
3. Israel (Gen 12-Malachi): Promises and Waiting
a. Abrahamic covenant (begun in Gen 12)

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b. Mosaic covenant (begun in Exod 19)

c. Davidic covenant (begun in 2 Sam 7)
4. Jesus (Gospels): Fulfillment
5. Church (Acts-Jude): Promises and Waiting
6. New creation (Revelation): Fulfillment
4. Literary Context
a. Major themes
b. Flow of thought
c. Scenes
i. The basic unit of OT narrative is the scene
ii. Marks of a scene change:
1. Change in chapter
2. Change in character
3. Change in place
4. Change in topic
d. Example (Judges 16:1-3)
i. Major themes of Judges:
1. “Canaanization” of Israel
2. YHWH continues to rescue his people
ii. Flow of thought:
1. Previous stories:
a. Samson is betrayed by the Judeans
b. YHWH provides water from a rock for Samson
2. Following story: Delilah
5. Interpretation
a. Teaching point (big idea)
i. Criteria
1. Reflected in the text
2. Timeless and not tied to a specific situation or culture
3. Correspond to the teaching of the rest of Scripture
ii. Stating teaching point
1. Something that summarizes the text in a relevant way to the
modern world
2. Something that is relatively unique to this passage

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iii. Bad teaching points:

1. Canaanization of Israel (too broad)
2. Samson picked up a gate (too specific to story)
b. Communicating teaching point (from most authoritative to lesser)
i. Direct summary statements by narrator (rare): Does not have
quotation marks around it (not spoken by a character)
ii. YHWH‟s involvement
1. Either through YHWH‟s speeches or actions
2. YHWH is always right
3. YHWH‟s absence could be:
a. Judgment (Abimelech)
b. Providential control (Ruth and Esther)
iii. Important speeches in the text
1. Often the narrator will communicate his teaching point
through the speech of a character
2. The character is usually a godly character
3. Examples
a. David says to Goliath “The battle is YHWH‟s, and he
will give you into our hand” (1 Samuel 17:47)
b. The women of Bethlehem tell Naomi “Blessed be
YHWH, who has not left you this day without a
redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel”
(Ruth 4:14)
iv. Characterization
1. Types of Characters
a. Round: Characters we know a lot about and who have
personality
b. Flat: props, one-dimensional characters
2. Types of characterization
a. Direct: narrator describes the character directly
b. Indirect: narrator describes the character through their
actions or speeches
v. Plot
1. The plot often describes “the way the world works”
2. Green Eggs and Ham: if you try something you don‟t like, you

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might like it
3. Kings: if you don‟t follow God, then you will be punished
4. Judges: if you follow idols, you will become morally corrupt
vi. Literary techniques
1. References to other texts: Narrators often implicitly refer to
previous texts, assuming that their readers are familiar with
them and read the story with those texts in mind
a. Solomon‟s wealth
b. Water out of a rock
2. Consistency in content (typology and repetition):
a. Typology: the same type of event happens repeatedly
b. Repetition: the same word or phrase is repeated
c. This usually indicates that the narrator is showing
something through that event
d. Examples
i. Cycle in Judges
1. Sin
2. Punishment
3. Call for help
4. Salvation
ii. Samson‟s eyes
3. Comparison and contrast
a. Parts of a story (most frequently characters) are
compared or contrasted with other parts of the story or
a previous story
i. Joshua is a new Moses
ii. Samson is compared negatively to
1. Isaac (birth narrative)
2. Joseph (relationship with foreign women)
b. A foil is a character that is compared with the major
character (in the same story)
i. Judah is a foil for Joseph
4. Irony: A part of a story that is something other than what is
expected
5. Bookends: Story begins and ends the same way (also known as

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envelope structure or inclusion)

c. Data for Judges 16:1-3:
i. Samson not interested in serving YHWH (Characterization, irony,
other texts)
ii. YHWH once again gave Samson mighty powers. (Plot, other texts,
irony, YHWH‟s involvement)
iii. The Philistines are not heroic either. The theological reason for this
oppression is not ultimately the Philistine military might, but YHWH
handing his people over for judgment (13:1). (Characterization, irony,
and other texts)
iv. The deposition of the gate near Hebron involves the Judeans: All
Israel was like Samson. (Other texts)
d. Teaching point for Judges 16:1-3
6. Rules for reading
a. We have all these rules because we don‟t know how to read
b. As we read more and more of this particular kind of literature, the rules will
become part of our normal reading ability.
7. Application
a. Teaching point
i. Application is not based on small details in the text, but overarching
themes
ii. Three Levels: focus on the top level for application
1. Bottom level: individual stories
2. Middle level: stories of God‟s people
3. Top level: God‟s overarching plan for the world
iii. Identify larger themes of the book (bridge or ladder of abstraction)
b. Judges 16:1-3
i. Wrong applications from Judges 16:1-3
1. Don‟t sleep with prostitutes
2. God will give you great strength
ii. Theme of Judges 16:1-3 and 1 Kings 10: God‟s purposes are still
reached even when God‟s leaders (and God‟s people) become
progressively “Canaanite”

