Going Deeper into the Bible

Spring 2023

Introduction to the New Testament

Many Christians often state a desire to know the bible in a deeper way. There are stories you have heard, maybe in church, maybe in history, maybe in day-to-day discussions. The bible affects many aspects of history and western culture.

And yet, the structure of the Bible is not at all clear. The starting assumption is the bible is a book to be read linearly, one book after another. The bible is more of a collection of different writings, and to understand the bible deeply, one needs to appreciate the range of writings in the Hebrew Testament (HT, also known as Old Testament) and New Testament (NT).

Comments for reading:

Read the text as if it was new, as if it was strange to you. Imagine those who were hearing this text for the first time, and how they might have heard these writings. One technique is to read the text in a version different from your favorite version.
The headers are not part of the text. They are added by the translators, and correspond to the interpretation of the translators.

Introduction to the New Testament (Spring 2023)

Each session is an opportunity to discuss together that week's topic, read scripture together, and build community together. Each week there will be short videos to watch to introduce these topics. There are also suggested readings in the particular scripture one can read as your time allows.

This Litergical year (Year A) focuses on the book of Matthew. Litergical year (Year B) focuses on the book of Mark. Lliturgical year (Year C) focuses on the book of Luke.

NT Videos and Topics

Topic	Videos	Materials
NT happens and recorded in history When were books written? How was the NT canon developed?	NT Introduction, NT Canon Introduction,
Mark: Earliest of Gospels Fast paced action Jesus School	Structural Intro to Mark, Unique Ending of Mark (Mark 16) ,	Mark 16
Matthew: Jewish focus to those in mixed Jewish--Christan Communities	Structural Overview of Matthew, Issue with Matthew 27,	Matthew 27
Luke--Acts: two book volume Luke: Jesus' life and resurrection Acts: the early Christian church from Jerusalem to Rome.	Structural Overview of Luke--Acts,
Gospel Parallel Discussions	Parallel Mark 12--Matthew 22 Example, Birth Narratives in Matthew & Luke, Parallel Gospel Comparison of Passion Week,
Philemon: Shows basic Letter structure	Introduction to Philemon,	Philemon Letter
Galatians: Letter structure shows angry Paul	Structural Overview of Galatians, Structure of Galatians Letter ,
1 Corinthians	Structural Overview to 1 Corinthians,

Semester Topics, Videos, Discussions

Date	Topic	Short Summary and Questions	Videos	Notes
Jan 10	Group Introductions
Jan 17	NT Introduction I	Videos above
Jan 24	NT Introduction II	Videos above
Jan 31	Greek Session I	Basic Greek Alphabet, Basic Greek words,
Feb 7	Greek Session II	Words + Basic Grammar
Feb 14	Greek Session III	Greek Reading	Gal Overview,
Feb 21	Greek Session IV	Greek + 1 Corinthians	1 Cor Overview,
Feb 28	Gospel of John I
March 7	Gospel of John II
March 15	Intro Appocolaptic Literature	Themes in Daniel?
March 21	Spring Break
March 28	John's Revelation I
April 4	Passion Week
April 11	John's Revelation II
April 18	Jesus	Who do you say that I am? Final session

Other letters to consider: 1^st Thessalonians, Romans

On-Line Biblical Resources

Many biblical resources can be found on-line, and therefore are accessible on a range of electronic devices.

Bible Resources:

Bible Gateway: Has a large number of English and other language translations available a chapter at a time. This free resource is one of the most valuable sources of original biblical texts.
Bible Hub: Has multiple versions and hypertext links and commentary on biblical items. I personally find it extremely valuable for its interlinear Hebrew and Greek translations (Hebrew and Greek words with English word translation). Greek Interlinear Chapters, Hebrew Interlinear Chapters.
Gospel Parallels: Interactive List of Parallels
Gospel Parallels: Bible Hub Gospel Parallels