Tuesday, April 14, 2009, Part 1

IDEA: Because we have a reverence for the Bible, we may be led to misinterpret it.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that while the Bible is a unique text, it can be looked at as we would any other piece of literature.

Do you think that people treat the Bible differently from the way they would other books?

How is the Bible different from any other book?

How is the Bible similar to any other book?

I. We should treat the Bible as different from other books.

It is a sacred text whose writing was superintended by God.

It's a book that can lead us to God and to trust in Jesus Christ.

It shows us how to live our lives so that we will please God and live life with skill.

II. We sometimes mistreat the Bible because we do think of it as a sacred text.

We believe every sentence in the Bible is a self-contained unit. Why?

It's divided up into chapters and verses, and in many translations each verse looks like a separate thought. As a result, we take a verse out of its immediate context.

We often think of the Bible as coming from God but we don't think of it as literature in which a human author was writing to human readers. As a result, we take a verse out of its cultural context.

III. What are the dangers of treating the Bible as "different"?

We may be saying what God himself never intended to say.

Example: Job—many of his friends said things that were partially true but were really not true of Job's situation.

In the name of God we may be opening ourselves to ideas that are even contrary to the Bible and to what God is really saying. 

CONCLUSION:

In the programs to come, we'll look at some passages that have some times been taken out of their setting. They seem to be saying one thing, but they're really saying another.