© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Session 5 The Bible – so what?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Session 5 Bible – so what?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Roots of Faith Looking at the main foundations of Christian Faith –The Bible –Tradition –Reason –Experience Five sessions 1.Encountering Jesus 2.Encountering Passover 3.Encountering God in the Bible 4.The Bible in Conflict 5.The Bible – so what?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Keys Key Point –The Bible has authority alongside tradition, reason and experience Key Skill –Critical thinking

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Today Critical Thinking Writing a reflection Stool of understanding Coffee break! Applying the three-legged stool - Creation or Evolution? Building the toolkit Wrap-up

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Stool of Understanding What weight would you give to each influence? Do different denominations tend to give different weights? Position Holy Spirit TraditionReason Bible

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Critical Thinking What is critical thinking?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Critical Thinking What is critical thinking? The ability to step outside of your own thought processes, and make critical judgements about them! –What bias have I introduced? –Have I taken all the factors into account? –Has my reasoning been rigorous? –How have I been swayed by emotion, a desire for the ‘right’ answer, or peer pressure?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Writing a Reflection Review your Choice Take another Bible book and subject it to a narrative criticism e.g. look for a number of ‘acts’ in the story. Choose a parable, and either re-write it for your contemporary culture or comment on the difficulties when applying the original story to today’s world. Give an example of an issue in contemporary society that is challenged by the bible. Explore how biblical principles involved and the difficulties of their application. What is your preferred approach/way of reading the Bible? What strengths do you now observe in this, as well as other approaches? How can we encounter Jesus in scripture today?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Writing a Reflection Have I ever done a written reflection? If so, when? How do I feel about writing a reflection? How do I feel about these questions?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Writing a Reflection on the Bible Brainstorm the following questions to help your Reflection: How does your church use the Bible today? How else could your church use the Bible beneficially?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Coffee Break What do I think about the accounts of creation in Genesis?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Applying the three-legged stool Creation versus Evolution What does scripture say? –Use the critical approaches we have learned during this module What does tradition say? What does reason (experience) say?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Stool of Understanding Do you want to revisit your weightings? Position Holy Spirit TraditionReason Bible

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Application In pairs apply the three legged stool approach to one of the following controversial issues –The Virgin Birth: true or false? –Slavery: justified or not? –Infant baptism: right or wrong?

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Building the Toolkit Identify your biblical story or phrase

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Reflect Hold your passage up to God Be thankful Ask God to draw you into greater depths of comfort and wisdom Commit the passage to God

© Diocese of Guildford 2011 The Bible - so what Wrap-Up Reflection Concluded –How does this session influence my thoughts on the topic I have chosen? –Write the Reflection and return it to the tutor Reflection Topics –‘Criticise’ another Bible book –Re-write a parable –Bible and contemporary society –Bible reading, my approach –Encountering Jesus in the Bible Feedback on this session and the whole module Close