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iii. Application:
1. God‟s leaders must be aware of becoming Samson: just
because God is working through a leader does not
automatically mean that the leader is right with God
2. God‟s people can be encouraged when faced with “Canaanite”
leaders like Samson: God can still reach his goals in spite of
them.
c. Identifying with the characters
i. Virtually every single character in OT narrative has flaws
ii. Two ways of looking: (from C. S. Lewis in “Meditation in a
Toolshed”)
1. Looking at
2. Looking with
iii. Experience the teaching point of the story through the viewpoint of
each of the characters
iv. Example: Nathan‟s parable to David
1. Let someone else make mistakes for us!
2. Reminds us that we are not alone
3. Helps us feel what others go through
v. Look “with” Samson and realize how we act in similar ways (don‟t
thank God for his gifts)
8. Genealogies
a. Contribute to the main theme of a text: Gen 5
b. Connect us to the past: 1 Chronicles 1-10
c. Remind us of God‟s grace in the past: Ruth 4
d. Slow down and think about why it was included
9. Suffering (Genesis 16)
a. Historical context
i. Israel‟s history: Patriarchs
ii. ANE: Egyptian domination
iii. YHWH‟s drama: Israel (Abrahamic covenant)

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iv. Location: southern Israel

b. Literary context
i. Main themes: threats to the promise
ii. Flow of thought
1. Would Pharaoh be the father of Sarah‟s child (Gen 12)?
2. Would Abram give away the land (Gen 13)?
3. Would Abram survive the battle against the eastern kings (Gen
14)?
4. Would his adopted son Eliezer be the fulfillment (Gen 15:1-3)?
5. Reaffirmation of covenant (Gen 17)
iii. The scenes
1. Scene 1: In the camp (1-6)
2. Scene 2: In the wilderness (7-14)
3. Scene 3: Back in the camp (15-16)
10. Joshua 7 (see Bound Together: How We Are Tied to Others in Good and Bad Choices
by Chris Brauns)

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Spiritual Destruction

Selected Bibliography– Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Paul Copan)
God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? (David Lamb);
John Coe’s Musings on the Dark Night of the Soul: Insights from St. John of the Cross on a
Developmental Spirituality. Journal of Psychology and Theology 28.4: 2000

1. Dangers

2. Spiritual destruction

3. Dark night of the soul

a. A profound work of God in our souls during a time when it feels that God is
distant
b. Particularly prominent among those who are saved later in life (after
“honeymoon”)
c. Not required
d. The pleasure about one‟s relationship with God is itself a gift of God, not a
necessary part of its existence
e. When have you felt closest to God?
f. It forces us to address the question about whether pleasure or God is the
ultimate goal.
g. The spiritual disciplines act more like a mirror than a giver of pleasure at
this stage.
h. Temptation during a dark night
i. either to “work harder” at the spiritual disciplines
ii. or to ignore them entirely
i. The dark night combats spiritual pride.
j. Don‟t try to fix yourself!
k. Don‟t measure our closeness with God on how close we “feel” to God

4. Avoiding spiritual destruction

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5. The troubling God of the Old Testament

6. Doubt

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Law

Selected Bibliography– “Preaching from the Law” (Christopher Wright in Reclaiming the Old Testament
for Christian Preaching); Deuteronomy: NIV Application Commentary (Daniel Block)

1. Problems with the Law

2. Historical Context
3. Literary Context: Deuteronomy is a series of sermons by Moses calling the people to
love God and obey him
4. Interpretation/Teaching Point
a. Characteristics of Laws
i. Imperative forms
ii. Illustrative of what YHWH desires rather than comprehensive (it was
not designed to close loopholes)
iii. It is not about our rights (self-focused), but on the rights of others
b. Questions for laws to find teaching point (from Christopher Wright)
i. What kind of situation was this law trying to promote or prevent?
ii. Whose interests was this law aiming to protect?
iii. Whose power was this law trying to restrict?
iv. What vision of society motivated this law?
v. What motivation did this law appeal to?
vi. What does the penalty show regarding the law‟s relative seriousness
or moral priority?
5. Applying laws
a. Three-fold division of the law
i. All laws fall into one of three categories:
1. Moral (valid today)
2. Civil (not valid today)
3. Ceremonial (not valid today)
ii. Problems
1. Divisions are arbitrary
2. Divisions are based on a western worldview
b. Christians and the Old Testament law
i. Law as bad in the NT: Paul sometimes describes the law as a burden

