BIB 420 - Hermeneutics and Exegesis (3 credits)
Topic outline
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Hermeneutics and Exegesis (3 credits)
Instructor: Dr. David Feddes
Content Providers/Contributors: Dr. Jeff Weima, Dr. Craig Bartholomew, Dr. D. A. Carson, Greg Clark, Dr. Norman Geisler, Dr. Michael Goheen, Dr. Graeme Goldsworthy, Michael Gowens, Greg Johnson, Joshua Ng, Dr. J. I. Packer, Dr. John Piper, and Matt Slick
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They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. (Nehemiah 8:8)
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Overview: This course develops sound methods of Spirit-guided interpretation of Scripture involving grammatical, literary, historical, and theological elements. Students will gain skills in using online research tools and in basing sermons on the original meaning of the biblical text.
(Please note that this course requires the completion of the "Old Testament Survey" and "New Testament Survey," as well as a minimum current GPA of 2.0. This course may be challenging for students, so plan on taking extra time to complete this course. Students will find this course especially helpful to take before "Sermon Construction and Presentation.")
Course Outcomes:
- View the Bible as God’s message communicated by human authors in human language in a particular historical and cultural setting.
- Depend on the Holy Spirit while using sound methods of interpretation.
- Interpret Scripture with careful attention to grammatical, literary, historical, and theological elements.
- Use online research tools to aid accurate biblical interpretation.
- Depend on sound exegesis of Scripture as the basis for one’s theological positions and preaching.
Free Online Bible Study Resources:
These resources can help you in assignments and in future Bible studies. You may wish to create bookmarks for these on your computer.- ESV Global Study Bible (http://www.esvbible.org)
- Bible Hub (http://biblehub.com)
- Free Bible Commentary (http://www.freebiblecommentary.org)
- Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com)
- Bible Arc (http://www.biblearc.com)
- e-Sword (http://www.e-sword.net)
- Calvin's Commentary (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/commentaries.i.html)
- Matthew Henry's Commentary (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html)
Assignments:
- Read online articles as assigned. You may also save these articles to your own computer for further study.
- View all video lectures online. (These lectures are also available as MP3 audios, but you will miss seeing helpful slides if you only listen to audio.)
- Use the discussion forum to ask questions and exchange ideas with others.
- Take the online quiz for each unit. You will have 60 minutes to answer multiple-choice questions for each quiz. Once a quiz has started, you must finish it, and you can't retake it. So be ready ahead of time. Each quiz covers readings and video lectures for that unit. While taking the quiz, you may use your notes and refer to articles and other materials. Tip: First answer all the questions you know. Then try to look up answers to questions you don't know. When you have entered an answer for every question, submit the quiz for grading before the 60-minute limit.
*The course has a total of 190 points: 15 points each for most quizzes, and 20 points each for quizzes 9 and 11.
Grading Scale:
A 95-100% A- 90-94% B+ 87-89% B 83-86% B- 80-82% C+ 77-79% C 73-76% C- 70-72% D+ 67-69% D 63-66% D- 60-62% F 0-59%
Your average for the course must be at least 60%. Otherwise, you will fail the class and will receive no credit.
Deadline: You have 180 days to finish the course. Complete all assignments before the final deadline, or you will be automatically unenrolled, and all coursework will be removed. You will have to start over and take the class again to receive credit.
Accessibility: All videos have slides available with them and transcripts at the end of each section.
Course Forum: Each course forum is at the beginning of the course, right before the first-course content section, and has comments and questions from other students in the class. The forum is a great way to post a question or comment for other students who are currently enrolled in the course to see. Additionally, you can search the forum to see if anyone in the past has addressed or discussed the issue, question, or comment you were wanting to post about. -
Unit 1: Scripture and Culture
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Unit 2: Why Must the Bible be Interpreted?
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Unit 3: Spirit-Guided Interpretation
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Unit 6: Interpreting Scripture in Historical Context
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Unit 7: Theological Interpretation of Scripture
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Unit 8: Exegesis in Action: A Passage from Paul
In this unit, Dr. Weima interprets 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 using the grammatical, literary, historical, and theological elements of exegesis. He then preaches a sermon rooted in his exegesis. -
Unit 9: Doing Research (2 Kings 6:8-23; Matthew 18:21-35)
In this unit, you will practice doing your own research. Study the Bible passages, meditate on what they mean, and pray for the Spirit's insight. Use ESV Global Study Bible and other tools. Answer the questions contained in the Worksheet for this unit. As you go through the questions in the Worksheet, write your answers. When you have found answers to all the questions, you can start the quiz, enter your 20 answers, and submit the quiz for grading.
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Unit 10: Exegesis in Action: A Passage from James
In this unit, Dr. Weima interprets James 2:14-26 using the grammatical, literary, historical, and theological elements of exegesis. He then preaches a sermon rooted in his exegesis. -
Unit 11: Doing Research (Psalm 34; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2:1-13)
In this unit, you will practice doing your own research. Study the Bible passages, meditate on what they mean, and pray for the Spirit's insight. Use ESV Global Study Bible and other tools. Answer the questions contained in the Worksheet for this unit. As you go through the questions in the Worksheet, write your answers. When you have found answers to all the questions, you can start the quiz, enter your 20 answers, and submit the quiz for grading. -
As you complete this tuition-free course, let's pray for and thank the Vision Partners! Their sacrificial giving supports these tuition-free courses so that those will little or no extra resources can assess high-quality ministry training.
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Unit 12: Preaching as Expository Exultation
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Read the inspiring testimony of this fellow Christian Leaders Institute Student:
He is striving to do God's work in his ministry!
CLI student Joseph Edward Legg
"I have been in multiple ministries over the last 20 years, including the local church and para-church organizations. The U.S.A. is definitely a mission field, especially here in Alaska. Ministry here is very relationship based and it’s easy to involve the entire family.
I grew up going to church but didn’t form a relationship with Jesus until my late teen years. I had been a church pianist/organist since age 12, and I had been basing a lot of Christianity on works and ability. When my father passed away after a long battle with cancer and heart disease, my world was changed and I began looking in different places for comfort. Another local church invited me to a concert, where I first began to know that Jesus loves me and desires a relationship. This began a change in my life to have a close relationship with Him...
Ministry in Alaska is unique in many ways. Here in the Valley, theft and drug abuse are rampant. We want to be able to help and minister to the lost and broken. Our church is considered to be a generous and safe place for people. However, we have to work hard to balance being that safe place while not enabling them or being an easy target for theft and drug deals. We also deal with very cold temperatures and large amounts of snow in the winter and beautiful weather and extended jobs during the summers. A large part of our population is “slopers” who are 2 weeks at home and 2 weeks at work thousands of miles away. We have developed an online streaming campus for them to stay connected while away.
One of my colleagues often says, “Everything rises and falls on your hermeneutics.” I had joined a small group of men that were going through Systematic Theology and Redemptive History together. Connecting with awesome mentors like that really showed me how important it is to be connected with God’s word during ministry. It changed how I connected with others in ministry and relationally."
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The course has ended. Please make sure all quizzes have been completed. If your work is incomplete, it is considered a drop, and you will have to take the class again in order to receive credit.
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