1. SESSION FOUR The Truth of God’s Word

3. How do we know the bible is “true?”

4. Does the bible contradict itself?

6. New Creation (Parousia / Resurrection) ~ Life After Life After Death Awaiting New Creation (Heaven / Paradise) ~ Life After Death Building for New Creation (Earthly Ministry) ~ Life Before Death Foretaste of New Creation (Transformed Life) ~ Eternal Life Begins

7. How is the bible authoritative in our lives?

9. The Reformation

10. The Enlightenment

11. Electricity / Quantum Physics

12. Crisis of Authority

13. Solo Scriptura

15. Revelation

16. AuthorityAuthority ofGod exercised through Scripture

17. How do we know the Bible is true?

18. Does the Bible contradict itself?

19. How do we read the Bible faithfully?

20. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 1. Scripture truthfully tells the story of God’s action of creating, judging and saving the world.

21. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 2. Scripture is rightly understood in light of the church’s rule of faith as a coherent dramatic narrative.

22. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 3. Faithful interpretation of scripture requires an engagement with the entire narrative: the New Testament cannot be rightly understood apart from the Old, nor can the Old be rightly understood apart from the New.

23. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 4. Texts of scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent of the original author. In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions, we affirm that scripture has multiple complex senses given by God, the author of the whole drama.

24. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 5. The four canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus.

25. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 6. Faithful interpretation of scripture invites and presupposes participation in the community brought into being by God’s redemptive action -- the church.

26. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 7. The saints of the church provide guidance in how to interpret and perform scripture.

27. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 8. Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside the church.

28. Nine Theses On Interpreting Scripture 9. We live in the tension between the "already" and the "not yet" of the kingdom of God; consequently, scripture calls the church to ongoing discernment, to continually fresh re-readings of the text in light of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in the world.

30. Does God answer prayer?

31. Does prayer change external circumstances?

32. How do we develop a discipline of prayer?