HS Bible Fri

Intro

Over the past few days, we have covered the attitudes that we should have when studying Scripture. We talked about what the Bible is, how it functions as a library, how its many parts tell one unified story, and how it claims authority and trustworthiness.

Before we finish this section I want to ask a few questions of you.

What assumptions did you have about the Bible before this week?

Have any of those assumptions been challenged?

Why do you think people still argue so strongly about a book written thousands of years ago?

The reasons these questions are important to answer is because books that do not matter usually don’t provoke such strong reactions in people.

The Bible and Culture

The Bible, like it or not, has shaped civilizations, laws, art, literature, and moral frameworks for centuries.

Even those that reject the Bible often will use language that is rooted in biblical ideas,

appeal to concepts like justice, equality, and human dignity,

and will criticize the Bible using standards that the Bible helped to create.

While people will try to claim the Bible is irrelevant today, that actually creates a bigger question.

If the Bible is irrelevant, why does it still influence how we think and argue today?

The Bible presents a worldview that makes the claim that:

Humans have inherent (born with it) value.

Truth exists beyond personal opinions.

Whether we agree with those claims or not, the Bible refuses to remain neutral.

The Bible and Moral Formation

Many people try to reduce the Bible to a simple rulebook that if you follow it good things will happen to you.

But the Bible is not primarily concerned with just producing good behavior.

Rather it is concerned with forming people.

Throughout Scripture, we see that moral commands are grounded in:

Revealing God’s character

Showing God’s actions

Laying out God’s purposes for humanity

This means that morality in the Bible is not just something that we are left to figure out.

In fact, its relational. We learn more about morality from relationship with God.

Rigid rules only make sense within a story.

The Bible and Personal Meaning

One big reason that the Bible continues to matter is that it addresses the questions that no one can escape:

Who am I?

Why is the world broken?

What is worth living for?

What gives life meaning?

The Bible never promises us that we will have comfort without challenges.

Rather, it confronts pride, selfishness, injustice, and self-deception.

This is why the Bible makes people so uncomfortable, they do not like the solution that is offered by the Bible.

People do not like a book that challenges the things they like doing.

As Romans 1:21 says “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

The reality is, a book that never challenges you is not shaping you—it is echoing you.

The Cost of Ignoring the Story

So after all that we have talked about, I hope that you have thought at least a little about what the cost of ignoring the story of the Bible can have on you.

See, when the Bible is removed from its narrative framework, two things will happen:

You will reduce the Bible to isolated and unrelated verses with no context.

You will use it to fit your personal preference.

As we have discussed, this is dangerous because it leads to misuse, misunderstanding, and dismissal.

Realize that when we read the Bible as one story with a central figure, it is much harder to manipulate Scripture.

Understanding the story will protect us from distortion.

The Central Question

At the heart of all of this is one unavoidable question.

How you answer now may not reflect how you answer it later on, but I want you to think about this question every day that we are in here learning.

What will I do with Jesus?

Not in a church sense or a cultural sense, but intellectually.

If Jesus is central to the biblical story, then ignoring Him means that you change the entire meaning of the text.

The Bible ultimately asks you for a response to that question, not just an analysis of it.

I understand that we all come from different backgrounds and lived experiences, but that is the ultimate question that we all have to answer.

Reflection and Preview

Take a moment to think about the following questions before answering:

Why do you think that the Bible has endured when so many ancient texts have faded?

What happens to meaning when truth becomes purely subjective (or relative)?

How does seeing the Bible as a unified story change the way you might approach reading it?

You do not have to agree with the Bible to take it seriously, but you cannot take it seriously without engaging its claims.

Up to this point, we have mainly focused on orienting ourselves. Beginning next week, we begin the official course instruction.

We will be going book by book to move through the Scriptures beginning with the foundations of the Old Testament.

We will examine the:

Historical context

Literary structure

Major Themes

How each book fits into the larger story

This course will require effort, critical thinking, reading, discussion, and engagement.

Remember the goal is not memorization, its understanding. The course is paced that we will seem like we are moving fast, but I promise that you will benefit from the information, and as long as I can see you are working hard, your grade will show it.

PRAY

Father, I thank you that you allow us to ask honest questions and seek the truth. As we move forward in this course, help us to read carefully, think deeply, and engage each other respectfully. Teach us not only information, but wisdom. In your name we pray, Amen.