Session 6 Engaging with Scripture Aims and outcomes Participants have been earning to recognise God in their ives, shaped by their understanding of Jesus and the Hoy Spirit. In the previous session they have thought about the importance of being part of a committed Christian community (the Church) to enjoy Christian feowship together, be transformed in character, and make a difference to the word. Now we focus on a crucia means of understanding who God is in Hoy Scripture. At the end of this session you need to encourage peope to start thinking about what they have earnt so far in the course, what it means for their spiritua journey, and what decision they are going to make about the next step they wish to take. (The next session wi focus on foowing Jesus. Invite peope to bring something that heps them or symboises something of the journey they are making in exporing the Christian faith.) There wi be an opportunity to decide whether they wish to make some form of pubic decaration of faith. They may wish to be confirmed, or baptized, or have the option of a service marking the renewa of faith. It wi be competey okay for them to decide that they are not ready to make a decision and that they wish to continue to do more exporing. They may decide that they are aready in the right pace, but have appreciated the opportunity to (re)consider some of the basics foundations of Christian faith. The Wecome section gives peope the opportunity to offer their thoughts on what they might have to offer to the ife of the Church. It is aso a way of recapping the previous session on Church. The aim is to hep peope see themseves as active participants shaping the ife of the Church, and not as passive consumers. This eads on to the consideration of the importance of the Bibe to Christian faith with refection on the scupture picture (Compass, p. 75) and any testimonies about peope s persona Bibes (Compass, p. 76). (Be prepared to share such a testimony yoursef.) The quiz gives an over view of some of the facts about the Bibe (the answers are on page 34 of the Leader s Guide). and to dispe ideas of revering the book for its own sake. The Bibe is important because we meet the iving God in it. We then return to the most important reason we have the Bibe, to witness to Jesus and to invite us into an unfinished story. There are three possibe activities to engage peope with Scripture, through the senses, through praying Scripture, through asking questions. Choose one or two of these, but invite participants to try the other activity/activities by themseves. The Methodist Emphasis ooks at John Wesey s approach to Scripture and an eighteenth-century expression as to why it is so important (Compass, pp. 84-85), and then heps participants think about why it is important to them. Timings By now you shoud be famiiar with the speed the group works at different tasks. You shoud bear this in mind when choosing the activity from the options on pages 79-84, adjusting the suggested timings if necessary. You wi need: Pens, pencis, highighters Lots of different versions of the Bibe Quiz answers (at the end of the notes to this session) Wecome (5 minutes) Use the opening prayer (Compass, p. 75). Invite peope to refect on how they can contribute to the oca church. Encountering the Word begins with an important quote from Danie Migiore to enabe peope to appreciate right reasons for understanding why the Bibe is so important 30
Introduction (15 minutes) Look at the picture of a scupture by Judith Price. What does the image say about the person and the book? If peope have brought a Bibe with them, now is the time to introduce it. Do peope have a Bibe what kind? Do you have a Bibe what kind? If you have more than one Bibe, which one means the most to you? How did you receive the Bibe? What particuary interesting Bibes have you seen? Describe a story tod from the Bibe that interested or surprised you. You may wish to take aong a Bibe you own which has particuar importance to you (eg famiy Bibe; christening Bibe). Have a pie of Bibes in the room as many and as different as you can and give peope the opportunity to ook through them. What do we know about the book? Invite peope to answer the questions by themseves, circing what they think to be the correct answer. When everyone has done this, go through the answers (on page 34 of the Leader s Guide). Be aware that some of the answers may provoke discussions or further questions. As you go through the answers take the opportunity to expand on how the Bibe came into being. The SPCK Bibe guide by Henry Wansborough gives an exceent overview of a the books of the Bibe, their contents, themes and teachings. Encountering the word The quote from Danie Migiore encourages peope to see that the importance of the Bibe ies in the way that we meet the iving God through its words. It is not the Bibe itsef, but the way God is abe to revea God sef to us through Scripture. Reading the Bibe for the story (15 minutes) The overarching story of God creating the word and oving it is at the heart of Christian faith. The themed strugges