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Recommended: English literature
Colorado Christian University has been a building stone in my educational and spiritual growth. The course interpreting the Bible (BIB 230) is no exception to this concept. It challenged me to think critically about the passages I am reading and to look at each word that the author uses. Learning to interpret the Bible takes a lot of research and many hours of reading the scriptures to comprehend how God is speaking through each author, which this course strengthened those habits.
There were many concepts that I learned during this course and there are a few of them that I have integrated into my study habits each time I read a passage. The first one is authorial intent, and according to Duvall & Hays (2012), it is when the author stresses the determination of the meaning of the text (p. 193). The reader must research for what the author is saying a remove their own interpretation. This compels me to forget what I have learned in the past and read with a fresh open mind
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These steps really help with breaking the passage into manageable parts. These also play an important part with the authorial intent and the literary intent of the passage. The one step that stands out the most is step 2, “what are the differences between the Biblical audience and us” (Duvall & Hays, 2012, p. 237). This step plays an important part with trying to understand how the passage relates to our modern situations. It helps to show that the Bible is for every generation on this earth and that each written word from the authors was inspired by God. It helps to demonstrate to our new generation that no matter the situation, God has instructions about living our life through those uncertain times. I felt that everything that was written by Duvall & Hays was useful in interpreting the scriptures. Many of the items were repeated but each one made sense in why they should be incorporated into my study
He too quickly dismisses the idea of reading on your own to find meaning and think critically about a book. For him, Graff states that “It was through exposure to such critical reading and discussion over a period of time that I came to catch the literary bug.” (26) While this may have worked for Graff, not all students will “experience a personal reaction” (27) through the use of critical discussion. The solution to this seems to be neither giving away answers or lazily doing assigned reading in order to find meaning within the text.
To quote Ben Jonson,” Weigh the meaning and look not at the words” to put this simply he means do not merely look at what is written literally because often what one is reading is only half of what the author has written. Some authors compose their works, giving the world a thrilling or informative story on the surface, but in actuality their real purpose in writing them is the hidden meanings within or underneath the stories which only those who are truly paying attention will notice and understand. Zone off for just a second and whole world could be missed. Cousteau’s work “How to Swim with Sharks: A Primer” may seem to the inexperienced or uninterested reader an ordinary guide to swimming with sharks, but any who delve deeper will notice
When reading someone else's work you need to be certain that you read between the lines. Author's, at times, will attempt to distort information in order to make their beliefs more prominent. In order to avoid this disinformation, you have to learn the difference between denotations and connotations and facts from opinions. Furthermore, you'll have to recognize figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, which can incite specific feelings onto readers.
reader creates “supplementary meaning” to the text by unconsciously setting up tension, also called binary opposition. Culler describes this process in his statement “The process of thematic interpretation requires us to move from facts towards values, so we can develop each thematic complex, retaining the opposition between them” (294). Though supplementary meaning created within the text can take many forms, within V...
The Old Testament and the Bible itself has been studied extensively for centuries. Archeologists and Scholars have labored and pondered over texts trying to decipher its clues. It does not matter how many times the Old Testament has been studied there will always be something new to learn about it or the history surrounding it. In the book Reading the Old Testament: an Introduction, the author Lawrence Boadt presents us with a few different authors of the Old Testament that used different names for God and had a unique insight into the texts. These four sources are titled P for priests, E for Elohim, J for Jehovah, and Y for Yahweh (95). These four unique sources help us realize that there is more than one author of the Pentateuch. These authors took the text and adapted for their culture. This independent source is used by scholars to help gain insight into what was behind the texts of the bible so we are not left with an incomplete picture of what went into the creation of the bible. Julius Wellhausen used these four sources to publish a book to able us to better understand the sources and to give it credibility with the Protestant scholars at the time (Boadt 94). These sources that is independent of the bible as in the DVD Who Wrote the Bible? and the Nova website aide in shedding light on the history that surrounded the writers who wrote the text and what inspired them to write it in the first place. The DVD shows the discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls and the extensive history of the texts and all its sources in an effort to try to find exactly who wrote the bible (Who Wrote). These scrolls have aided scholars immensely by giving us some of the oldest known manuscripts of the bible in the world today. It shows that the bible w...
