Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

122 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

• With the abundance of studies being done on every imaginable subject under the sun, how do we ensure that all of our insights line up with the message of the whole Bible? How do we avoid “majoring on the minors” in our study of the Bible? Give practical examples. • What role do our leaders (i.e., bishops, pastors, mentors, well-known Christian leaders, etc.) play in taking our own personal interpretations as authoritative ? Should we hold to an interpretation of Scripture that we have found in our study if it is contradicted by what Christianity has taught in the creeds and throughout Church history? Explain. • Why should we be open to having others criticize our findings and ideas before we begin to suggest that we have discovered general principles that are binding on all members of the Church? What kind of attitudes should we demonstrate when we speak about new things we have learned from the Lord in our studies? • How should we take a person, however scholarly or well-studied, who is unwilling to have their own ideas weighed and checked against the teaching of the Scriptures themselves? How does the Berean example and reaction to the teaching of Paul inform our own need to be open to checking the findings of others against the Scriptures themselves (cf. Acts 17.11)? • Since we are not all Bible teachers and scholars, what ought to be our goal as we engage in our own work of biblical interpretation? Should it concern us that some members of the body will discover more in their study than we did? How do spiritual gifts figure into this equation? • Why is it important not merely to depend on others for the insights and wisdom that the Bible provides for us? What kind of errors may occur when we become overly dependent on others for our instruction and growth in Christ? • Why is it impossible to suggest that our dependence on the Holy Spirit in our personal study is a substitute for the hard work of biblical interpretation? How can you know if you are not depending on the Holy Spirit for insight in your personal study? Likewise, how can you tell when you are being lazy in the way you are handling the Word of truth? • Why is it always important to study the Bible in the light of the great themes emphasized by our Lord, along with the apostles and

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B i b l i ca l S tud i e s