Pilgrim - The Bible: A Course for the Christian Journey

by Stephen Cottrell, Paula Gooder, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson

Overview

Course 7: The Bible: What is it, how was it given to us, and how should we read it? These six sessions combine simple prayer, Bible reflection in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection. By the end of the six sessions, it is hoped that participants will have learned how to make reading the Bible a part of everyday life, with the ability to read, pray, and listen to what God might be saying, allowing the words to change each participant.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780898699555
Publisher:	Church Publishing
Publication date:	08/01/2016
Series:	Pilgrim
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	72
File size:	141 KB

About the Author

Stephen Cottrell is the Bishop of Reading in the Church of England. He has written or contributed to Reflections for Daily Prayer, the Emmaus discipleship course, Traveling Well, and Praying Through Life.

Paula Gooderis a freelance writer and lecturer in biblical studies, a Reader in the Church of England, and a lay member of the General Synod. She is also a Trustee of SPCK and the Saltley Trust and an honorary Canon Theologian at Birmingham and Guildford Cathedrals. She is the author of A Way Through the Wilderness and the bestselling Lent course Lentwise, and co-author of the Pilgrim course and Love Life, Live Advent.

Steven Croft is the Bishop of Sheffield. From 2004 to 2009 he was Archbishops Missioner and Team Leader of Fresh Expressions. Former warden of Cranmer Hall, he spent 13 years in parish ministry.
Robert Atwell was Vicar of Primrose Hill, London, from 1998 though 2008, when he joined the episcopate. Formerly a lecturer in patristics at Trinity College Cambridge, where he was Chaplain, for ten years. He maintains his link with the Order of St. Benedict.

Sharon Ely Pearson a retired Christian educator, editor, and author with 35-plus years of experience in Christian formation on the local, judicatory, and church-wide level. Known for her knowledge of published curricula across the church, she has written or edited numerous books. She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and a lifelong Episcopalian. She lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Read an Excerpt

Pilgrim The Bible

A Course for the Christian Journey

---

By STEPHEN COTTRELL, Steven Croft, Paula Gooder, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2016 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-89869-955-5

---

CHAPTER 1

SESSION ONE: WHAT IS THE BIBLE?

pilgrim

In this session we are looking at a "way in" to reading the Bible, thinking particularly about how to recognize what kind of writing you are reading.

Opening Prayers

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
The word of the Lord endures for ever.
All flesh is like grass and all its glory is like the flower of grass.
The word of the Lord endures for ever.
The grass withers, and the flower falls.
The word of the Lord endures for ever.
That word is the good news that was announced to you.
The word of the Lord endures for ever.
ISAIAH 40:1, 6-8 AND 1 PETER 1:24-25

Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Conversation

How do you feel about the Bible? Is it something that excites you? Fills you with dread? Inspires you? Makes you feel guilty?

Do you think it is relevant or irrelevant in our modern world? Talk about this in your group.

Reflecting on Scripture

Reading

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfillled in your hearing."

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

LUKE 4:14-22

Explanatory note

In synagogues it was the custom to read one reading from the Torah and one from the Prophets. They would then discuss the readings together. What Jesus did in the synagogue at Nazareth seems to have been a natural part of what would have taken place in the synagogue.

Jesus read from what we would now call Isaiah 61:1-2, though not from the whole passage — you might like to look and see what is missing from what he read.

• Read the passage through once.

• Keep a few moments' silence.

• Read the passage a second time with different voices.

• Invite everyone to say aloud a word or phrase that strikes them.

• Read the passage a third time.

• Share together what this word or phrase might mean and what questions it raises.

Reflection

PAULA GOODER

The Bible as library

The encouragement to read your Bible appears simple and straightforward. In the English-speaking world we are blessed with many different English translations. So, surely, all that is necessary is that you pick the one you like and off you go?

Anyone who has tried this will tell you that it won't be long before you hit problems. The further into the Bible you get from Genesis the harder the going gets. Some people succeed and reach the end, but many give up and from then on struggle to read it at all. Part of the problem is that many people treat the Bible as though it is a novel: easy to read, chronological and sequential or, failing that, as though it is an encyclopedia (annoyingly organized out of alphabetical order) into which you can dip to find answers to a range of questions. It is neither of these.

