Goatherd's Guide to the Bible - Introduction
Contents
- 1 Purpose of the teaching [1]
- 2 Assumptions
- 3 Perspective
- 4 What is the Bible?
- 5 How do we know which writing are divinely inspired?
- 6 What is the purpose of scripture [2]
- 7 What is the purpose of the Gospels?
- 8 What is the purpose of the letters?
- 9 How do we find the meaning of the prophetic riddles?
- 10 Why are Paul's letters considered authoritative, since he was not an apostle?
- 11 The nature of prophetic riddle [3]
Purpose of the teaching [1]
- Purpose of the teaching is to present the Bible to someone who has never read it.
- How would an apostle present Jesus to a Greek around the time of Christ?
Assumptions
Perspective
What is the Bible?
- No canon until a few hundred years before Christ
- Modern Christianity elevates the canon to a mythical status.
- The Gospels are an authoritative commentary on the Hebrew canon.
How do we know which writing are divinely inspired?
What is the purpose of scripture [2]
- 2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
- doctrine - the "New Teaching of Peace" or the "New Jerusalem" revealing the character of God (voice of the prophet)
- reproof - confrontation of sin (voice of the judge)
- correction - making things right trough the cross with Christ as our High Priest (voice of the priest)
- instruction in righteousness - training and controlling the flesh (voice of the king)
It is a book to each individual.
What is the purpose of the Gospels?
To declare that Jesus fulfills the prophetic riddles of the Hebrew scriptures which prefigure the works and teaching of the Son of God. We are not required just to believe it by faith, but to check it against what the Hebrew scriptures say.
- Ac 17:11 ...they received the word (teaching of the apostle) with all readiness of mind, and searched the [Hebrew] scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
- The apostles refer to the Hebrew scriptures as they teach about Christ
- The gospels are an outline of the apostles' sermons
Barriers to the message that must be overcome
- The Hebrew scriptures declare plainly that there is only one God. How can Jesus be God in the form of a man?
- Had they judged any other man, their judgement would have been true.
- The religious leaders did not want to lose their authority, so they perverted the riddles which teach that God would become a man, in order to deny Christ. (see אבן - stone; which is the Father אב and the Son בן)
What is the purpose of the letters?
Apostles were given authority to set practice in the church
How do we find the meaning of the prophetic riddles?
We use the "keys to the kingdom"
Why are Paul's letters considered authoritative, since he was not an apostle?
Peter endorsed Paul's writings by equating them with the rest of scripture:
- 2Pe 3:16 As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
The nature of prophetic riddle [3]
Prophetic riddle is like dinner theatre. The prophet was often a street actor who play-acted a prophecy. Likewise, the history of Israel is a prophecy of Christ played out in historical events.
It is written in four layers or four voices. (see How_do_we_identify_the_fingerprint_of_God?#Understand_the_nature_or_genre_of_the_Bible_.5B1.5D
- Introduction part e
- "There is only NOW" or "Quantum time and omniscience and how your ontology affects your theology"
- Introduction part f
- The metaphor of the square text alefbet
