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Sep 29, 2017 · In spite of this, many skeptics are eager to dismiss the authorship of John (often in an attempt to further discredit the supernatural New Testament claims related to Jesus) by doubting John’s level of education and degree of literacy.
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Does the Bible Contradict Itself? (Video) Is the Trinity...
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Apr 20, 2021 · He does read. And the people are not amazed that he suddenly seems educated when they knew he wasn’t; they are instead taken aback at the “gracious words” that he spoke. Luke 4, then, is our only solid evidence that Jesus could read. It is based on a story in Mark where Jesus is not said to read.
Jul 24, 2018 · Chapter 1 of this study describes the ancient literary environment of Jesus in light of six factors: majority illiteracy, degrees of literacy, separate skills of reading and writing, multilingualism, scribal literacy, and the social perception of literacy.
- The Biblical Literacy Crisis
- What Is Biblical Literacy?
- 4 Critical Questions to Answer About Biblical Literacy
- 5 Tips to Increase Biblical Literacy in Your Church
- How to Know Your Biblical Literacy Initiative Is Working
- Conclusion
Many Christians simply don’t know what to do with their Bibles or where to start reading. Or they may consult their Bibles on occasion—like when searching for a verse on a particular topic or an answer to a problem they are facing—but often end up reading verses out of context and applying them to completely unrelated situations. Church leaders str...
To understand what biblical literacy is, let’s first talk about what it is not. 1. Biblical literacy is not factual knowledge. Being able to rattle off the name of Adam and Eve’s third son or who collected the Israelites’ gold jewelry to make the golden calf does not make one biblically literate. Nor does being able to explain Christian terms like ...
1. Why is biblical literacy crucial today?
The Bible answers the most fundamental questions about who God is, who we are, and why we need Jesus. The answers to these questions impact how we live our everyday lives—the choices we make (and don’t make) and how we spend our time—but apart from Scripture, those answers will always be lacking. That’s precisely why biblical literacy is a must.
2. How does biblical literacy differ from Bible study?
Though they overlap, biblical literacy and Bible study have different intentions. Biblical literacy involves a person’s ability to read the Bible with enough understanding to explain its basic meaning. Bible study is more rigorous and detail-focused. It involves research-focused intention, interpretation (known as “exegesis”—in Greek, “to lead out”), and application for real life. Rather than reading for meaning, Bible study focuses on the world behind the text, analyzing such things as 1. An...
3. When should biblical literacy be taught?
Kids are growing up in a world where everything is being questioned—from marriage to gender to the existence of truth. They need a plumbline for how to navigate their world just as much as adults do. If they don’t have a biblical framework to process this life with, their peers, media, and culture will become the voice they listen to. That’s why biblical literacy must start early. And though pastors have a crucial role in modeling and encouraging Bible engagement among allages, biblical liter...
Start at the pulpit
Most pastors would agree that biblical literacy is essential for a believer’s growth, but too often, a rift exists between affirming that belief and encouraging it among their people. In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul instructed Timothy on how to handle the church in Ephesus until Paul returned: “Give your attention to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching” (NIV). So should you—and here’s a few ways how: 1. Preach the story—often. In the course Preaching Biblical Narrative, J. K...
Encourage Bible reading
Ed Stetzer writes, “Reading the Bible won’t make us a Christian, but it helps us to grow as one.” In short, biblical literacy has to begin with reading. One way to encourage this is to have an online hub where members can interact over Bible readings. Start by posting a daily Bible reading planto get the whole church reading the Bible together. You can then use the group to: 1. Ask specific questions about the reading 2. Post a verse or passage and ask what people are learning about it from t...
Offer a church-wide online Bible study
Gone are the days of midweek services where the people would gather at church for discussion-based classes that were an effective way to get an entire church body growing in biblical literacy. Yet people still need to study God’s Word, and according to Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, churches need to lead the charge: “Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge.” He says Bible teaching of...
You can take all the steps outlined above but not be sure whether your people understand their Bibles more than they did three, six, nine months, or a year ago. That’s why a critical step to your plan must be to check in with people often to ensure growth. You can do this in a few ways: 1. Conduct occasional surveys and polls to see how your congre...
It’s time to reverse the trend. Church leaders must “transition from ‘survival’ mode back into ‘discipleship’ mode” and establish confidence in their people that they can read and understand their Bible. Biblical literacy is non-negotiable for your congregation’s spiritual health in any season—not just during crises. It will take time and a bit of ...
May 11, 2015 · The Gospels, written at least several decades after Jesus’ death by people who did not know him, are notoriously poor historical sources. Recent scholarship has also moved away from assuming widespread literacy among Jews in antiquity. Most probably neither knew Hebrew nor how to read.
Mar 24, 2024 · The legend of Peter and Mark might be apocryphal, but it captures a very real ancient dynamic: people who were illiterate, people who had visual impairments, people who suffered from arthritis or...
May 29, 2014 · New Testament scholar David Nienhuis summarizes his understanding of the situation in an article titled “The Problem of Evangelical Biblical Illiteracy: A View from the Classroom”: For well over twenty years now, Christian leaders have been lamenting the loss of general biblical literacy in America. ….
