Going Deeper into the Bible

Spring 2022

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 2022)

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 liturgical year (Year C) focuses on the book of Luke. We will focus more heavily on the book on the book of Luke compared to the other Gospels. Different liturgical years (Year A, B) will focus on different materials

Date	Topic	Short Summary and Questions	Videos	Notes
Jan 18	Group Introductions
Jan 25	NT Introduction	NT happens and recorded in history When were books written?	NT Introduction, NT Canon Introduction, .
Feb 1	Mark	Earliest of Gospels Fast paced action Jesus School	Intro to Mark, Ending of Mark, .	Mark 16
Feb 8	Matthew		Mark--Matthew Example,	Matthew 27
Feb 15	Luke--Acts 1			Birth Narratives
Feb 22	Luke--Acts 2
March 1	Luke--Acts 3
March 8	John
March 15	Intro to Paul / Philemon			Philemon
March 22	Spring Break
March 29	1^st Thessalonians
April 5	Galations
April 12	Passion Week
April 19	Jesus	Who do you say that I am?

Other letters to consider: 1^st Corinthians, 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