Contrary to its title "The Bible," which implies that it is a single volume, the Bible is in fact a collection of 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament, many written by different authors, at different times, and in different places. This is reflected much more accurately by its Greek title "Ta Biblia," which means "the books." Just as you would no more enter a library or bookshop and read the first book you come across followed by the ones next to it on the shelf, so there is no reason why you should read the books in the order in which you find them in the Bible. It is a mix of different types of writing (law, history, poetry, wisdom, letters, biography, and so on) and it can help to know what type of book you are about to read before you begin.

In short

The name "The Bible" can be misleading as it implies that it is a single book that can be read easily from beginning to end. It is rather 66 books written at different times and in different styles.

For discussion ____________

* Do you read the Bible? If yes, share with the group how you read it. All the way through? In small chunks? Do you listen to an audio version or have you watched films based on it? What has worked best for you?

* Does thinking about the Bible as a collection of books or as a library help in any way?

The Story of salvation

Once we realize that the Bible is not a single book designed to be read from beginning to end, it is, intriguingly, easier to see it as a whole. The books were not written chronologically, nor are they now arranged chronologically. Indeed, especially in the prophetic books, you can jump time periods by as much as a couple of hundred years from book to book. But if you step back and look at the Bible as a whole, it tells the story of the relationship between God and the world from the dawn of time (in Genesis) until its ending (in the book of Revelation).

Over the years there have been huge arguments about what the Bible is. Most recently the Bible's scientific credibility and historical reliability in particular have been challenged. It is important to recognize, however, what the Bible is and what it is not. It is neither a scientific textbook nor even a newspaper article, and so cannot be evaluated as though it is. As we've already observed, it contains many different types of material, from law to poetry, biography to visions, which are all discussing and reflecting on God and God's relationship with humanity.

As we trace this story through, it becomes clear that the major story that returns again and again in all the different types of writing is the story of God's love for the human race: a love that continues despite humanity's arrogance and evil; a love that eventually led God to send God's own Son to die. This is not a story that begins on page 1 and ends on its final page but is a golden thread that runs through the whole Bible and is expressed in poetry, law, story, and song.

Some people describe the Bible as a five-act play in which the final half act is not written down. The first act is the story of creation, and the second the fall. The third act is the story of Israel and God's first covenants with the people. The fourth act introduces us to the story of Jesus and his death and resurrection, and the fifth to the story of Christians and the Christian Church. So on this model the Bible contains the first four acts and the opening of the fifth act (The Acts of the Apostles). Our task as Christians is to read these first four and a half acts and then carry on the story in our lives.

God's grand play of love is not yet complete and we are called to take our parts in that play. The Bible, giving as it does the first four and a half acts of the play, sets our course. We read the Bible so that we learn more about how the play began, and we listen for the director's instructions as we play our part. The Bible is not just a book to read. It is a book to live.

In short

The Bible tells the story of the expression of God's love in the world, a love that caused God to send God's Son to die for us. As we live our lives, we continue that story of God's love in the world.

For discussion ____________

* How have you experienced the story of God's love in your own life?

* What role, if any, should the Bible have in modern discussions about science?

* What would it mean for how we live our lives to take seriously a call to continue living the fifth act of God's five-act play of love?

Journeying On

We would encourage you to reflect on one of these six verses from the Bible each day between the sessions. Read it, pray about it, listen to what God might be saying to you in it, and allow it to change you.

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness (Psalm 33:4).

In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid (Psalm 56:10-11).

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (John 3:16).

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 36:7).

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you (2 Corinthians 13:13).

Concluding Prayers

God of love,
the Bible recounts the story
of your great love poured out on us.
Help us to live out that story of love
every day of our lives
in everything that we say and do.
Amen.

As our Savior taught us, so we pray,
Our Father ... (see pp. 5-6)

Wisdom for the Journey

Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words? We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring. For God's word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener, and the Lord has portrayed his message in many colors, so that whoever gazes upon it can see in it what suits. Within it God has buried a variety of treasures, so that each of us might grow rich in seeking them out.

EPHREM OF SYRIA (C. 306–73)

If you wish to secure a true knowledge of Scripture you must first nurture within yourself humility of heart which is unshakable. Only this will ensure that your knowledge does not puff you up, but instead illuminates your heart through love.

JOHN CASSIAN (C. 360–435)

If we want to be always in God's company, we must pray regularly and read the Scriptures regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.

ISIDORE OF SEVILLE (C. 560–636)

It is important to spend time in the systematic reading of Scripture. For if you read now here, now there, the various things that chance and circumstance cause you to stumble across, it will not consolidate your learning. For it is easy to take such reading in, and easier still to forget it. You should also pause over certain authors and allow yourself to become accustomed to their style. For it is important to read the Scriptures in the same spirit in which they were written because only in that spirit are they to be understood.

