What is the Bible?
In this first session, the topic seems simple enough: What is the Bible? But I think you’ll discover that this is a question you’ll continue to ask yourself the more you journey with Scripture. So let’s get started!
After watching the video, if you’d like to explore a bit further, I’ve added some “Bible Labs” below that you may find helpful. To get the most out of these, I’d recommend picking up a study Bible. There are many good ones, but here are some popular options that are tried and true:
- Common English Study Bible
- Oxford Annotated Study Bible
- New Interpreter’s Study Bible
- NIV Study Bible
Bible Lab 1 – Meditation on Oral Tradition
Think about stories that you tell or that others have told you that are meaningful and memorable. Perhaps they’re stories your family tells at gatherings, or you tell your children or your friends. Maybe a well-loved mentor told them to you. Maybe you bring them out at parties or when getting to know a new friend. What makes these stories memorable? What do the stories communicate? Why do you (or the storyteller) tell the story? What emotional reactions does the story generate? Why is it important?
Bible Lab 2 – Contrasting Old Testament Sources
Compare and contrast the two creation stories in the beginning of Genesis: the P (priestly) story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 and the J/E (old epic) story in Genesis 2:4-3:24. To get started, think about how the priestly story is structured like an act of worship (call and response), while the J/E story reads as a classic narrative. Here are some other prompts to consider:
- Where is the story set (what location)?
- Who are the named characters in each story?
- What is the main focus of each story?
- When were humans created in each story relative to other parts of creation?
- When were men and women created in each story?
- And finally… what we would lose if we only had one of these creation stories?
Bible Lab 3 – Comparing English Versions
Read the following three versions of Psalm 23 and ask yourself how you respond to each one. What do you gain from reading all three of them together?
Next up: Session 2 – What is the Old Testament Story?
If you’d like to get announcements about video releases and other updates, please sign up below!
Lately I’ve become very interested in how Judaism grew out of Canaanite polytheism. OT accounts, with numerous references to Ba’al, Asherah, and other Canaanite deities, make it clear that there was quite a lot of polytheism in pre-Exilic Judea, but the people who compiled the OT/Tanakh tried to paper over much of it as well. Ugaritic inscriptions provide a reasonable idea of what the Canaanite pantheon consisted of. The appearance of YHWH, apparently of Midianite origin, in Judea raises plenty of questions. Zoroastrian influence seems to have led to major changes in Judaic religious practice, including a redefinition of Satan, a new notion of heaven and hell gradually replacing the older conception of Sheol, and possibly monotheism. The transition from polytheism to henotheism to post-Exilic monotheism is quite a story in itself.
Thanks, Erik! Great to hear from you. I’ll need to get your reading list!