(Classmate 1 Eli I must reply to)Squares:1. The central theme, protagonist, and purpose of the Bible revolves around God and his story. We as humans risk selfishly shifting the focus of the Bible fr

 (Classmate 1 Eli I must reply to)

Squares:

1. The central theme, protagonist, and purpose of the Bible revolves around God and his story. We as humans risk selfishly shifting the focus of the Bible from God to ourselves when we try and apply every concept contained within its pages to our lives as if it were written about us. This attitude known as a "life verse" mentality could erroneously lead someone to "replace the centrality of God in his own story (...) We have moved ourselves to the central character slot and have moved God to the supporting cast member role" (Hulshof, Chris & Cartwright, p.4) .

2. God's ultimate pan, his endgame it to restore the utopian bliss that was lost at the beginning of time. Through the plan of redemption, he devised a way to restore the personal relationship that was broken when sin was introduced into the world. His explicit intentions can be found in many places in scripture including: John's vision of heaven in Revelation 21:5 " 'Behold, I am making all things new' " (ESV) and also Revelation 21:1, " Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more" (ESV).

3. We are incapable of meeting God's standard of righteousness on our own due to our sinful nature. It is only through the Blood of the Lamb that "God credits us with Christ’s righteous life" (Hulshof, Chris & Cartwright, p. 6). 

4. To understand God's Old Testament laws one must understand the context they were written in.

Triangles:

1. When reading the Gospels, readers should resist allegorizing the parables and attempting to identify the meaning of every single symbol. Instead one should focus on the main point that the parable is trying to get across.

2. Its good to get a historical/chronological grasp of the Bible before reading it as this can help with perspective while also enabling one to, "understand how each book, chapter, passage, verse, event, or individual fits into God’s big story. (Hulshof, Chris & Cartwright, p.16). 

3. The Bible is composed of a variety of books spanning many different literary genres. Understanding the differences between these literary genres may lead to more productive Bible Study.

Circles:

1. How does one distinguish between the commands in Acts that are still relevant today versus those that were commonplace back then but less applicable to our lives today?

2. What specific audiences were the four Gospels meant to target and how should that affect the way they are read?

Hearts:

1. "God’s plan is to fix what was broken when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instructions. His plan is to rescue, redeem, and restore all that was lost through this rebellious act" (Hulshof, Chris & Cartwright, p.4). This gives me great hope because it reminds me that this broken world is not our home and that there is a hope for something better, a world were there shall be no, "mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

References:

Cartwright, John, Chris Hulshof, and Ben Gutierrez. Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christian Faith. Edited by Gabe Etzel. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2016.

Readers Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2016.

Reply Quote Email Authorly to with 200 words 

****2nd Classmate Sylvia, I must respond to with reply with 200 word reply) ***

Week One: A “Squares, Triangles, Circles, and Hearts” 

Squares:

1. “The Bible is not solely even primarily a book about the path I must choose to follow in order to successfully navigate this life. It contains much deeper and life-sustaining truths that last a lifetime-even though eternity.” (Everyday Bible Study pg. 30).

2. In order to overcome our human belief that we are good enough to fix the errors of our way alone, we need to realize that God is the answer. “If our rescue is to be successful, God will need to do the rescuing” (Everyday Bible Study pg. 5).

3. We should never be afraid of being honest with God. He already knows how we feel. 

4. “All of the Bible is equally God’s Word, not all of the Bible is equal. Each genre dictates how it ought to be interpreted, and the student of God’s Word must not read it flatly as if it is all the same” (Everyday Bible Study pg.27). 

Triangles:

1. Viewing biblical characters as role models, other than Jesus Christ, is detrimental to Bible study and the understanding of the Scriptures. Their stories are used to merely focus our attention on our redemption through Jesus Christ, and not their positive or negative examples.

2. “ When we take up God’s Word and read it as a book of instructions, rules, and commands that we need to follow in order to be accepted or loved by God, we are asserting that, as great as Christ’s work was, we are capable of keeping the directives of God in a satisfactory manner. This will never be the case” (Everyday Bible Study pg.31).

3. “He is necessary because we are incapable of the kind of obedience God requires. Our hearts are too deceitful and wicked (Jer 17:9) for a book of instructions to be the remedy for our hopeless human condition” (Everyday Bible Study pg.31) 

Circles:

1. In the book of Ezra, the Persian king Ahasuerus marries a young jewish girl, Esther. It goes on to say that a plan was then “hatched to destroy the Jewish people but the plan was foiled”. Why was there a plan to destroy the Jewish people and how were they saved?

2. How does following God’s Word to the point of where we would consider us being capable of keeping the directives of God, embrace a low view of Christ's life or sacrifice? 

Hearts:

1. “The story of God’s plan, the Bible. shows us that through Christ Jesus we are loved by God, adopted as his sons and daughters, and declared heirs through God (Gal 4:7)” (Everyday Bible Study pg.7).

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