 Your expectations  Expectations of you ◦ Attendance ◦ Preparation / Homework ◦ Tests / Essays ◦ Exams  Course Books and recommended reading

 Unit 1 The Books of the Bible  Unit 2 Interpreting the Bible  Unit 3 From creation to new creation  Unit 4 Israel and God’s purposes  Unit 5 The promised land and God’s good purposes  Unit 6 The kingdom of David and God’s purpose  Unit 7 God’s purpose renewed  Unit 8 Jesus the fulfiller of God’s purpose  Unit 9 The Gospel for the nations  Unit 10 Awaiting the fulfillment-the Apostles’ writings  EXAM

 The Bible is God’s Word

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 The Bible is God’s Word  The Bible was written by people

Exodus 24:4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.

John 21:24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

Luke 1:2-4 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

 The Bible is God’s Word  The Bible was written by people

 Authority  Infallibility & Inerrancy  Sufficiency  Clarity

Unity and diversity in the Bible

Literature of the Bible

library A library of books. Contains a wide variety of literary material (different genres); e.g. narrativesprophecies lawswisdom sayings ritual instructionsparables poetryletters songsgenealogies. sermons Contains material published over at least 1,600 years, by over 40 different people. diversityunity Despite all this diversity, there is a special unity: it is all about the gradual unfolding of the purpose of God. “The Bible is all about God’s gracious actions to reverse the effects of human sin and establish a new creation. This plan of salvation comes to its climax and fulfilment with the ministry of Jesus Christ.”

The book of books Obviously, first and foremost is the OLD Testament and the NEW Testament… But each of these can be broken down further in our English Bibles: Old TestamentNew Testament historical books mixed poetry prophetic books Genesis to Esther Job to Song of Solomon Isaiah to Malachi the Gospels … other Apostolic writings Matthew to John Acts of the Apostles to Revelation Septuagint. NB: This arrangement follows the order of the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint.

The book of books The Hebrew Bible has the books in a different order: the Law the writings the prophets former latter Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy PsalmsJob ProverbsRuth Song of Solomon Ecclesiastes Lamentations EstherDaniel EzraNehemiah 1 & 2 Chronicles Joshua Judges 1 & 2 Samuel 1 & 2 Kings IsaiahJeremiah EzekielHosea JoelAmos ObadiahJonah MicahNahum Habakkuk Zephaniah HaggaiMalachi Zechariah

the Law  The first 5 books were called ‘the Law’ by the Jews and ‘the Pentateuch’ by others (from two Greek words literally meaning “the five scrolls”).  ‘The Law’ was understood as the part of scripture that gave God’s basic teaching by which the rest of the Bible was to be understood. A brief summary of this basic teaching is:  God created all things, and humanity rebelled against God, which brought sin into the world. “live in a special relationship with himself”.  In order to undo the effects of sin and bring blessing to the world, God called Abraham and his descendents to “live in a special relationship with himself”.  saved taught  Later, because of that special relationship, God saved his people (the exodus under Moses) and taught them (by the commandments) and led them towards Canaan which he had promised would be their land. The book of books

the former prophets from God’s point of view  These books are called “former prophets” because they present the history of the period from God’s point of view, and illustrate the importance of prophets in the outworking of God’s plan for Israel. land of Canaan  Joshua and Judges describe the conquest of the land of Canaan, in fulfilment of God’s promise. kings descended from David  1 & 2 Samuel show how God’s rule over his people is to be forever linked to kings descended from David.   1 & 2 Kings show the rebellion of ten of the tribes against the house of David and a schism occurs.

The book of books the latter prophets  These books are called “latter prophets” because they are the teaching of the prophets who were around just before, during, and after the captivity and exile of the northern and southern kingdoms.  Their first task is to make clear the reasons for God’s judgement and then reveal God’s plan for their future; showing that God’s gracious purposes have not been abandoned despite appearances! the kingdom of God  The re-establishment of the people is associated with God sending a king from David’s line (known as “Messiah”) who will bring peace and salvation – the establishment of the kingdom of God.

The book of books the writings  This material falls basically into three categories:  The so-called “Wisdom Literature” (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, some of the Psalms and Song of Solomon) which focuses on a wide variety of issues. It deals with problems of universal significance – for both men and women in every age and situation.  The Psalms contain a range of responses to God in prayer, praise, poetry and song from different times in Israel’s history.  The rest of the writings deal basically with the period of Babylonian exile and beyond.

The book of books fulfils the Old Testament scriptures  The Gospel writers are particularly concerned to show that Jesus’ life at every point fulfils the Old Testament scriptures. the ends of the earth  The Acts of the Apostles is like ‘Luke part 2’, showing how the message of Christ and his work was taken by the apostles from Jerusalem to “the ends of the earth” (both in terms of geography and people group).  The writers of the New Testament claim that the purposes of God revealed in the Old Testament came to completion in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Letters (of Paul and others) deal with practical and doctrinal problems facing the early churches.  The Revelation (to John) focuses on the victorious and glorified Jesus, revealing the implications of his death, resurrection and exaltation for the future. It encourages Christians to keep living for Jesus as they await the great day of his return. GospelsLettersGospelsLetters

 Jesus believed that the Old Testament was inspired by God (Matthew 22:31-32,43-44; John 10:35 etc) as did the apostles (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21, Hebrews 3:7,4:7, Acts 4:25 etc).  Christians soon recognized the same authority in the writings of the New Testament (2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:18 etc).  This make sense because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead the apostles into all truth (John 14:25-26, 16:12-15)  The whole Bible points to Jesus (Luke 24:44- 48, John 5:39,46, 1 Peter 1:10-11).