BIBLE OVERVIEW

LECTURE NOTES
Bible Overview Lecture Notes 2
 Bible Overview Lecture Notes

Introduction 5

Session 1 The Gospel and the Bible 6

Session 2 Interpreting the Bible 17

Session 3 From Creation to New Creation 29

Session 4 Israel and God’s Purposes 44

Session 5 The Promised Land and God’s Good Purposes 54

Session 6 The Kingdom of David and God’s Purposes 63

Session 7 God’s Purposes Renewed 73

Session 8 Jesus: The Fulfiller of God’s Purposes 78

Session 9 The Gospel for the Nations 87

Session 10 Awaiting the fulfilment – the Apostles’ writings 93

Appendix 1-5 99

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Bible Overview Lecture Notes 4
 INTRODUCTION
Who is in your group?

Name, Congregation, work/study, favourite stall food – and where they eat it

What are you looking to get out of this seminar/course?

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 SESSION 1:
The Gospel and the Bible
1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ

2. From Gospel to Bible

3. The Bible’s claim to authority

a. The authority of the Old Testament

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 Exercise: What did Jesus and his apostles believe about the authority of
the Old Testament?

Matthew 22:31-32, 43-44

Matthew 5:17, 19; 26:54

Matthew 15:1-9

Luke 24:25-27

John 10:35

Matthew 2:15

Acts 4:25

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 2 Timothy 3:14-15

Hebrews 3:7 compare with 4:7

2 Peter 1:21

b. The authority of the New Testament

i. Christians soon recognized the same authority in the writings of the New
Testament (2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:18).

ii. This make sense because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead
the apostles into all truth (John 14:25-26, 16:12-15)

iii. So ‘all Scripture’ is authoritative.

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4. The Dual Nature of the Bible

a. The Bible is God’s Word

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.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

b. The Bible was written by people

e.g. Exodus 24:4; John 21:24; Luke 1:2-4

5. Implications of the inspiration of Scripture

a. Unity and diversity

i. Diversity

Books

Language

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 Genre

Authors

Situations

“The Bible contains material published over at least 1,600 years by over 40
different people.”

ii. Unity

Author

Subject

What (or who) is the main subject of the entire Bible?

1 Peter 1:10-11, Luke 24:44-48, John 5:39, 46

“The Bible is all about God’s gracious actions to reverse the effects of human sin
and establish a new creation. Another way of describing this process is the
establishment of the ‘Kingdom of God’. This plan of salvation comes to its climax
and fulfilment with the ministry of Jesus Christ.”1
_______________________________________________________
1Jobbins, Peterson, Woodhouse, Bolt, Maidment Introduction to the Bible, Moore Theological College
Department of External Studies, 2007, p11.

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b. Authority

i. Basis for Biblical authority (see above)

ii. Competing authorities:

1. Reason

2. Experience

3. Tradition/Institution

c. Infallibility and inerrancy

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d. Clarity (perspicuity)

e. Sufficiency

6. Outlines of the Bible Storyline

a. Basic outline

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 b. Coat hanger diagram

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7. Divisions in the Bible

a. Old Testament

i. English (Septuagint)

The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and some
other books beginning from the 3rd century BC.

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 ii. Hebrew

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b. New Testament

i. Gospels

ii. Other apostolic writings

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