Bill Kynes begins a four part series that considers how to read, study, and meditate on the Bible. He begins with a reminder that the Bible’s overall storyline must be the context in which we examine any specific passage.
Show Notes:
Recommended Reading:
Trent Hunter and Stephen Wellum, Christ from Beginning to End: How the Full Story of Scripture Reveals the Glory of Christ (Zondervan, 2018).
From beginning to end, the Bible reveals the glory of Jesus. But for many Bible readers, it doesn’t seem that simple. We’re often unsure how the Bible’s many stories, characters, events relate together and connect to Jesus. Some are tempted to force the pieces of the Bible together, making superficial jumps to him. Others give up trying to understand the Bible altogether. Christ from Beginning to End is written to help Christians understand better how every part of Scripture fits together to reveal the glory of Christ Jesus. In Part 1, Wellum and Hunter reintroduce us to the Bible — what it is, how it comes to us, and what it’s centrally about. Then, in Part 2, they walk from one side of the Bible’s story to the other, carefully tracing the Bible’s storyline from Genesis to Revelation. As readers see how our triune God’s plan unfolds through his covenants, they will be equipped for a lifetime of seeing Christ’s glory in Scripture. From this book, you’ll learn how to:
• read the Bible according to the three biblical contexts: the immediate context, the context of the unfolding story, and the context of the whole story centered in Christ.
• recognize how different parts of the Bible connect together as part of a unified story.
• embrace the story of the Bible as our own, to live this story out, and to share this story with our neighbors and the nations.
Robert W. Wall and David R. Nienhuis, ed., A Compact Guide to the Whole Bible: Learning to Read Scripture’s Story (Baker Academic, 2015)
This compact, one-semester introduction to the Bible prepares students to begin reading the biblical text as Christian Scripture, focusing on the meaning of Scripture for the church. The editors and contributors — experienced teachers with expertise in different parts of the Bible — orient students to the whole of Scripture so that they may read the biblical text for themselves. The book first explains what Christians believe about Scripture and gives a bird’s-eye survey of the whole biblical story. Chapters then introduce the story, arrangement, style, and key ideas of each division of the Old and New Testament, helping readers see how the books of the Bible make a coherent whole.
NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, D.A. Carson, general editor (Zondervan 2018)
Biblical Theology allows you to ponder the individual stories and themes of Scripture while observing how they all fit together in God’s grand biblical narrative.
With three articles introducing Biblical theology and 25 articles unpacking key themes of Scripture, the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible equips you to follow the progressive unfolding of God’s story. Helpful introductions to books and sections of the Bible combined with 20,000 verse-by-verse study notes will guide you to a clearer understanding of every portion of Scripture.
