Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christan Faith. John Cartwright and
Chris Hulshof
Discussion Post: 450 Words. Quotes must have (Cartwright and Hulshof, Page
xxx)
10 Quotes that highlight either a concept that resonated with you or a
concept that represents new learning for you. Each quote, provide 3-5
sentence explanation of how the selected quote represents either what
resonated with you or this new learning.
Learning Log:
1. “First, the Bible is a story. More specifically, the Bible is a book of
stories that are woven together to tell one complete story. It is
essential to remember this as you study Scriptures in their various
genres.” (Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 3)
- Just because we read the Bible does not mean that we retained
what we read. One must study the Scriptures to fully understand the
meaning behind each one. We must continue to study the Scriptures
to retain a full understanding of what is being taught and its
meaning or purpose.
2. “There are no unexpected situations. None of the actions recorded in
the Bible caught God by Surprise.” (Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 4)
- God is the Creator of all and is all knowing. God knows everything
that has happened and knows everything that will happen in the
future. While we are the ones caught by surprise, God will never be
surprised by something that has or will happen.
3. “We are unable to live the kind of Life required by God. We cannot live
a life of total obedience at every turn and in every moment. In short,
we are unrighteous. However, Jesus Christ can and did live a perfect
and sinless life. He is righteous.” (Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 6)
- This quote makes me think of something that was told to me as a
child. While we are all made in God’s image, we will never live a life
free of sin because we are humans, and we are not God. Therefore,
we must work harder to live the life God intended for us.
4. “The outcome of God’s plan was to restore the relationship between
him and the crown of his creation, human beings. The relationship that
was severed in the garden was restored through the life and work of
Jesus Christ. We could easily assume that, since we fractured the
relationship, God is willing to restore it to its former significance. But
this is not the case. While human beings are covenant breakers, God,
the grand covenant keeper, remains faithful to the relationship he has
restored.” (Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 7)
- This quote makes me think, and reminds me, that God’s love is
endless. No matter what we do, God will always love us and forgive
us when we stray from the path. I remind myself of this often when I
am wronged and always try to forgive and love those that have
wronged me the same way God has for me.
5. “The same is true of the Bible. Yes, the Bible is all equally God’s Word,
but the books of the Bible include a variety of types, or genres, of
literature. Understanding these different genres is critical to good Bible
study. That is because, like spots, each genre has its own set of
distinguishing characteristics and guidelines for interpretation.”
(Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 18)
- I never thought of the Bible and the teachings this way until I read
this. It’s very true though, each book has its own characteristics and
various interpretations depending on who you ask and their
understanding of the teachings. And like music and sports,
everyone has their favorite genres.
6. “It is always best to understand a story within its own context.
However, it is also useful to study that account across the various
Gospel records. Since each writer may have had a different emphasis,
or chose to include different details, a study that includes all the
records will result in a more comprehensive view.” (Cartwright And
Hulshof, Page 19)
- This quote makes me think about my job. As a 911 dispatcher I get
calls all the time about various crimes, and my callers will describe
to me what they saw and what they know. However, sometimes
they have their own interpretation of the crime and not specific
details such as a description of the bad guy or what lead up to said
crime. That’s why it’s important to have witnesses to obtain a more
comprehensive view of the crime and what happened, or in the case
of this class, have multiple teachings on the same topic to
understand the full view.
7. “Although some books contain multiple genres (as with Revelation),
each book falls predominately into one of the five genres: narrative,
law, prophets, psalms, and wisdom.” (Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 23)
- Like I mentioned above I never thought of the Bible and its
teachings as genres. It makes sense however when it’s broken down
like this. Everyone is going to appreciate different teachings and
different topics. Reading this, my favorite genres is going to be
wisdom.
8. “Whereas the rest of the Bible is often appropriately described as
God’s Word to us, the Psalms are really written to God. Therefore, the
Psalms stand as unique among the rest of the literary categories,
making it very important to understand how to interpret and use
them.” (Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 25)
- Going to Church as a child I was always told that you show your
admiration to God through song. It wasn’t till I was much older and
was able to understand the Bible that we were singing our praises
to God through Psalms. It’s something that I was reminded of when
reading this chapter.
9. “Given that Psalms were written as poetry set to music, they engage
the emotions of the heart just as art has the capacity to do today.”
(Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 25)
- The book of Psalms is probably my second favorite of the genres. No
matter how I’m feeling, there has been a Psalm that can describe it.
While some Psalms are about emotions, some are simply just
praises to God.
10. “Proverbs is considered one of the most practical books of the
Bible with its concise and expressive nuggets of wisdom to live by.”
(Cartwright And Hulshof, Page 26)
- Every verse I’ve read from Proverbs about wisdom resonates with
me in one way or another. I firmly believe I’ve gained the wisdom
and understanding that I have through the experiences I’ve
encountered and the things I’ve learned. That’s why Proverbs 2:6 is
one of my favorite teachings.
