BI161 Problems in Bible Interpretation: Difficult Passages I
Overview
Believe it or not, not everything in the Bible can be understood by children; many passages are not even easy to understand for adults. Delve into a number of difficult passages with Dr. Heiser as he introduces key interpretive issues and the problems that are lurking in the background of these verses. He guides you through what needs the most attention and introduces you to several options for interpretation for each passage. Dr. Heiser focuses on the importance of being able to wrap our minds around and navigate through the difficult passages of Scripture, because although they may be challenging, they are still significant for theology. How you understand these verses will have an important ripple effect on the interpretation of other passages you will encounter in the course of your own personal Bible study.
Top Highlights
“There are two types of clauses. There are independent clauses, and that is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and in this case expresses a complete thought.” (source)
“The real issue is, how do we read Gen 1:1–3, the first three verses of the Bible? The issue is Hebrew syntax, and the Hebrew grammar, as we are going to see, will convey information to us in such a way that the way we look at what’s going on in these three verses will impact the way we think about the larger question of creation, evolution, long ages of time—just tremendous, tremendous amounts of time that we hear coming from modern science. There’s actually a way to accommodate Gen 1:1–3 to those ideas.” (source)
“The second kind of clause is a dependent clause. A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought.” (source)
“‘When entering the water, we make profession of the Christian faith in the words of its rule; we bear public testimony that we have renounced the devil, his pomp, and his angels.’” (source)
“A clause is a group of related words containing a subject and a verb. A clause may or may not express a complete thought; we’re going to see the difference in a moment. The verb may be expressed or just sort of understood.” (source)
- Title: BI161 Problems in Bible Interpretation: Difficult Passages I
- Author: Michael S. Heiser
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2016
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Bible › Hermeneutics; Bible › Study and teaching; Education › Bible--Hermeneutics; Education › Bible--Study and teaching
- Resource ID: LLS:BI161HEISER
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2019-06-20T22:39:15Z
Dr. Michael S. Heiser was a former Scholar-in-Residence for Faithlife Corporation, the makers of Logos Bible Software. He then served as the Executive Director of the Awakening School of Theology and Ministry. His varied academic background enabled him to operate in the realm of critical scholarship and the wider Christian community. His experience in teaching at the undergraduate level and writing for the layperson both directly contributed to Logos’ goal of adapting scholarly tools for nonspecialists.
Dr. Heiser earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages and holds an MA in ancient history and Hebrew studies. He was the coeditor of Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology and Semitic Inscriptions: Analyzed Texts and English Translations, and he was able to do translation work in roughly a dozen ancient languages, including Biblical Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Ugaritic cuneiform. He specialized in Israelite religion (especially Israel’s divine council), contextualizing biblical theology with Israelite and ancient Near Eastern religion, Jewish binitarianism, biblical languages, ancient Semitic languages, textual criticism, comparative philology, and Second Temple period Jewish literature. In 2007 he was named the Pacific Northwest Regional Scholar by the Society of Biblical Literature.