These questions are designed to help you understand the material covered in the lesson. We cover a lot of content in the class, so it is important that you have a way to think through it. I have found that many students miss some important points because of the speed with which we move through the lectures.
Please write out your responses on a separate sheet of paper (handwritten or typed). You can then compare your answers to the answers provided at the bottom. I would encourage you to share your work with a parent or teacher to spark additional discussion.
- How does the development of the Bible from scrolls to codices illustrate the transition in how early Christians preserved and accessed Scripture?
- How does Jesus’ reference to the Old Testament as “Moses and the Prophets” or “The Law and the Prophets” help explain its overall structure, including the Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets?
- Why were the books of the Old Testament considered authoritative by Jesus and the apostles, and what distinguishes them from additional books like the Apocrypha?
- How do features like historical notes, cross-references, timelines, and maps in a study Bible aid in understanding Scripture, such as dating prophetic writings by the reigns of kings?
- How do ancient cultures’ use of genealogies for tracking time relate to biblical chronology, including the seven-day week and the role of day four in Genesis?
- Why is Genesis 1 foundational for Scripture, defining creation, humanity, and history, and what are some common assumptions not supported by the text?
- Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, how does Exodus 20:11 support the young earth view of six literal 24-hour days in Genesis 1?
- How do alternative interpretations like the day-age theory, analogical days, and mythopoetic view differ from the literal creation week, and what scriptural evidence, using Mark 10:6 and Romans 1:20 to interpret Genesis, supports a literal view?
- How does the Enlightenment’s challenge to Genesis relate to theistic evolution, and what problems do long ages pose, using Isaiah 45:18 to interpret the Old Testament?
- Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, how does Luke’s genealogy and Jesus’ temptation in Luke 4 portray Jesus as the second Adam in relation to Genesis 1?
- How does the development of the Bible from scrolls to codices illustrate the transition in how early Christians preserved and accessed Scripture?
The Old Testament originally existed as scrolls, read from right to left in Hebrew, and stored in synagogues. Jesus and his disciples used these scrolls for teaching. By the fourth century A.D., early Christian writings appeared in codices, bound books like Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Sinaiticus. These codices contained both Old and New Testaments in Greek, resembling modern Bibles but differing from the scrolls Jesus used. Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helen, may have commissioned translations as Christianity spread in the Roman Empire after 313 A.D., when persecution ended. Before then, many books were burned. This shift from scrolls to codices made Scripture more accessible and preserved it through Christian scholarship.
- How does Jesus’ reference to the Old Testament as “Moses and the Prophets” or “The Law and the Prophets” help explain its overall structure, including the Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets?
Jesus referred to the Old Testament as the law and the prophets, or Moses and the prophets. This division aligns with its structure. The Pentateuch, or five books—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy—forms the law, written primarily by Moses. It includes history in Genesis, Exodus and Numbers, laws starting in Exodus 20, then in Leviticus, and a retelling and application of the law in Deuteronomy. Joshua was likely involved in writing, as he accompanied Moses. The structure expands into historical books from Joshua to Esther, wisdom literature like Job and Psalms, and prophets divided into major and minor, with the twelve minor prophets treated as one book.
- Why were the books of the Old Testament considered authoritative by Jesus and the apostles, and what distinguishes them from additional books like the Apocrypha?
Jesus and the apostles recognized the Old Testament books as authoritative, quoting them extensively in the New Testament. These books match the Hebrew Bible. Additional books known as the Apocrypha—like Tobit and Wisdom—appear in some traditions but not in the Hebrew canon. The New Testament does not quote them, indicating non-canonical status. Early codices sometimes included extra books or missed pages, but core Old Testament books remained consistent.
- How do features like historical notes, cross-references, timelines, and maps in a study Bible aid in understanding Scripture, such as dating prophetic writings by the reigns of kings?
Study Bibles provide historical notes, cross-references, and scholarly insights to deepen understanding. Roman numerals and introductory essays explain book backgrounds. Timelines and maps place events in context. For example, Isaiah 1:1 dates the prophecy by kings’ reigns, linking to historical timelines.
These historical markers are important to understanding when prophesies were given and what periods they applied to. Since the Bible is an essentially historical book, Study Bibles provide an important historical framework for understanding it.
