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Writer's pictureFBC Muncie
Aug 22, 2023

Understanding Holy Scripture ("We Believe" Resources)

We Believe: Back To Basics - A series about our common faith. | Week 1 resources.

Learn what it means that Scripture is the testimony of Apostles and Prophets.

Christians can talk a lot about Scripture being “God’s word.” They might even use somewhat unusual words like “sufficient” or “inspired” to describe the Bible’s role in the Christian life. And these things are true!


But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to understand. In the Biblical book of Acts, Philip was once led to an Ethiopian man reading the prophet Isaiah as he rode in a chariot.

“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him…” (Acts 8:30-31, NIV).


Similarly, when Jesus finds two of his disciples on the road, after his resurrection, they do not immediately recognize him. When they do, after he breaks bread with them, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:26-27, NIV).

Christ himself is the key to Holy Scripture.


Whether you’ve read the Bible all your life, or have just started, we wanted to provide you with resources to help you along the way.

Some resources are free (online resources, videos, podcasts), some will cost money (books), and some require a subscription (Seminary Now video curriculum).

Click the arrow to expand and see more information on each resource.

“We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction…” - New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, 1833

How did we get the biblical canon?



"Beliefs shaped the books that were prized and read, while the books in turn shaped the beliefs that people held and professed." - Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe

How do Christians read & understand the Bible?


Video Series: Bible Project - “What is the Bible” [Video: 5:48]

Podcast Series: Bible Project - "How To Read the Bible"

Book / Podcast: The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (second edition) by Scot McKnight



“God did not give the Bible so we could master him or it; God gave the Bible so we could live it, so we could be mastered by it. The moment we think we’ve mastered it, we have failed to be readers of the Bible.” ― Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible

Is the Bible anti-women? Pro-Slavery? Sexually repressive?

How should Christians understand the Bible on social issues?



On Women:


“My experience of coming to know God in my twenties was uncompromisingly affirming… it built me up as a person… encountering the love of God was really life-changing… when I discovered [subordinationist theology] I realized that kind of setup of relationships hinders or blocks the revelation of God to a woman of who she is in Christ…” - Lucy Peppiatt, Episode 111 of The Essential Church Podcast


"These women leaders of the early church are more than just extras on the set of the gospel drama. They are often key characters." - Nijay Gupta, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church

On Slavery:

“The question isn’t always which account of Christianity uses the Bible. The question is which does justice to as much of the biblical witness as possible. There are uses of Scripture that utter a false testimony about God. This is what we see in Satan’s use of Scripture in the wilderness. The problem isn’t that the Scriptures that Satan quoted were untrue, but when made to do the work that he wanted them to do, they distorted the biblical witness. This is my claim about the slave master exegesis of the antebellum South. The slave master arrangement of biblical material bore false witness about God. This remains true of quotations of the Bible in our own day that challenge our commitment to the refugee, the poor, and the disinherited.” ― Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope

On Sexuality:


Book / Video Curriculum / Podcast: Faithful: A Theology of Sex by Beth Felker Jones



The idea that gentleness isn't masculine or the dangerous idea that grown women shouldn't have body fat are sinful distortions of masculinity and femininity. These distorted ideas aren't what our good God intended for us when he gave us sexually differentiated bodies...It can also help us to recognize that growing in holiness as a son or daughter of God sometimes requires defying social rules about men not being gentle or women needing to eat so little that they cannot thrive.” ― Beth Felker Jones, Faithful: A Theology of Sex

Moving from reading for information to reading for worship & transformation







“Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.” ― Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading

If you REALLY want to dive in:



“The Bible is not a fortress to be defended, but a mansion to explore, to live in and invite others into.” ― R.W.L Moberly recounting how Keith Sutton encouraged him to journey into the world of the Bible.

 

It's my sincere prayer you've found this collection of recent resources increase your love and knowledge of Scripture and the God of the Bible.


Pax Christi,*

(*The Peace of Christ)


- Jonathan

Co-Pastor, FBCM

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