GUIGO V (1083–1136)

The Bible is a vast web of interwoven conversations, encounters of faith and struggle and disclosure between God and men and women. As we become familiar with them we find ourselves drawn into more and more of them. In prayer I put myself into one of those conversations and God uses the historic faith encounter to draw me into my own today.

MARTIN L. SMITH (1947–)

CHAPTER 2

SESSION TWO: THE BIBLE AS BREATH

pilgrim

In this session we are reflecting on what it means to say that the Bible is the breath of God.

Opening Prayers

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
May your word inspire us, O Lord,
and his righteousness to children's children,
May your word inspire us, O Lord,
to those who keep his covenant
May your word inspire us, O Lord,
and remember to do his commandments.
May your word inspire us, O Lord.
The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
May your word inspire us, O Lord,
and his kingdom rules over all.
May your word inspire us, O Lord.
Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
May your word inspire us, O Lord,
you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word.
May your word inspire us, O Lord.

PSALM 103:17-21

Almighty God,
in the birth of your Son
you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word,
and shown us the fullness of your love:
help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love
that we may know the fullness of his joy;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Conversation

Share with the group any reflections you have had on the Bible verses you were thinking about from the Journeying On section last week.

Take a moment to sit quietly, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Notice what the breath feels like. Discuss "breath" — what words spring to mind in connection with breath (such as life, vitality, and so on)?

Reflecting on Scripture

Reading

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17

Explanatory note

2 Timothy is addressed, as you might expect, to "Timothy." If this Timothy is the same person referred to in Acts, then we know that his mother was Jewish and his father a Gentile. As a result he would have learned the Bible from an early age. The word translated "inspired by God" is a slightly odd word made up of two separate words — the word for God and a word connected to "breathed," so means literally "God breathed."

• Read the passage through once.

• Keep a few moments' silence.

• Read the passage a second time with different voices.

• Invite everyone to say aloud a word or phrase that strikes them.

• Read the passage a third time.

• Share together what this word or phrase might mean and what questions it raises.

Reflection

DAVID MOXON

The Word as the breath of God

As 2 Timothy illustrates, Christians see the Bible as "inspired by God." If we take the word "inspire" seriously we can say that this means that the authors of the Bible were animated by an in- breathing, a breathing in of the life-giving and creative Word of God like an inhalation of fresh air. The oxygenation, the new life and enrichment that inhalation gives through the lungs within a living person, is comparable to the breathing of new life into our whole being when we are blessed by the words of sacred Scripture. By this inspiration, we make deeper and deeper discoveries about God within us and the world, and more and more fresh expressions of the life-giving Word that sustains and creates the world all the time.

The Bible is a prayerful collection of words about Jesus, the Word of God as he is called at the start of that Gospel. As the prologue to John's Gospel puts it so poetically, the Word of God has been present with God since the dawn of time and with God has created everything that lives and breathes in all creation. The Word of God is what became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth's life, teaching, death, and resurrection. Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, in the flesh, in our world, and in our lives. The Bible witnesses to Jesus as this Word of God, one way or another: anticipating, echoing, approaching, describing, hallowing, depicting, and witnessing to the Christ.

So the Bible is the written word of God, which witnesses to the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. The Word of God is not black print on a white page; the Word of God is a person, who is represented in the books of the Bible. This crucial point helps us to understand the Bible as the Breath of God. Jesus in the Gospels breathes the Holy Spirit; he is the Word incarnate, God with us, God for us, one of us yet from the heart of God.

This way of seeing the Bible as an expression of the breath of God, incarnate in Jesus, becomes crucial when we come to interpret and use the Bible for meaning and purpose in our lives. It means that when we read the black print on the white page, we approach it with great prayer, care, and respect as an authority for us, in that it points to or reveals Jesus the Christ, the living Word of God.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Pilgrim The Bible by STEPHEN COTTRELL, Steven Croft, Paula Gooder, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson. Copyright © 2016 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Welcome to Pilgrim,
Introduction to The Bible,
The Lord's Prayer,
Session One: What Is the Bible?,
Session Two: The Bible as Breath,
Session Three: The Bible as a Stream of Living Water,
Session Four: The Bible as a Lamp,
Session Five: The Bible as a Two-Edged Sword,
Session Six: Daily Bread,
Notes,