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that makes us sin

ii. Law as good
1. Paul also describes the law as “good” (1 Tim 1:8)
2. The psalmists praise the law (Ps 19; 119)
3. Law after exodus: law is a gift, not a way of salvation
4. The NT speaks negatively of the law when it usurps the exodus
iii. Christians and the Mosaic Law
1. Christians are not directly under the Mosaic law as law.
2. However, we still learn about God from the laws.
iv. Applying law today:
1. Direct application
2. Illustrative application (Jesus and the murder prohibition)
c. Specific laws
i. Deuteronomy 22:8
ii. Exodus 21:23-25
iii. Deuteronomy 24:19-22
1. Direct application: God‟s people should provide food for the
poor
2. Background principle: God‟s people are always called to
reduce suffering in the world because of what God has done in
our lives
3. How do we follow this principle in our lives?
4. Be aware of compassion fatigue in our media saturated culture.
5. Social Justice
a. Love family before loving the world: Who are the
fatherless, widows, and foreigners in our family?
b. Deal with local and global aspects of the problem: your
pornography use encourages sex trafficking
c. “We care about all suffering now, especially eternal
suffering later” (John Piper)
iv. Deuteronomy 5:16
v. Sabbath
1. Prohibitions
a. Working (Exod 20:8-11)

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b. Lighting a fire (Exod 35:3)

c. Trading (Neh 13:15-17)
d. Doing as you “please” (Isa 58:13), but this has to do
with oppressing the poor
2. The OT never commands any kind of specific “religious”
activity on the Sabbath for the ordinary Israelite
6. Rituals
a. Israel was to relive their history through ritual
i. The Passover was a reenactment of the exodus
b. Ritual allows a way to enter into God‟s story
c. Modern rituals:
i. Commanded in the Bible:
1. Baptism
2. Lord‟s Supper
ii. Other rituals
1. Christmas rituals
2. Easter week rituals
3. Apple pie

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Legalism

Selected Bibliography– What’s So Amazing about Grace? (Philip Yancey); Delighting in the Law of the
Lord: God’s Alternative to Legalism and Moralism (Jerram Barrs); Washed and Waiting:
Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality (Wesley Hill)

1. Legalism

a. Definition

i. Legalism views the rules as the end instead of the means.

ii. Legalism can be

1. an inherent part of the command

2. or result from the attitude of the person following the

command.

iii. Legalism often makes grey areas into issues that indicate the status of
our relationship with God

b. Avoiding legalism

i. Opposite of legalism: Antinomianism

ii. The good that legalism is attempting to achieve:

c. Condemnation of legalism: Deuteronomy 10:12-16

d. Point of the law

i. Allows Israel to know how to serve God.

ii. Shows how to love God (1 John 5:2; John 15:14):

iii. Shows God to the nations (Deuteronomy 4:6-8)

2. Parenting, grace, and rules

a. Human rules vs. God‟s rules: flexibility with human rules

b. Don‟t need to create arbitrary rules to teach authority

3. Homosexuality

a. Side A Gay Christians: same-sex sexual relationships are permitted

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b. Side B gay Christians: recognize their same-sex attractions but have chosen
to be celibate

4. Biblical authority and “unpopular truth”

a. Emperor worship

b. Treatment of Native Americans

c. Divorce

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Wisdom

Selected Bibliography– Proverbs (Tremper Longman)

1. Types of wisdom
a. Proverbial wisdom
b. Job
c. Ecclesiastes
2. Proverbial wisdom
a. Poetic texts
i. Parallelism
ii. Imagery
b. Short and pithy (“concise and forcefully expressive”)
c. Lacks history, covenant, and redemption
d. Context of entire book is important, but often not the immediate context
e. How life usually works, not promises or commands
3. Inspiration of proverbial wisdom
a. Many proverbs are copied from other ancient Near Eastern cultures.
b. Inspiration does not mean that the author learned the material directly from
God
c. The wisdom books teach us about the value of human study of creation and
culture
4. Historical and literary context
a. Historical context unknown for most proverbs. Skip this section for a
wisdom SIM
b. Literary context: ignore flow of thought, but examine closely what else
Proverbs says on a given topic
5. Interpretation/Teaching Point
a. Input from the rest of the book (literary context)
b. Key words
c. Images
6. Proverbs 26:4-5
7. Proverbs 22:6
8. Application

