-
What did you identify as your reasons for taking this course? Why did you select those? How would you state an overall goal for wanting to study the Bible better?
-
I would like to take this course for spiritual growth purposes. I would like to grow in my relationship with the Lord and get to know Him better in an effort to be the best Christian I can be.
-
My overall goal for taking this course is to reinforce my foundational understandings of WHY it is important to study the Bible and how one ought to do so, in preparation for teaching others how to lead women and children in the study of God’s Word. My purposes cannot be constrained to discrete categories, i.e. academical or devotional. I think the Bible ought to be read on its own terms and so the question is first: “What are the purposes for which God has made His Word available to us?” After answering this question, the next need is to identify which modes of engagement with the Bible allow for me to access that purpose. I cannot nourish my soul (engage in proper devotional reading) in the absence of truth. And truth will be obscured from my sight if I do not properly read the text, i.e. paying attention to context, author’s purpose and craft, literal and inferential meanings that would have made sense to the native audience and then principles and or insights the Lord wants for me to apply to my specific and unique life, along with the counsel that belongs to everyone. They go hand in hand.
-
[In what ways have you seen a Bible passage distorted by being quoted out of context?] Any verse can be taken out of context, and therefore misinterpreted. Philippians 4:13 is one of my favorite verses, but in order to understand what it is really saying, you need to know what Paul said before this.
-
[In what ways have you seen a Bible passage distorted by being quoted out of context?] So many ways! sometimes a minor passage is taken out of context and quoted to make it a major point standing on it’s own Romans 8:28 is used as a great comfort (which it is) but it is actually part of the larger “proof text” assuring us that God’s plan and is good!
-
[In what ways have you seen a Bible passage distorted by being quoted out of context?] Non-woman pastors, misinterpreting the gift of speaking in tongues as salvation