of humans seeking and being found by God over thousands of years give a vocabuary to express our own searching. Take the names of peope in the Bibe and try and get them in the right order. You wi have some fun with this activity, and it wi eave some questions. It is not absoutey crucia to get the pattern correct in every detai the exercise wi give the overa pattern of God s reveation. There are a ist of names on pages 35-36, use and amend them as you think suitabe. Aternativey (and additionay) there is a dramatic presentation written for the Year of the Bibe 2011, ceebrating 400 years of the Authorised Version of the Bibe. The Bibe in seven minutes shows the major themes in a whirwind tour of the Bibe s message. You can watch it at http://vimeo.com/26010679 athough you may wish to fast forward through the hymns and songs or it wi take 19 minutes. A script is avaiabe separatey as an appendix to the Leader s Guide. So why do we have the Bibe? (5 minutes) John s Gospe offers an answer at John 20:30-31. A story we can be part of What things does this passage from 2 Timothy suggest are the purposes of Scripture? How to they reate to you? How then can we engage with Scripture? In many ways the Bibe is a too box for spiritua iving transforming our attitudes and ifestye. We can read Scripture as a too for prayer, as we pray for comfort, guidance, chaenge, strength. 31
Three different ways of reading Scripture (20 minutes) Choose one of the three options. Each requires thoughtfu, sensitive faciitation and can ead peope to a deep pace in their refection. Reading Scripture and using the senses What are you wearing? How hot is it? What can you hear, see or sme? Where are you in the crowd on the edge, in the midde? Can you see Jesus? Can you see Bartimaeus? How do you fee when Bartimaeus shouts out? How do you fee when Bartimaeus is heaed? Aow time for peope to think about their responses and perhaps share them in pairs. Read the passage again (for a second or third time). Now imagine you are Bartimaeus. What can you hear? How do you fee as Jesus approaches? How do you fees when Jesus stops and speaks to you? Again give peope opportunity if they wish to share their response in pairs or with the whoe group. Imagine Jesus standing before you now and asking the question, What do you want me to do for you? How do you (not Bartimaeus) answer? Reading Scripture and asking questions Having read the passage et everyone spend a few minutes thinking on their own before jotting down a few thoughts. What does the passage say about God? What does the passage say about human beings? What does the passage say about the reationship between God and human beings? Working in groups of three or four, go round their group giving everyone the opportunity to share their thoughts. Respectfuy accept each person s answer. When each person has had the opportunity to answer each of the questions, aow a conversation to emerge. The Methodist emphasis (20 minutes) What do you earn from this quotation about Wesey s view of Scripture and his way of understanding it? What does engaging with Scripture mean to you? (10 minutes) Look at the statements about what the Bibe has meant to different peope. Which one interests you, grabs your attention and why? Highight or underine the phrases which have meaning for you. Praying with Scripture A crucia question for exporing faith is what it means to trust God. When ife is hard, wi we find the resources to cope? The writer of the psam beieves that the resources are to hand, and God wi sustain him. Write a paraphrase of this psam in your own words. You may uncover some of the difficut emotions the writer must have been experiencing, as he strugged through to find faith. Share your thoughts, if you fee comfortabe, in pairs. Prayer refection (10 minutes) Each person has a piece of paper (a tempate is on page 37) and competes the first ine a name for God. Then each person fods the top of the paper down to cover what you have just written, as if paying consequences. Each person passes the paper on and competes the next ine and fods it. This is repeated unti a he ines compete. Each person passes it on once more and then unfods the paper. Now read out the resuting prayers. 32
(In a sma group you might want to vary the passing on so pass 2 to eft, 1 to right, so it s more difficut to know who wrote which ine.) End with the prayer on Compass, p. 89. To think about: more on Methodism and the bibe Peope may aso want to try out the two ways of reading Scripture that they did not use during the session. Before peope eave encourage them to start thinking about what they have earnt so far in the course, what it means for their spiritua journey, and what might be the next step they wish to take. They may wish to be confirmed, or baptized, or have the option of a service marking the renewa of faith. It wi aso be competey okay for them to decide that they are not ready to make a decision and that they wish to continue to do more exporing. They may decide that they are aready in the right pace, but have appreciated the opportunity to (re) consider some of the basics foundations of Christian faith. This wi be picked up in the next session: Foowing Jesus. As part of the next session peope are invited to bring something that symboises or heps them on their faith journey. There wi be an opportunity to share it with others and tak about what it means to them. There is a reminder about this on Compass, p. 89. 33