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a. Proverbs tells us how the world works, not necessarily how the world should
work
b. Read Proverbs with the rest of the Bible
9. Other wisdom books: exceptions to Proverbs
a. Job‟s suffering of the righteous
b. Qohelet‟s search for meaning (Ecclesiastes): All human study is not
ultimately satisfying
c. Canticles‟ love (Song of Songs)
10. Job
a. The book of Job: when Proverbs stops working
b. The book is a story rather than a series of proverbs
c. The inspired character of the book does not mean that everything said in it is
correct!
d. Suffering can be inexplicable
e. Message of Job
i. God is sovereign and we are not
ii. God expects us to trust:
1. Not in his explanation of the suffering
2. But in his character and his sovereignty when unexplained
tragedy strikes
11. Friendship

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Holistic Spiritual Formation

Selected Bibliography– Pat Schwiebert and Chuck DeKlyen, Tear Soup; Adam Day, “Eating Before the
Lord: A Theology of Food according to Deuteronomy” Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society 57 (2014): 85-97

1. Holistic spiritual formation

2. Gnosticism
a. A heresy in the early church
b. Strongly associated salvation with acquiring secret knowledge
c. Declared that all material things were evil
i. Treatment of body
ii. Origin of the world
d. Examples in Western culture
i. Technology
ii. Pornography
iii. Gender and homosexuality: gender is based on what you feel rather
than your body
iv. Transableism
v. “Saving souls”
vi. “It‟s all going to burn anyway” and “This world is not my home”
vii. Video sermons and podcasts
3. Resurrection of the body
a. Is there food in heaven?
b. Our bodies will be resurrected in the future
c. Death (the separation of our material part from our immaterial part) is not
the way it is supposed to be
d. The intermediate state (Phil 1:21), when we do not eat, is only temporary
e. Mourning
i. Typical views of mourning among evangelicals:
1. Mourning is emotional weakness: “doing well” means that you
have stopped crying
2. Mourning indicates a lack of faith: rejoice that they are in
heaven with God

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ii. John 11:35

iii. Key thought about mourning: we have hope, but death is still bad
4. Song of Songs and spiritual formation
a. A series of loosely related songs: how love disrupts Proverbs
b. It is not
i. An allegory for Christ and the church
ii. A sex manual
iii. An epic story
c. Teaching point: A reminder that love is a very good thing
d. Your approach to sexuality always affects your spiritual health
i. Is your sexuality your identity?
ii. Have you sexualized everything in your life?
iii. Do you deny your sexuality (tried to become a eunuch)?
iv. Do you expect marriage to solve all your problems?
v. Sex and marriage point towards ultimate realities
vi. Dating
1. High potential for self-deception
2. Need for honesty and trust in relationships
5. The body and spiritual formation
a. Not getting enough sleep
b. Not being healthy
c. Serious sickness
d. Sin resulting in sickness
e. “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
(Pro 17:22 ESV)
f. Are you taking care of yourself?
6. A theology of food

Prophets

Selected Bibliography– Plowshares and Pruning Hooks (Brent Sandy); Handbook to the Prophets
(Robert Chisholm)

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1. Purpose of prophets
a. “I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently,
saying, „Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds,
and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the
land that I gave to you and your fathers.‟ But you did not incline your ear or
listen to me.”(Jer 35:15 ESV)
b. “Covenant enforcers”
c. A bucket of cold water
2. Methods of the prophets
a. Direct exhortations concerning ethics
b. Prophesying the future:
i. threat of future judgment
ii. promise of future reward
3. Historical context
a. Ancient Near Eastern prophets
i. Prophets always worked for the king (or a usurper)
ii. They spoke messages from the god to encourage the king
iii. False prophets were those who spoke against the king
iv. False prophecy in the OT:
1. False content or
2. Opposed to YHWH
b. Types of prophets
i. Non-writing prophets
ii. Writing prophets
1. Major and Minor Prophets
2. Anthologies: collections of prophecies (often not in
chronological order)
3. Usually poetic
c. Covenant background
i. Abrahamic: Land, seed, blessing

