“You Believe What?!” Week 1: The Bible (what it is and how to read it)

Key Discussion Topics:

• History of the Bible within the Church
  • Old Testament and the Septuagint^1,2
    • Group discussion question: Why do many churches prefer to focus on the New Testament?
    • Group discussion question: Why was there a need for a New Testament?
  • Why the gospels are different, and how there have been attempts to combine them^3,4,5,6
    • Group discussion question: Is there a specific gospel you feel a greater connection with, and why?
  • Biblical cannon (from the Muratorian fragment to the current Protestant and Catholic cannons)^7,8,9
    • Group discussion question: Have you read any of the apocrypha?
    • Group discussion question: Can the Biblical cannon plausibly contain future books that have not yet been written?
  • The significance of the King James (and its textual issues, e.g. 1 John 5:7-8)^10,11,12
• What Christians agree on about the Bible
  • It is sufficient for justification and divinely inspired, and that God was at work in the process of canonization^13,14,15
  • Be aware that the sources given for this are primarily Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and Lutheran, as these denominations make up around 55% of the total Christians in the US (nondenominational are another 6.2%, and I’ve not included these resources since they do not have a substantial agreement between one-another on secondary and tertiary Christian subjects)¹⁶
• Where opinions on the Bible differ
  • Whether the Bible is infallible (without any ability to error – traditionally used to state that the Bible cannot deceive readers in matters of faith, and is wholly sufficient in leading a person to justification) or inerrant (without error or fault – traditionally used to state that the Bible is perfectly logical and has no textual errors or contradictions… aka perfect internal consistency)^17,18
    • Group discussion question: Are you aware of any contradictions in the Bible, and how can you explain why they were written and accepted as cannon? (examples can include different numbers of soldiers in an army, e.g. 1 Chronicles 21:5 vs 2 Samuel 24:9, details of Paul’s itinerary, e.g., Acts 9, 11, 15, and 21 vs Galatians 1:18 and 2:1, and the details of Judas’s death, e.g., Matthew 27:3-8 vs Acts 1:18)
  • Whether the Bible is literal, metaphorical, or a mix^19,20
• How to read the Bible
  • Types of translations (formal equivalence (word-for-word), dynamic equivalence (thought-for-thought), and paraphrased) and when to use each^21,22,23
    • Group discussion question: What type of translation have you used, and are there any specific translations that you prefer, or would avoid?
  • Cultural understanding of events and sayings from within the Bible^24,25

Week 1 References:

1. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2023, December 29). Septuagint. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint
2. Reeves, R. (2018, August 12). What is the septuagint?. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-is-the-septuagint/
3. Why are there four accounts of the gospel?. BibleProject. (2019, September 23). https://bibleproject.com/podcast/why-are-there-4-gospels/
4. Pagels, E. H., White, M., Clark, E., Attridge, H. W., & Callahan, A. D. (1998, April). The story of the storytellers – the emergence of the four gospel canon | from jesus to christ | frontline. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/emergence.html 
5. Stewart, D. (n.d.). Why are there four gospels?. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_188.cfm
6. (2019). Why Are There Four Gospels? Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTenoywDT6I.
7. Schnabel, E. J. (2014). (rep.). The Muratorian Fragment: The State of Research. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/57/57-2/JETS_57-2_231-64_Schnabel.pdf.
8. Schachterle, J. (2023, October 6). Canonization of the Bible: Understanding how we got the Bible. Bart D. Ehrman – New Testament Scholar, Speaker, and Consultant. https://www.bartehrman.com/canonization-of-the-bible/
9. The canon of Scripture – Study Resources. Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/canon.cfm
10. Bible.org. (n.d.). The textual problem in 1 john 5:7-8. The Textual Problem in 1 John 5:7-8. https://bible.org/article/textual-problem-1-john-57-8#_ftnref1
11. Ward, M. (2018). Authorized: The use and misuse of the king James Bible. Lexham Press.
12. Lewis, J. (2021). The KJV Only Controversy: With Mark Ward. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qabl-zOSv50.
13. Pew Research Center (2015). America’s Changing Religious Landscape, Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/
14. The Bible. The United Methodist Church. (2013, October 8). https://www.umc.org/en/content/our-christian-roots-the-bible#:~:text=We%20hold%20that%20the%20writers,books%20were%20adopted%20as%20Scripture
15. Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText. (n.d.). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PO.HTM
16. Our beliefs. Southern Baptist Church. (n.d.). https://www.sbcboston.org/our-beliefs#:~:text=We%20believe%20that%20the%20Scriptures,made%20a%20full%20atonement%20for
17.  Stewart, D. (2018, July 18). What is the difference between the inerrancy of scripture and the infallibility of scripture? by Don Stewart. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/stewart_don/faq/bible-difficulties/question5-difference-between-inerrancy-infallibility.cfm
18. Vanhoozer, K. J. (2023, December 31). The inerrancy of scripture. C.S. Lewis Institute. https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/the-inerrancy-of-scripture/
19. Clark, S. B. (n.d.). Do we take the Bible literally?. St. Paul Center. https://stpaulcenter.com/do-we-take-the-bible-literally/
20. (2018). Is the Bible Literal? Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNoPvLayljc.
21. (2018). NIV Bible Translator Karen Jobes Explains Bible Translation. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRn70gKNnlU.
22. Stewart, D. (2018, July 18). What are the major theories of Bible translation? (formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence) by Don Stewart. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/stewart_don/faq/bible-translations/question7-major-theories-of-bible-translation.cfm
23. (2023). 7 Good Bible Translations (ft. Mark Ward). Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13gzStbU9qs.
24. Lewis, J. (2022). Is There A Wrong Way To Read The Bible: With Mark Ward. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-We8rtHckdk.
25. (2019). Literary Context Basics (3 Tips for Understanding the Bible better on your own). Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFTwPxuPSH4.

“You Believe What?!” Curriculum:

1. The Bible (what it is and how to read it)
2. Sermons (and how to understand them)
3. The Trinity
4. Sin and Forgiveness
5. Money
6. Weird Bible
7. Today’s Non-Christian Spiritual Practices
8. Christianity and Today’s World Culture
9. Challenges within Today’s Church
10. Uncharted Territory