Welcome to the first Troll Cave Bible Study.
This should be fun. I've never tried to do a Bible study on a message board, but the format should actually be well suited for it. Before we jump in to this weeks Bible passage, let me introduce the study and make a few suggestions to help facilitate discussion.
Introduction
The Bible is amazing. The Hebrew Scriptures were written over a millennia by countless contributors, some known and many unknown, including prophets, leaders and nameless scribes. It's a beautiful family quilt that has been woven and passed down through generations of ancients Hebrews that tells a rich story that ends like a cliffhanger. The New Testament was written in the decades that followed Jesus' death and resurrection by folks that believed that Jesus moved the story of the Hebrew Scriptures forward. The New Testament closes with an ending that's really a new beginning, but says that this new beginning is in the future, and that folks who want to live out this Story, told by the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, will be like sign posts, pointing to Jesus as the culmination of the story, and pointing forward to a day when God's Kingdom (promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and inaugurated by Jesus in the New Testament) will be fully realized in a new heavens and a new earth where God is no longer separated from humanity and earth (humanity's domain) is no longer separated from the heavens (God's domain).
The goal of these Bible studies will be to trace this large story arc of the Bible, and draw out as much from the text as we can while doing so.
To facilitate the goal I have a suggestion.
Ground Rule
Context matters. Many of the lenses through which discussions about the Bible take place these days are lenses that didn't exist when the text was written. For our Bible studies, let's try to stick to what we can glean from the passages themselves. I think I'll start another thread called Theology Free For All where we can discuss the various debates that are wont to arise but that would bog down a Bible study. For these Bible study threads it would be great if we could stick to the text.
Format
Each week I'll post a passage and a few simple questions. Let's each read the passage and start the discussion off by answering the questions, and then let the discussion go from there.
See one more intro post below, the passage for the week below that, and then our study questions below that.
One More Introduction
Up above I mentioned that the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament form a story. To give you a little tidbit about what I'm talking about:
The Bible begins with:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...
And then it ends with:
...the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
This is just a small example. It can be seen in other ways too...The Bible presents itself as a story with a beginning and an end.
So let's start at the beginning of the story...
The Creation of the World
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth,[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Questions
1. How would you summarize the meaning of this passage? How would you tell someone verbally what this passage said or meant?
2. What does this passage tell us about God?
3. What does this passage tell us about Humanity?
4. If this passage is true, what does it say about how we should live?
This should be fun. I've never tried to do a Bible study on a message board, but the format should actually be well suited for it. Before we jump in to this weeks Bible passage, let me introduce the study and make a few suggestions to help facilitate discussion.
Introduction
The Bible is amazing. The Hebrew Scriptures were written over a millennia by countless contributors, some known and many unknown, including prophets, leaders and nameless scribes. It's a beautiful family quilt that has been woven and passed down through generations of ancients Hebrews that tells a rich story that ends like a cliffhanger. The New Testament was written in the decades that followed Jesus' death and resurrection by folks that believed that Jesus moved the story of the Hebrew Scriptures forward. The New Testament closes with an ending that's really a new beginning, but says that this new beginning is in the future, and that folks who want to live out this Story, told by the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, will be like sign posts, pointing to Jesus as the culmination of the story, and pointing forward to a day when God's Kingdom (promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and inaugurated by Jesus in the New Testament) will be fully realized in a new heavens and a new earth where God is no longer separated from humanity and earth (humanity's domain) is no longer separated from the heavens (God's domain).
The goal of these Bible studies will be to trace this large story arc of the Bible, and draw out as much from the text as we can while doing so.
To facilitate the goal I have a suggestion.
Ground Rule
Context matters. Many of the lenses through which discussions about the Bible take place these days are lenses that didn't exist when the text was written. For our Bible studies, let's try to stick to what we can glean from the passages themselves. I think I'll start another thread called Theology Free For All where we can discuss the various debates that are wont to arise but that would bog down a Bible study. For these Bible study threads it would be great if we could stick to the text.
Format
Each week I'll post a passage and a few simple questions. Let's each read the passage and start the discussion off by answering the questions, and then let the discussion go from there.
See one more intro post below, the passage for the week below that, and then our study questions below that.
One More Introduction
Up above I mentioned that the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament form a story. To give you a little tidbit about what I'm talking about:
The Bible begins with:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...
And then it ends with:
...the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
This is just a small example. It can be seen in other ways too...The Bible presents itself as a story with a beginning and an end.
So let's start at the beginning of the story...
The Creation of the World
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth,[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Questions
1. How would you summarize the meaning of this passage? How would you tell someone verbally what this passage said or meant?
2. What does this passage tell us about God?
3. What does this passage tell us about Humanity?
4. If this passage is true, what does it say about how we should live?