The first chapter deals with the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. The second chapter talks about transforming our minds through the Holy Spirit. The key reason for that, explained in chapter three, so that other people can see God’s life through us and how we make decisions resulting in the glorification of God. Chapter four, however, is showing the truth in which our mind should be set on shown in God’s word. Then that’s when chapter five talks about the way we relate to God in overcoming this world through His name. Finally, we come to chapter six where Hodges refer back to chapter five, saying that we should pursue God’s glory on the regular bases. Doing this intentionally and being focus to have the proper mindset. The six step or chapters should open our eyes so that we can discover God’s purpose for our lives through Christ
... cross my mind but I find myself thinking differently since enrolling in this class. I enjoyed this book because it allowed me to relate to the main character, reflect on my life, and try to change myself in the process of reading it. I was able to see the parts of my life that had not been even fathomed before. When reading the book I found it difficult to read and somewhat boring but once I thought about the concepts and people involved in our class it gave me a better understanding of the book. One piece of advice would be to have the five people/ five concepts before reading these books because I feel I missed some key points looking back on the book. I feel that knowing these people/concepts before reading the book would have helped me understand the book better. This book was and interesting one and allows for every reader to have their own interpretation of it.
The most meaningful thing I picked up form this class was that writing does not come from inspiration. Learning this really helped me grow as a writer, I no longer feel the pressure to come up with an inspirational piece and expect it to be golden. Also this tied in with how no writing is perfect in its first draft. I always felt my writing had to be perfect my first attempt, just as major authors or professors did. However as I learned that it talks many “shitty first drafts” to create a good piece of writing, and also then no peace of writing is ever complete.
Christian colleges are an essential part of today’s education system, because not only do they produce great students academically but they also produce, the next generation of Christian leader. I have a firm belief in any University who offers the teaching of the Word of God, is a great place for anyone to spend four years of their life at. The teaching of Christ helps us build a moral character, which is a very essential foundation on becoming a better person. Christian Universities like Baptist Bible College, keep the Word alive a...
I began this course thinking my worldview was that of a Christian Theist, as I had come to discover, as the course progressed, my worldview was a mixed bag of beliefs outside the elementary belief of Christian Theism. I was not disheartened by this finding, but surprised. The realization then set in that I was uneducated or did not know God like I thought. In fact my beliefs appeared to be more influenced by society than the deity of God. Fortunately, this is a learning experience intended to bring me closer to the truths of Christianity and an understanding of the beliefs of others.
For sure,for sure. I don’t know that I could ever see the Bible the same after this course! But it does indeed open me up to new approaches in my own analysis and study, as well as how I talk about the Bible moving forward. Best of all, My Faith has Survived!, and was even a bit enhanced.
This approach allows students to analyze and identify text structure as well as build upon their reading comprehension. My favorite strategy I use is the graphic organizer. Students are able to recognize the main idea, major idea and the supporting details of a given text. Students may also apply the “teach to teach” model to provide mastery learning skills. This approach also makes learning exciting by allowing students an opportunity to connect ideas based on their background knowledge. As teachers we must continue to implement strategies for the purpose of promoting students’ overall comprehension skills. I thought this article was very informational and I took away some very useful teaching tools that will allow me to help my students become better readers understanding what they are reading. In doing this I will be able to teach the different text structures to the students who are at a disadvantage and help them to be able to comprehend by using text structures in expository texts. I also thought it was nice how the article gave the five text structures and three guides as a guide to use with students. The fact that if a student can realizes what they have read and retain it comprehend it will only allow for them to meet the requirements and where they need to be as
Throughout Church history the Catholic Church has come up with a core set of beliefs, some of these were received from the holy spirit, some we received through visions, and some were received by the bible. At first glance the Bible seems a little scattered, but when theologians read the bible with different view points a lot can be taken away from the scriptures. The different ways of reading the scriptures are often times referred to as the senses of the scriptures. What difference does it make to read the Scriptures according to the four senses? First, what are the four senses?
Before my first year in college, I thought I could just get away with just skimming and reading now and then, well as I starting my courses this year, I was in for a wake up call. I knew I was going to have to learn new techniques. In my western civilization course I knew I was going to have to develop a very strong technique to grasp all of the information that was going to be required to absorb. At first I would just read the information and take notes as I went along, soon did I find out that that was not going to workout like I had thought. I then realized I had to use multiple reading techniques all together. I learned that if I skim and look for the main points presented first, that I would get a better idea of what I was going to be reading about. Secondly I would go back and read through more throughly and highlight what I found to be most important. After I read throughly I go back and take notes over the broad points and what stood out the most to me. A professor of mine also taught me that the more you test yourself, the better you will retain the information you are learning. I was taught that if you study once and then test yourself, and then test yourself again it brings the best results. My favorite type of reading would be the essays and articles I read in my philosophy course this semester. It was very intriguing to read about the beliefs of different philosophers. It really challenged my way of thinking
A response to the interpretation of Acts 4:32–36 as an endorsement of a type of communal living as being normative for the Christian church.