- How do ancient cultures’ use of genealogies for tracking time relate to biblical chronology, including the seven-day week and the role of day four in Genesis?
Ancient cultures tracked time through genealogies of renown men, such as kings or tribal leaders. Biblical chronology uses this method, as in Luke’s genealogy from Jesus to Adam. The seven-day week lacks astronomical basis but stems from the seven-day creation account in Genesis 1. Day four sets the sun and moon for times and seasons, foundational to timekeeping.
- Why is Genesis 1 foundational for Scripture, defining creation, humanity, and history, and what are some common assumptions not supported by the text?
Genesis 1 serves as the foundation for all of Scripture because it provides the history of the earth, explaining where everything originates and establishing key doctrines and Christian ideas. Without its accuracy as history, the rest of the Bible collapses, as it underpins the need for Jesus and counters atheism’s growth after evolutionary ideas by affirming a divine creation that includes humanity from the start.
Common assumptions not supported by the text include the notion that Eve gave Adam an apple, when the passage merely mentions fruit; the idea that the Garden of Eden resembled an English countryside with manicured lawns and specific trees like oaks or maples, whereas its exact appearance remains unknown; and the depiction of the serpent as a typical snake, though Revelation 12 describes it as a dragon, suggesting a more formidable creature.
- Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, how does Exodus 20:11 support the young earth view of six literal 24-hour days in Genesis 1?
Exodus 20:11 supports the young earth view by stating that in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, resting on the seventh day, which mirrors the creation week in Genesis 1 and establishes the Sabbath as a pattern for human rest.
This passage interprets Genesis by emphasizing literal days, as the commandment for people to work six days and rest one aligns with God’s actions, implying ordinary 24-hour periods rather than extended eras. Such an interpretation reinforces that Genesis describes a rapid creation process, completed in a week, which fits a young earth timeline and counters views that stretch the days into millions of years.
- How do alternative interpretations like the day-age theory, analogical days, and the mythopoetic view differ from the literal creation week? What scriptural evidence, using Mark 10:6 and Romans 1:20 to interpret Genesis, supports a literal view?
Alternative interpretations differ from the literal creation week by redefining the days in Genesis 1 as non-24-hour periods: the day-age theory treats each day as a long geological age spanning millions of years; analogical days view them as a teaching framework or pattern without strict historical timing; and the mythopoetic view sees the account as symbolic poetry rather than factual history.
These approaches accommodate old earth ideas but contrast with a literal week of ordinary days leading to a young earth. Scriptural evidence supporting the literal view includes Mark 10:6, where Jesus states that from the beginning of creation God made humans male and female, implying people existed right at the start rather than after billions of years; and Romans 1:20, which declares that since the creation of the world God’s attributes have been clearly seen through what was made, requiring humans present from the outset to observe and understand, thus fitting a short creation week.
- How does the Enlightenment’s challenge to Genesis relate to theistic evolution, and what problems do long ages pose, using Isaiah 45:18 to interpret the Old Testament?
The Enlightenment’s challenge to Genesis, which promoted secular views rejecting biblical history, relates to theistic evolution by encouraging attempts to blend divine creation with evolutionary processes over long ages. This led to atheism’s rise as evolution undermines the need for Jesus if Genesis is not historical.
Long ages pose problems by implying an uninhabitable, desolate earth for vast periods, contradicting the idea of a beautiful, ready world, as no such pristine earth exists in old earth narratives filled with death and waste before humans appear. Isaiah 45:18 corrects this by affirming that God did not create the earth as a waste place but formed it to be inhabited, supporting a young earth where creation was immediately suitable for life rather than evolving through uninhabitable eons.
- Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, how does Luke’s genealogy and Jesus’ temptation in Luke 4 portray Jesus as the second Adam in relation to Genesis 1?
Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus back through 77 generations to Adam, portraying him as the second Adam by linking him directly to the first human in a continuous historical chain that manages time through ancestry.
This connection interprets Genesis 1 by showing Jesus as present at creation, preparing His image in the garden for worship, and succeeding where Adam fell. While Adam was tempted and sinned in a beautiful garden, Jesus endures temptation in the wilderness and stands firm, reversing the fall’s consequences. Thus, Genesis 1 ultimately points to Jesus, who was involved in creating everything, including putting His image in humanity from the beginning.