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ii. Mosaic (Torah is most foundational for the prophets): Blessings and
curses
iii. Davidic: Davidic king
4. Characteristics of prophecy
a. Call the people to repentance
b. Poetic texts
c. Based in Israelite history
d. God speaks directly
e. Basic unit is the oracle
5. Literary context: flow of thought and main themes
6. Types of oracles
a. Judgment
b. Salvation
c. Oracles against the nations: written to encourage Israel that YHWH is in
control of all nations
7. Shock and awe in the prophets
a. Isaiah 1:1-20
b. Amos 4:1-5
c. Suffering: Suffering can come from God to wake us up
8. Interpretation of prophetic texts
a. What kind of oracle is it?
b. What were the sins of the original audience?
c. What was the promised judgment/reward in the future?
d. What are the extreme statements?
9. Why are the prophets so depressing?
a. They remind us how much God hates sin.
b. They portray God‟s relentless quest to convince the people to return to him.
c. Entering the script: Put yourself into Israel‟s shoes and feel the force of the
prophetic rebuke
10. Interpreting predictions
a. Is a prophecy required to happen? (Jonah 3:4)

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b. Literal or metaphorical? (Isaiah 2:1-4)

c. Near or far fulfillment? (Nebuchadnezzar‟s destruction of Tyre in Ezek 26)

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Idolatry

Selected Bibliography– We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry (Greg Beale);
Counterfeit Gods (Tim Keller); Greed as Idolatry (Brian Rosner)

1. Ancient idolatry
a. What the Israelites worshipped
i. Nature (sun, moon, stars, etc.)
ii. Demons (Deut 32:17; Ps 106:37)
iii. Works of their hands (Ps 115:4-8, many other places)
b. Elijah and Ahab
c. Baal
i. Baal was the royal storm god in Canaanite religion. He served under
El, the chief god.
ii. In the Baal Cycle, Baal defeated Yam (the sea) and Mot (death) in
competition for the throne
iii. Why worship Baal?
d. Asherah
i. El‟s consort
ii. Mother of the gods
iii. Often confused with Astarte, Baal‟s consort
iv. Why worship Asherah?
v. Asherah in OT
1. Do not plant an Asherah (Deut 16:21)
2. Cut down the Asherah (Judg 6:25)
e. Lessons from Elijah about idolatry
i. Syncretism (worshipping YHWH + ?) is equivalent to rejecting
YHWH
ii. Idolatry is holistic
1. Political power
2. Wealth (famine)
3. Treatment of others (widow of Zarapheth vs. Naboth)
f. YHWH‟s Script
i. The Bible is God‟s script to his divine drama
ii. The hero is YHWH
iii. The script informs us how the world works and how we should
usually act
iv. YHWH‟s drama
1. Creation (Gen 1-2)
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2. Fall (Gen 3)
3. Israel (Gen 12-Malachi): Promises and Waiting
4. Jesus (Gospels): Fulfillment
5. Church (Acts-Jude): Promises and Waiting
6. New creation (Revelation): Fulfillment
v. Idolatry is reading a different script
1. The hero is someone else
2. The script portrays the world working in a different way
g. Idolatry and the script: Marduk‟s script
i. Creation
1. Marduk created the world from body of defeated chaos
monster
2. Humans created to do the menial work that the gods did not
want to do
ii. Present
1. Marduk supports the king of Babylon (and other Babylonian
elites)
2. All others submit to that king (chaos is rebellion against
Babylonians)
iii. Future: Same as the present
2. Idolatry and the New Testament
a. OT references to internalizing idolatry (Ezekiel 14:3)
b. Paul‟s conflict with idol-makers in Ephesus (Acts 19)
c. Offering food to idols (1 Corinthians 8)
d. Cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24)
e. Greed is idolatry (Col 3:5; Eph 5:5)
f. Connection between idolatry and sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 10)
g. Idolatry becomes an image
i. Source: bowing down to an idol
ii. Target: valuing anything above God
3. Modern idolatry
a. The Secular Humanist‟s Evolutionary Drama
i. Creation by chance
ii. Past/Present: Evolution to current state
1. Survival of strongest
2. No guiding force
iii. Future: everything will be destroyed
b. Defining modern idols
i. Following a different script

