Roger Severino

Tag Archives: teach

HOW TO READ AND TEACH THE PROPHETIC LITERATURE OF SCRIPTURE

There are prophets throughout the Old Testament, often found in the narrative accounts, such as Elijah and Elisha. The emphasis here, however, is in the prophetic books from Isaiah—Malachi, books at the end of the Old Testament. Prophecy is often understood as something that predicts the future. Though these elements can certainly be found in the prophetic books, it’s...more

HOW TO READ AND TEACH THE WISDOM LITERATURE OF SCRIPTURE

The wisdom genre of the Bible may best be seen in the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Each of these teach a perspective on how to live life, and particularly in relationship to God. The beauty of these three books is that they complement one another and allow for the multi-faceted perspectives we need on wisdom. The Book...more

HOW TO READ AND TEACH THE “POETRY” PARTS OF SCRIPTURE

Most of the Bible’s poetic books and passages are in the Old Testament. Hebrew poetry appears frequently in the Old Testament. The Book of Psalms may be the best example of this, though poetry is sprinkled throughout the Old Testament, at times thrown in among the books that are otherwise characterized by narrative or prophecy, for example. Perhaps the...more

HOW TO READ AND TEACH THE NARRATIVE PARTS OF SCRIPTURE

PART 2 Last time we emphasized the importance of context when reading or teaching narrative. This includes the literary context, the historical context, the cultural context and the geographical context. Another important element in studying narrative is to distinguish between what is descriptive and prescriptive. Descriptive means the biblical author is merely describing what took place, with no value...more

HOW TO READ AND TEACH THE NARRATIVE PARTS OF SCRIPTURE

PART 1 Everyone loves a good story, and the Bible is full of stories. In fact, over forty percent of the Old Testament would be classified as narrative, and the Gospels and Acts in the New Testament also generally fall into this category. One popular book on interpreting the Bible defines narrative this way: “Narratives are stories—purposeful stories retelling...more

What Are We Passing Down to Our Children? Reflections on Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy is the last book of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Four of these books – Exodus through Deuteronomy – tell the story of the fledgling nation of Israel as she escapes slavery in Egypt and ends up on the brink of the Promised Land. Deuteronomy is a set of sermons given by Moses to...more
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