Everything You Know About the Bible is Wrong!
Adult Education Series
January 8, 15 and 22
9:45 a.m. in the Community Room
Karl Jacobson, a popular presenter at Central, will present a three-week,
thought-provoking look at the Bible.
January 8
“Old God, New God, Red God, Blue God”
—thinking about God in the Old and New Testament, and in American culture
How many times have you heard someone say (or thought yourself) that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament? Or that the Old Testament is about the Law, judgment and wrath while the New Testament is about the Gospel, grace, and mercy? Or that we really don’t need both? These are common ideas in both American Christianity and in American culture. This first session will explore some of the more common misconceptions about the Bible and introduce the vital relationship, the important similarities (and differences, too) between the Old Testament and the New.
January 15
“587 and all that...”
—thinking about the two dates, two kings, and two memorable things you need to know to understand the Bible
What is the most important date in the Bible? Is it the date of the exodus; Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection; or the “end of the world?” How about biblical people? Who do you need to know to understand this “Greatest Story Ever Told?” The answers might surprise you. This session will introduce two central dates, two kings who shaped the history not only of Israel but of the world, and the two most important happenings in the biblical story that you may not know, but really can’t afford not to know.
January 22
“There is no ‘Justice’ in the Bible”
—thinking about how we read and apply what the Bible has to say about human living
We love the idea of justice in our church. Even more than John 3:16, Lutherans like to quote Micah 6:8, “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The problem is that there is no word in the Bible that means “justice”—at least not exactly. This final session will explore the ways we think about what the Bible means in and for our everyday living, and what it would really look like if we actually lived out our faith according to God’s Word.
Adult Education Series
January 8, 15 and 22
9:45 a.m. in the Community Room
Karl Jacobson, a popular presenter at Central, will present a three-week,
thought-provoking look at the Bible.
January 8
“Old God, New God, Red God, Blue God”
—thinking about God in the Old and New Testament, and in American culture
How many times have you heard someone say (or thought yourself) that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament? Or that the Old Testament is about the Law, judgment and wrath while the New Testament is about the Gospel, grace, and mercy? Or that we really don’t need both? These are common ideas in both American Christianity and in American culture. This first session will explore some of the more common misconceptions about the Bible and introduce the vital relationship, the important similarities (and differences, too) between the Old Testament and the New.
January 15
“587 and all that...”
—thinking about the two dates, two kings, and two memorable things you need to know to understand the Bible
What is the most important date in the Bible? Is it the date of the exodus; Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection; or the “end of the world?” How about biblical people? Who do you need to know to understand this “Greatest Story Ever Told?” The answers might surprise you. This session will introduce two central dates, two kings who shaped the history not only of Israel but of the world, and the two most important happenings in the biblical story that you may not know, but really can’t afford not to know.
January 22
“There is no ‘Justice’ in the Bible”
—thinking about how we read and apply what the Bible has to say about human living
We love the idea of justice in our church. Even more than John 3:16, Lutherans like to quote Micah 6:8, “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The problem is that there is no word in the Bible that means “justice”—at least not exactly. This final session will explore the ways we think about what the Bible means in and for our everyday living, and what it would really look like if we actually lived out our faith according to God’s Word.
The Rev. Karl Jacobson is assistant professor of religion at Augsburg College and contributing author of Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms (Augsburg Fortress, 2008) and Crazy Book: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Biblical Terms (Augsburg Fortress, 2009).
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