Lifeway Women Academy - How to Study the Bible: Hermeneutics 101
The goal of this 10-session online, on-demand course is to equip you and build your confidence in studying and teaching the Bible for yourself.
If you’ve ever wondered how Bible study authors and teachers mine Scripture for the truth about God and applications for our lives today, you’re in the right place.
Learn about the history of the Bible, interpretive methods, the metanarrative of Scripture, and more. Take quizzes and work through assignments to measure your progress in learning. Check out recommended reading and attend a virtual study workshop in the inductive method of Bible study.
Features:
10 video teaching sessions
Approximately 40-60 minutes each
Self-graded quizzes and assignments to measure your understanding and progress
Unlimited access to course content to be completed at your own pace
Taught by:
Jen Wilkin
Dr. Julia B. Higgins
Elizabeth Woodson
Course Outline
Session 1: Introduction | Jen Wilkin
In this first session, Jen Wilkin introduces the course, explaining why we should study the Bible. She gives definitions of terms, examples of some common principles of interpretation, and a few faulty assumptions as we dive into Scripture interpretation. (30 minutes)
Session 2: The Bible's Origin Story | Julia B. Higgins
What we believe about the Bible has implications for what we believe about our faith, ethics, culture, and even what we believe about God Himself. How do we know the Bible is trustworthy? Is it worth studying?
Julia Higgins answers those questions in this second session. She gives us seven characteristics of the Bible, along with a brief history of how our English translations came to be. The end of the session also covers different strategies and methods that bring us our modern English translations and versions of Scripture. (48 minutes)
Session 3: The History of Bible Interpretation | Julia B. Higgins
Because Scripture is God's Word and teaches us about Him, it has been important for believers to study God's Word for centuries. Each method builds upon its predecessors. Faithful men and women have striven to read, interpret, and apply Scripture to know God more. We can learn from all their methods as we strive to study Scripture ourselves in our time and contexts. In Session 3, Julia B. Higgins teaches the history of interpretive methods and gives a brief overview of the inductive method. (53 minutes)
Session 4: The Metanarrative of Scripture | Elizabeth Woodson
The Bible is one book, one Story of God's character and works throughout history. By studying the whole story, or metanarrative, of Scripture, we can trace His hand from the beginning of time to our lives today. Knowing the full story also helps to put smaller sections—books, chapters, and verses—of Scripture into context, which is important in our study and interpretation of the Bible. (65 minutes)
Session 5: Historical and Textual Context | Jen Wilkin
Context is king. Without knowing the context of individual verses and passages in Scripture, we set ourselves up to make mistakes in interpretation and application. In this session, Jen Wilkin teaches some practical ways to look at the context of Scripture, placing it solidly in the metanarrative as well as in its own time and culture. (39 minutes)
Session 6: Literary Context | Julia B. Higgins
Along with the historical and cultural context of a passage, it is also important to know the literary context. We read different genres of literature with different lenses. Because the Bible has many genres within one book, it's important to our reading and studying of the Word to know that literary context before applying a passage.
In this session, Julia B. Higgins will discuss the major genres of Scripture, giving examples and demonstrating how the context shapes the reading of the text. (53 minutes)
Session 7: Comprehension of the Text | Jen Wilkin
In this workshop session, you'll see how to navigate a passage of Scripture at the comprehension stage. You'll bring together all you've learned so far in the course to answer the question, "What does the text say?" (44 minutes)
Session 8: Interpretation of the Text | Jen Wilkin
After comprehension of the text comes interpretation in the inductive process. In this session, you'll watch as Jen Wilkin answers the question, "What does it mean?" You'll have the opportunity to put what you've learned into practice as well. (35 minutes)
Session 9: Application of the Text | Jen Wilkin
In the final step of the inductive method of Bible study, we look at how we can apply a text to our lives. We'll ask, "What do I do with this passage?" and look at questions to ask yourself for a faithful application. (26 minutes)
Session 10: Conclusion | Jen Wilkin, Julia B. Higgins, and Elizabeth Woodson
This last session of How to Study the Bible: Hermeneutics 101 is an opportunity for you to hear from Jen, Julia, and Elizabeth about why they study theology and what it has meant for them personally. They also give you some next steps. (13 minutes)