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ii. We make our identity centered on something in God‟s creation rather

than God himself
iii. Idols are things that we love, trust, obey, or fear (taken from Rosner,
Greed as Idolatry)
c. Examples of modern idolatry
d. Heart of idolatry
4. Effects of idolatry
a. Worthless: We are useless to do what we were created to do (Jeremiah 2:5)
b. Vile: We become vile in YHWH‟s eyes (Hosea 9:10)
c. Non-functional: We become desensitized to spiritual matters. We can no
longer tell when we are being disobedient because we have been numbed by
idol worship (Psalm 115:5)
5. Breaking idols
a. “All reality is iconoclastic” (C. S. Lewis)
b. Idolatry is not just worshipping false, but also having false views of YHWH
(such as the prosperity gospel)

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Gospels and Parables

Selected Bibliography– Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal
Discipleship (Jon Lunde); John (Mickey Klink); Interpreting the Parables (Craig Blomberg)

1. Identifying Gospels

a. Narrative texts

i. Plot

ii. Scenes

iii. Characters

b. Centered on the life of Jesus

2. Gospel genre

a. Different from modern biographies:

i. Not complete

ii. Not strictly chronological

iii. Main goal is to characterize a person, not to provide all the relevant
information

b. Key question for gospels: What does this story tell us about Jesus?

3. Historical background

a. ANE power: Rome (70 BC-) During NT times, Rome ruled Canaan and all
other lands in which the apostles traveled according to Acts.

a. Location

b. YHWH‟s drama: Act 4 (Gospels)

4. Literary context

a. “Reading horizontally”: across the four gospels

b. “Reading vertically”: one gospel at a time

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c. Matthew 8-9

i. Many stories about Jesus healing people out of chronological order.

ii. They make the point, following the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher in
Matthew 5-7, that Jesus is a powerful worker of miracles.

d. Transfiguration

e. Suffering: Jesus suffered for us

5. Interpreting the gospels/Teaching point

a. Teaching point: must be about Jesus

b. Communicating teaching point:

i. Direct summary statements (rare)

ii. YHWH‟s involvement (Jesus and God the Father)

iii. Important speeches in the text (by characters other than Jesus)

iv. Characterization

1. Types of Characters

a. Round

b. Flat

2. Types of characterization

a. Direct

b. Indirect

v. Plot

vi. Literary techniques

1. References to previous texts (OT very important for Gospels)

2. Consistency in content (typology and repetition)

3. Comparison and contrast

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4. Irony

5. Bookends

c. Mark 2:1-12

6. Applying the gospels

a. Identify larger themes of the book (theological principles about Jesus) and
apply them in specific ways to your life

b. Gospels as drama

i. Imitation of Jesus

1. Not slavish copying, but like Israel was to imitate YHWH in

the Old Testament

2. His love for people

3. His death: “Then Jesus told his disciples, „If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.‟” (Mat 16:24-25
ESV)

4. Prayer

ii. Identify with the people around Jesus as they respond to him in a
variety of ways, both in their trust and in their unbelief. The stories
act as a challenge for the reader: with whom will we identify in the
story?

c. Luke 10:17-20

i. Jesus gives great power to his disciples, but he desires that the basis of
their joy would not be this power and the things they do. Instead, they
should rejoice that their sins are forgiven and they are in relationship
with him.

ii. Application: remind yourself each morning to base your joy on your
salvation

d. Miracle stories

i. Not a promise that he will do the same for us

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ii. Jesus and YHWH‟s drama

1. Creation
2. Fall
3. Israel: Promises of a grand future: a Davidic king will reign
over the earth and fix everything broken
4. Jesus
a. Jesus is the fulfillment of these promises (backward
looking)
b. He provides a glimpse into his future reign (forward
looking)
5. Church
a. The kingdom of Jesus has begun
b. However, the fullness of the kingdom remains for the
future
6. New creation
iii. The miracles and sayings of Jesus remind us who he is: the promised
Davidic king who will reign over the entire world.

iv. Application: Remind ourselves that

1. God fulfilled his promises

2. The new creation is coming in the future.

v. Another question for the gospels: what is the Old Testament

background of this narrative?

vi. Mark 2:1-12

1. The healing of the paralytic is a glimpse at life as it should be

and as it will be in the future

2. It is not a promise that God will heal us physically now (though

salvation ultimately includes physical healing)

3. The forgiving of sins is part of the kingdom we experience now

e. John 2:1-11

7. Definition of Parables

a. Parables are fictional stories that call for a response from the listener

b. Script, not a textbook

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c. They are powerful because they draw the listener into the story.

d. Pay attention to context: why did Jesus tell the parable?

e. General rule of thumb: One teaching point per main character

8. Examples

a. Luke 14:7-11

b. Luke 15:11-32

c. Matthew 13:45-46

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Church Discipline

Selected Bibliography–Church Discipline (Jonathan Leeman)

