(Or You Will Accept to Believe in Magical Unicorns)
God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
NUMBERS 23:22 KJV
And the unicorns shall come down with them . . .
ISAIAH 34:vii KJV
Welcome
When I beginning tried to read the Bible as a teenager, information technology seemed more than like a work of fiction than anything else—a book filled with epic battles and angels, stories of demons, and even a red dragon.* That's why information technology was placed on a bookshelf between my fantasy and horror books. It fit correct in with Bram Stoker's Dracula and J. R. R. Tolkien'south Lord of the Rings trilogy. Every bit I read and studied more of the Bible in college, I was however disturbed by some of the oddities I establish, namely, talking animals. These oddities didn't bode well for someone like me who was trying to make a serious attempt at considering the claims of the Christian faith. The Bible didn't brand sense and I was surprised there was then much violence, even in the life of Jesus. I knew that if the Bible was the foundation of Christianity, I had to make sense of these passages.
But making sense of the agonizing passages of the Bible gets complicated in a globe total of memes. In add-on to seeming anti-women and pro-slavery, it's not hard to detect Bible verses that seem to endorse violence, even confronting babies and small children. And it'southward not hard to discover websites and YouTube videos dedicated to calling out these sorts of Bible verses. What was in one case known as "The Skillful Volume" is now considered "The Evil Book" by then many. To brand matters worse, it'southward becoming more commonplace to see people quote Bible verses all over the internet and on memed-merchandise to illustrate how strange, crazy, and archaic sounding the Bible is.
If I were reading these bizarre verses for the first fourth dimension, seeing them in isolation like this, I would feel the aforementioned way. But here'due south the practiced news: there are ways to better empathise these crazy-sounding Bible verses. We must learn how to, and how non to, read the Bible. If y'all are willing to expect beyond the visual prototype and explore beyond a literal, out-of-context reading of a verse, you'll observe the Bible is not "sheer nonsense." The Bible is an astonishing, fully inspired, life-changing collection of writings by people who were directed by God through God's Spirit. When nosotros read, interpret, and understand the Bible accurately—non but individual verses, just how they fit into the Bible every bit a whole—our questions and concerns are answered, and nosotros come to amend know the writer of the Bible. We come to know God.
Picket
Play the video segment for session one (see the streaming video admission provided on the within front cover). As you lot lookout, utilize the following outline to tape any thoughts or concepts that stand up out to you.
Video Notes
Questions people are asking about the Bible:
• Is God pro-violence?
• Is the Bible anti-women?
• Is the Bible anti-science?
• Does God endorse slavery?
The Expert News: there are reasonable responses to these questions.
Four basic ways to look at the Bible to brand sense of these disturbing Bible passages:
1. The Bible is a library, not a book.
It is a library of books. It was written by over 40 dissimilar authors, over 1,500 years, on three continents, in three languages, many unlike cultural settings, and many different genres.
The Holy Spirit is the Author who guided the man authors (two Timothy 3:16; ii Peter i:21).
Examining the genres. The poetry of Song of Solomon iv:15.
[Your Response Here]
2. The Bible is written for us, not to us.
Agreement the author's intent and for whom the passage was written. The dangers of misinterpreting Scripture.
[Your Response Here]
Cardinal QUESTIONS TO ASK:
Who was the volume or letter of the Bible originally written to?
[Your Response Here]
Why was it written?
[Your Response Here]
What was happening in the earth of the original recipients?
[Your Response Here]
What questions were they asking that God was answering to them?
[Your Response Here]
3. Never read a Bible verse in isolation.
Understanding the storyline, the timeline, and the context. Bible scrolling.
Genesis one:29 and Genesis 9:3.
[Your Response Here]
4. All the Bible points to Jesus.
The storyline is virtually Jesus from Genesis to Revelation.
"This is what I told yous while I was still with yous: Everything must be fulfilled that is written nigh me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
LUKE 24:44 NIV
What almost the unicorns?
[Your Response Hither]
Grouping Give-and-take
Have a few minutes with your grouping members to discuss what you just watched and explore these concepts in Scripture.
1. What stood out to you from listening to Dan today? How tin can you lot identify with the stories or memes he shared?
[Your Response Here]
2. What questions or concerns practise yous have about the Bible? Which verses or stories have tripped you up because you don't quite understand the original context?
[Your Response Hither]
three. Have you ever considered the Bible as a library of books, rather than a volume in the library? How does this shift in mindset change things for yous regarding the Bible?
[Your Response Hither]
4. Read 2 Timothy three:14–17. How does Paul encourage Timothy to use the Bible? Why is it worth studying all of the Bible, even with the challenging passages?
[Your Response Here]
5. Placing the challenging verses of Scripture inside their proper context is vital to understanding the pregnant of these verses. What practices or tools practice you use, or could you showtime using, to make sure you understand the context of a verse or story?
[Your Response Hither]
6. Read Isaiah 7:one–17 and Luke 24. What does it mean when Dan says all the Bible points to Jesus? How do nosotros know this to exist true?
[Your Response Here]
Reflection
Briefly reflect on the teaching and whatsoever notes you lot took. In the space below, write downwardly your most significant takeaway from this session. Also, consider what discussion question or Bible passage y'all program to explore as a issue of today's session. If fourth dimension permits, share it with your group.
Wrap-Upward
Pray every bit a group before you lot close your time together. Be honest with God about the questions and concerns you lot have about the sacred text of the Bible. Thank God for creating a library of content written for usa fifty-fifty when it'due south not written to us. Inquire God to give you the courage and discipline to explore the context of passages and places in the Bible that seem strange to you. And enquire God to give you the vision to see the story of Jesus throughout the entire lens of the Bible.
Annotation
*one Samuel 11:i–11; 2 Samuel 10:ten–nineteen; Isaiah 37:36; Revelation 16:12–16; 12:3
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