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The Good Book

The Bible is supposed to be GOOD NEWS! But sometimes it can be read as if it’s anything but. What turns life-giving truth into something scary, heavy, or confusing? Bad hermeneutics! Hermeneutics are the theory and methodology of how we interpret the Scriptures. In this series we’ll share some bedrock hermeneutical principles that will help you spot falsehoods and half-truths, and give you the ability to approach the scriptures with more clarity and to see the Bible again as a GOOD BOOK!

Ancient Wisdom; Modern Problems–Why the Bible is Timeless

Jun 13, 2021

You’ve heard it said before, the Bible is a book written by dozens of human authors, who lived thousands of years ago, in languages that are now dead… how can it have any relevance to modern people living in times that no human author ever could’ve imagined? You’d be surprised.

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The Answer Key—Understanding Christocentric Interpretation

Jun 6, 2021

People search the Scriptures for a lot of reasons, but there is one reason above all that is the key to understanding all of the Scriptures rightly, especially some of the most difficult passages. Many of our misunderstandings come from misunderstanding God’s primary intention in giving us the Scriptures.

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Lost in Translation—The Problems with Language

May 30, 2021

Stating the obvious here: The Bible wasn’t written in English. Not only are translations across time tricky, but languages don’t always have equivalent words that easily convey meaning. Then you add translational philosophies into the mix (strict literal translations vs. more interpretative ones) and you end up with a lot of different versions of the same Bible. How do we resist the urge to shop for the translation that says what we like, and instead wrestle with what was actually being said?

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Context is King–Why Context Matters

May 23, 2021

Most scriptural misunderstandings start in the same way: a verse is removed from its context. It shouldn’t surprise us that the practice creates problems, since it also creates problems in other parts of life. To get the clearest reading of Scripture we must also start looking not just at words or single verses, but looking at the greater context.

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The Many Styles of Scripture—Understanding Genre

May 16, 2021

All of scripture is true and inspired, but it’s not all to be taken literally. That’s shocking to many of us, but that just means that we first have to understand what kind of literature we’re reading before we can rightly interpret it. To read metaphors as literal truth is nonsense. But to decide that you can set aside uncomfortable, direct teachings of scripture because you no longer find it fashionable isn’t okay either.

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