1. Matthew 18:15-20
a. Literary context:
i. Be humble (18:1-4)
ii. Don‟t cause others to sin (18:5-6)
iii. Take serious measures to deal with your own sin (18:7-9)
iv. Parable of the lost sheep: call the straying sheep back (18:10-14)
v. How we call the straying sheep back: church discipline (18:15-20)
vi. Forgiveness (18:21-35)
b. Stages in church discipline
i. Privately (=friendship)
ii. Bring a friend (a mediator or witness)
iii. Tell it to the church (small group)
iv. Treat them like a Gentile or tax collector
1. How did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors?
2. Love them like an unbeliever
2. Key ideas:
a. Trustworthy leaders
b. Love (parallel to the prophets)
i. The church‟s primary goal is not to make everyone feel better about
themselves
ii. “The opposite of love is not correction but indifference” (Anthony
Thiselton)
iii. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing
one another” (Col 3:16 ESV)
iv. Danger of self-deception
3. Characteristics
a. God has promised his presence in church discipline
b. What kind of sin leads to church discipline? Any kind of (persistent)
unrepentant sin
c. What is the goal of church discipline?

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i. “Fight for each other‟s holiness” (Dave Talley)

ii. Should be called “church restoration”
4. Public aspect
a. Secular parallels: sex offender lists
b. Alert church members that this person should not be counted on to support
you as a fellow believer
c. Baptism/church membership is public
i. Church membership does not make a person a Christian: it publically
recognizes a personal decision
ii. Church discipline does not remove a person from the church: it
publically recognizes a personal decision
d. Keep church leadership accountable
e. Prayer is powerful
f. Reminds the rest of the church how seriously God takes sin
g. Hiding sin can backfire (Dark Knight)
5. Church discipline and gossip
a. How does the public stage of church discipline relate to gossip?
i. In an unhealthy church it might be a problem
ii. A public statement can cut down on speculative gossip
6. Difficulties in church discipline
a. Identifying true repentance
b. Identifying clear sin vs. personal opinion (ensuring it is about love and not
control)
c. Ease of going to another church
d. Dealing with a person in clear sin who continues to claim faith as a Christian
(1 Cor 5)
e. Status of a church leader who sins
7. Leaders and church discipline
a. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we
who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (Jam 3:1 ESV)
b. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three
witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all,
so that the rest may stand in fear. (1 Tim 5:19-20 ESV)
c. An elder must be “above reproach” (1 Tim 3:2)
8. Case studies

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a. A young lady who has gotten pregnant out of marriage and is repentant
b. A young couple who have gotten pregnant before marriage and think it is
fine
c. A man who has been visiting the church
d. Someone who gossips frequently and has caused hurt among church
members
e. A businessman who stole a large amount of money from his company and is
repentant
f. A pastor who stole a large amount of money from a company and is
repentant
9. Forgiveness

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Acts

Selected Bibliography– Acts (Darrell Bock)

1. Acts is not

a. A biography of the apostles

b. A comprehensive history of the early church

c. A manual on how to run the church (a restorationist mentality)

2. Identifying Acts

a. Narrative centered on the early church

b. Sequel to Luke: A sequel assumes the original story and characters, but puts
them into new situations

c. Theme: Acts tells the story of how a Jewish sect became the Gentile church
as lives were visibly changed by the power of the Holy Spirit

d. Theological History

3. Historical context

a. Location

b. Ancient Near East: Rome

c. YHWH‟s plan for the world: early church history

4. Literary context

a. Major themes

i. Witness

ii. Suffering as a result of witness

iii. Prayer in the face of suffering

iv. The Holy Spirit at work among and through believers like he had
worked through Jesus

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v. God‟s sovereignty in a world that rejects him

vi. Gentiles in the Church (the “Other” in the church)

vii. The Church (not the university) as a place for God‟s people to join
together as one people of God

b. Flow of thought

c. Structure of Acts:

i. Jerusalem: Acts 1-7

ii. Samaria: Acts 8-10

iii. Ends of the earth: Acts 11-28

5. Interpretation/Teaching point

a. Acts 4:15-31

b. Suffering: persecution

i. In church history

1. Common

2. Usually not based directly on theological belief

3. Usually results from political or social pressure on areas that

flow from theological belief

a. Early church: political pressure to worship emperor as

a god

b. Anabaptist: refusal to serve in the army in the face of

Turkish attacks

ii. Contemporary examples

6. Applying Acts

a. Are stories in Acts normative for us today?

