Discussion Board.

Reply to two Discussion Board.

1st:

Summaries

COLLAPSE

Chapter 23: How to Integrate Geography

To better understand the Bible and to better suit your studies you need to comprehend the geography of the reading. When we think of the geography of what we are reading in the Bible we need to think of places, cultures, communities, people, and topography. Once you are able to understand the geography then you can understand the original meaning to the audience. Then studying the cultures is equally important in having a better understanding of the meaning. Lastly we need to look at the symbolism of the topography to understand the meaning. Often in the Bible we are able to correlate a mountain top or valley to the overall significance and severity of the situation.

Chapter 24: How to Integrate Historical Context

Commonly the historical context of the Scriptures are overlooked which will almost always lead to a misuse or misunderstanding of God’s Word (Cartwright and Hulshof, p. 136). We must look at the author, the audience, and the world on which they lived. We should look at the “who” element when looking at the author. When dealing with the Gospels we should not only look at the author but at their relationship with Jesus and why they wrote their Gospel. Next, the audience is another important piece of the “who” element. Understanding the relationship of the author to the audience as well as the world in which they lived in is key to understanding this historical context.

Chapter 25: How to Integrate Literary Context

When doing an analysis of the text we need to look at the meaning of the passage, verse, or word. In order to perform an accurate contextual analysis you always need to look at the whole picture. Often times if you take a singular verse and not look both the chapter and book then you can misinterpret the true meaning. One contextual analysis we can use is known as the “microscope method”. This method is an effective way to move from the general purpose and structure of a book to a narrow study of a verse or passage within the book (Cartwright and Hulshof, p. 144). To properly interpret the meaning during our studies we should ensure we have a good understanding of the context.

Chapter 26: How to Execute Word Studies

During our studies we need to remember that the meanings of words have changed over time. We can break down the study of these words into five steps: 1) Selecting the words, 2) Identifying all the places where the words is located, 3) Determining what the word could mean, 4) Determining what the word does mean, and 5) Checking our work. The resources we can use for the middle three steps is either a concordance or a digital tool, but to check our work we should use an expository dictionary. If we fail to study the words in the Bible then we could miss something that was intended in the original language that it was written.

2nd:

Chapter 23: Geography

Geography is the study of places, cultures, community, people and topography. (Cartwright & Hulshop, page 131). Understanding the geography of the events in the Bible will help a reader to not only identify where events took place, but to also see the relationship between the people and the place.  Understanding the conditions of the land, the rulers of the land and the conditions of a society will help a reader to understand more thoroughly what was going on and why. Often if we learn the full facts surrounding a place and time we gain more insight into what or why and event happened.  Knowing the complete story helps us to gain more insight into the word of the Lord.

Chapter 24: Historical Background

A commitment to understanding historical context is one of the best ways to honor the biblical past so that it remains relevant to our present. (Cartwright & Hulshop, page 136-138). Our textbook reading notes Paul as an example.  If we do not take the time to learn about Paul and who he was and his relationship with Jesus, we will not fully understand his message.  Where a person originates from, their life conditions, their friends and family, all play into a person’s character.  Knowing who that person is and who that person was in his walk with God will allow us, in my opinion, to learn more about his message and how I can learn from it and relate to it.

Chapter 25: Contextual Analysis

Our textbook tells us that there are two parts to contextual analysis.  The genre of a given passage and the context. (Cartwright & Hulshop, page 140). It is very important to not mistake the context of the passages in the Bible.  Our words today do not always reflect the wording of other time periods.  We can very easily mistake a word or phrase and place meaning there that is not there or even place meaning based on our own life experiences.  In reading the Bible it is very important to have a Bible Dictionary to help a reader understand the exact meanings. In order to understand and place meaning to help us in our walk with God the context can mean a lot!

Chapter 26: Words

The meaning of a word is not always the same from person to person or location to location.  Our text references the word “toboggan”.  It could mean a sled or in other areas it means a hat.  In order to understand God’s word, we must stop and research the word.  To research a word, you would choose the word and learn about the location in which you are reading and the time period.  Then you could research to see what that word meant during that time period and location.  Once you feel you have a thorough understanding of the meaning as applied in the reading you should back that up with a Bible Dictionary of Words.  In order to understand we must stop and be patient and look further into the word to know the word!