Bibe quiz answers These refer to the questions on Compass, pp. 76-77. 1. How many books are in the Bibe? 66 (39 in the Od Testament; 27 in the New Testament) 2. What does testament mean? c) covenant 3. Who wrote the Bibe? Many different authors, inspired by the Hoy Spirit, from a waks of ife: shepherds, farmers, tent-makers, physicians, fishermen, priests, prophets, phiosophers and kings Many peope wrote what we ca the Bibe, which simpy means book, though it is a book of books. Most of the origina authors are beyond our knowing, especiay of the books of the Od Testament, and even many of those who wrote New Testament are unknown too. A the writings, as we have them, were preserved because they were recognised as having specia significance for the community of God s faithfu peope. Sometimes coections were put together by foowers of a prophet (for exampe Isaiah) and on occasion even changed or rewritten to refect the new circumstances in which peope found themseves for exampe, the books of Chronices on the one hand and the books of Kings and Samue on the other cover a simiar era (the ives and reigns of David and Soomon), but were written at different times and te the story in very different ways. This refects an active reading of the Bibe by those who ived in God s presence and who assessed what they had received and who were then responsibe for preserving and handing on these writings within the faithfu community. Very often the writings were presented in the name of a person from the past as representing the best that that person had brought to the faithfu community. Such a person was someone highy regarded and remembered because of their infuence and stature, without peope thinking that that person had necessariy written the actua words. In this way many psams are attributed to David, remembered as a king and as a shepherd, and Proverbs attributed to Soomon as a sage. In the New Testament we know that Pau was a tent maker, Luke was a physician, but we know itte, if anything, about any of the other authors. 4. When was the Bibe written? b) Over 1,200 years between 1100BC and AD100 5. In what anguages was the Bibe written? b) Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek 6. When was the coection of books that makes up the Bibe agreed? b) AD367 This was a fuid process and different for the Od Testament and the New Testament. At one time it was thought that what we ca the Od Testament was setted at the Counci of Jamnia (or Jabneh) by Jewish schoars in AD90, but we recognise this is too simpistic. Various stages may be discerned, with the Pentateuch (aso caed the Torah) possiby recognised by the fourth century BC, and the ast of the books accepted by the destruction of the tempe in AD70. Even today, the order of the books in the Od Testament varies between the Bibe used by the Roman Cathoic Church and the one used by Protestant denominations, incuding the Church of Engand and the Methodist Church. The order and grouping of the books is different again in the Tanakh, the common name given to the Bibe Jews use. A the books in the New Testament (as we know it today) were recognised as canonica by Athanasius (who died in AD374), though he was aso wiing to use other writings for private reading, but not in worship. In his ist of books dated AD367 he incudes a the books we now recognise that make up the New Testament. Though we may ook back and see it as setted by then, just 20 years ater Gregory of Nazianzus sti disputed whether The Reveation to John shoud be incuded. 7. When was the first transation of the Bibe made into Engish? c) 1382 by John Wyciffe. 8. Which of these types of iterature are found in the Bibe? A of them. 9. Roughy how many anguages has the Bibe been transated into? b) 2,000 anguages There are very many more partia transations and audio transations, incuding even Kingon. In comparison Shakespeare has ony been transated into 50 anguages. 10. Is the Bibe sti the best-seing book in the word? a) yes The Bibe and the Quran are the mosty widey printed books, but according The Guinness Book of Records the Bibe is sti the best seing. 11. Where are most Bibes printed today? b) China using the presses of the United Bibe Societies in Nanjing. 34
Significant peope and events in the Bibe Abraham Hezekiah Joseph of Arimathea Amos Isaac Joshua Barnabas Isaiah Luke Danie Jacob Lydia David Jeremiah Martha Deborah Jesus Mary (mother of Jesus) Eijah John Mark Maachi Eve Joseph Moses 35
Significant peope and events in the Bibe Nehemiah Soomon Noah Simon Peter Pau Phiemon Rahab Ruth Samson Samue 36
A prayer of praise (name for God) You are: I ove you because: I praise you for: And thank you for: You are such a: I wi aways you. Amen. 37