i. Repeated patterns and themes: read each story in light of the book as
a whole.
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ii. Positive and negative examples

iii. Luke‟s teaching point

iv. Parallels in the rest of Scripture

b. Dreams and Visions

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Apocalyptic

Selected Bibliography– Four Views on the Book of Revelation

1. Main theme of Revelation

2. Apocalyptic genre
a. Other examples: 1 Enoch, Testament of Abraham, Daniel, etc.
b. Comparison between prophecy and apocalyptic
Prophecy Apocalyptic
Urges repentance Wicked beyond hope
God is upset with his people Assumes that readers are displeased
with evil
Obedience Perseverance
Judgment through human means Judgment through supernatural
means
Direct speech of God Graphic images, visions, and symbols
Predicts both immediate and distant Focuses primarily on ultimate
events solutions

c. Characteristics of apocalyptic

i. Natural catastrophes and cosmic chaos

ii. Celestial scenes and heavenly interpreters

iii. Widespread evil

iv. Faith that somehow God is in control and will intervene

v. Ethical teaching aimed to comfort and encourage (not rebuke)

vi. Stylized structure in numerical patterns

vii. Written during times of persecution and oppression

d. Bizarre nature of apocalyptic

i. Is it really less bizarre than the sci-fi or comic book genres?

ii. Accepted genre

iii. Protects the writer from those in authority

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iv. Creativity causes questions

v. Grandness and finality of the themes

3. Historical context

a. Ancient Near East: Rome

b. YHWH‟s Drama: Church in 100 AD, seventy years after Jesus

4. Literary context

a. Major themes (see below)

b. Literary context

c. Structure of Revelation

i. “Write therefore the things that you have seen,” (vision of Jesus):
Revelation 1

ii. “those that are,” (letters to the seven churches): Revelation 2-3

iii. “ and those that are to take place after this” (visions of the end times):
Revelation 4-22

5. Interpretation and Teaching Point

a. Similar to narrative

b. Interpreting apocalyptic images

i. Literary context

ii. Old Testament context

6. Main themes of Revelation

a. God wins!

b. Pervasive and powerful evil

c. Divine warrior

i. Ancient Near Eastern divine warriors

1. Fought on behalf of the nation/king

2. Usually acted by empowering the king to win

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3. Sometimes acted directly from the heavens

4. Opposed injustice and chaos

5. Sought to show the world their power and name

ii. Divine warrior today

iii. Divine warrior in OT

1. YHWH fought for Israel against their enemies (The exodus,

Jericho

2. YHWH fought against Israel when they sinned

iv. Divine warrior in Revelation

1. “In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a
sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in
full strength.” (Rev 1:16)

2. Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls

3. Revelation 19

v. Temple building

1. Kings built temples after battles

2. New Jerusalem (Rev 21-22) follows the battle (Rev 19-20)

d. New creation

i. Not a new place

ii. No sea

iii. No sin

1. No worry

2. No jealousy

3. Trust people

4. Trust yourself

iv. But we are not omniscient or omnipotent

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e. Prayer

7. Suffering

a. Letters: Paul used suffering to the glory of God

b. Poetry: Being honest with God about suffering

c. OT Narrative: Suffering can be caused by God‟s people

d. Law: God‟s people are to strive to reduce suffering in the world

e. Prophecy: Suffering can come from God as punishment.

f. Wisdom (Job): Suffering can be inexplicable

g. Gospels: Jesus suffered for us

h. Acts: Expect suffering as we follow Jesus

i. Apocalyptic: Jesus will punish oppressors and remove suffering

8. Happy endings

9. Views of Revelation

a. Allegorical (idealist or spiritual): general spiritual truth

b. Preterist: historical events that happened in the first century

c. Historical: historical events that have been happening over the course of
church history

d. Futurist: historical events that will happen in the future

e. Example readings of Revelation 13

i. Allegorical (idealist or spiritual): Spiritual dangers afflicting the

church (first beast is government attacking the church; second beast
is false religion)

ii. Preterist: Beast is Roman emperor attacking Judah in 70 AD

iii. Historical: Identified with a specific event in church history

iv. Futurist: Work of Satan during the Tribulation in the future

f. Why follow a futurist view?

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i. God made promises to Israel that were never fulfilled

ii. Church is not Israel

10. Living eschatologically

11. Experiencing eschatology

a. Lord‟s Supper

b. Advent before Christmas

c. The epics

12. Radical living

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