Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

The following questions were designed to help you review the material in the second video segment. The question of the origins, authority, and inspiration of the Bible lies at the heart of all biblical interpretation. We cannot proceed in defining our hermeneutic until we settle the question of the Bible’s divine origin as well as its human authorship. Modern biblical criticism seeks to articulate the precise relationship between the claims of the divine and the human. As you discuss together the questions below, seek to make plain your own views as you review the key ideas of the segment. Read the following questions carefully, and seek to answer them in light of the teaching of the Scriptures. 1. List at least three Bible verses which claim that the Scriptures are inspired of God, “God-breathed,” through the power and working of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean that the Bible is a divine book as well as a book of human authorship? How do you understand the text in 2 Peter that says that no Scripture is of any private interpretation, but the authors were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Pet. 1.19-21)? 2. What is the Mechanical or Dictation Theory, what does it hold, and what do you think about its believability? 3. Explain the Intuition or Natural Theory of biblical inspiration, and how ought we to interpret it in light of the Bible’s own claim about itself? 4. What are the key elements of the Illumination Theory of biblical inspiration, and how do the Scriptures answer the question of the gifting of the authors and the Bible’s divine authorship? 5. How does the Degrees of Inspiration Theory line up with the biblical teaching about the nature of the Word of God? 6. List the major concepts associated with the Verbal/Plenary Theory of biblical inspiration. Why does this theory, more than the others, provide us with a clear answer of the relationship of the divine and the human in the Bible’s origins and authority? 7. What is the goal of modern biblical criticism? Is this a realistic goal? Explain your answer. 8. Summarize the various subsections of biblical criticism that traces the process from the divine event to our own copies of the Scriptures? What is the difference between “higher” criticism and “lower” criticism? What are the problems and benefits associated with these disciplines?

Segue 2

Student Questions and Response

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