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Lesson OneWhat is Biblical Interpretation?4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoA Short History of Interpretation4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeBasic Principles of Interpretation4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourInterpreting Narratives or Stories4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveInterpreting Poetry and Wisdom4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixInterpreting Prophecy4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SevenThe New Testament Use of the Old Testament4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EightThe Theological Use of the Bible: Putting it All Together4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineContemporary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TenInterpreting the Cultural Aspects of the Bible4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ElevenWhen the Bible Doesn’t Address Our Questions4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwelveInterpreting the Bible Devotionally4 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 229
Discussion Questions
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Do you agree with the lecturer that a person must be a born-again Christian in order to understand the Bible? Give reasons for your answer.
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I could watch a 3D movie without the special glasses, and gain understanding of the plot and characters fairly easily. Yet it would not have as much meaning, and cause me more distress, by the fact that my whole being would be bothered by the fuzziness of the film before me. Details would be missed or left out completely, facial expressions would be muffled and therefore seriousness could be lost.
To be born again means to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit inside you, therefore If a person does not have Him, they are not spiritually discerned. They can possess academic understanding, but they will not have the ability to interpret scripture correctly. They would be stunted at hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit and hindered to following His guidance -
Yes, 1 Corinthians 2:14 is where I feel this is made clear.
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Yes, simply because it’s through the born-again experience that our eyes and hearts will be open to the Word of God as His Spirit gives insight and revelation to the Word.
Ephesians 1:17 – That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
1 Corinthians 2:10 – But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
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I agree with this because it is the Holy Ghost who gives us the understanding.
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Most definitely and for the very reason that the professor stated that to interpret spiritual things, such as the Bible you must have the mind of Christle, the word of God
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If we all come to the biblical text with bias and previous conditioning, how can we expect to arrive at an interpretation that resembles the authoritative Word of God?
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We have to dispose of bias so that we can exegete rather than eisegete.
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When believers interpret a passage differently (either within a church or across denominations), how should they relate to each other in a way that promotes unity in the Body of Christ and yet continues to minister God’s Word with conviction?
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WE must converse with respect and gentleness and patience, but we also must stand on what we believe the author meant and how the readers of his day interpreted it. This I understand to be the historical grammatical method.
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I believe that interpretation should be left to the Holy Spirit. And when believers somehow interpret a passage differently each should pray for the Holy Spirit to bring about the meaning of what exactly the Lord meant. The Holy Spirit does a great job of interpretation if we will allow Him and He can cross reference those scriptures like no one else can. We promote Unity when we put aside our personal interpretation and come into agreement with what the Holy Spirit has, without error, revealed. One can read a certain passage this week, and return to that same passage 6 months later and “feel” a different way about the scripture. So, which interpretation is correct. The one 6 months prior? Or the one 6 months later? Interpretation should be left to the Holy Spirit, who knows ALL.
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they should respect each other first of all, since they’re believers. An agreement of a more in-depth study of the passage should be conducted and a willingness to pray so that the Holy Spirit can clarify the meaning of the passage. There are passages that can be debated and others that I believe cannot since they deal with doctrines that cannot be changed, like Salvation.
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They should try and work out what their different interpretations are alike and see if they can come to a mutual agreement on what they disagree on without argument. They should study the passages they are in disagreeing about and try to come to a mutual agreement on what those verses say. They must pray over these passages and let the Holy Spirit give them the right interpretation and not rely on their own interpretation.
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They should remember that the interpretation of a passage is based on different factors. Some for example are the study tools, ones knowledge and understanding of the entire passage and most importantly spiritual guidance and revelation. Therefore, they should think about whose interpretation is correct? Was it through exegesis that they came up with their interpretation or eisegesis? Interpretation is also based on the passion for the word. It takes time to carefully study and interpret the word. We should always be careful and treat each other with love.
