Opener
What can you tell me about the Bible?
Prompts if no response: Written over thousands of years by dozens of different authors; called the Word of God; includes Old Testament, New Testament, Pentateuch, Torah, Poems, Writings, Prophets, Epistles, and Gospels, adding up to 66 books.
Discussion Question 1:
The Church says the Bible is “God-breathed.” What does that mean?
Prompts if no response: God inspired all the words that are in the Bible; God speaks directly to His people through the prophets in the Old Testament and the words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament; God used human authors to write a divine, spiritual thing.
Discussion Question 2:
Why do some people avoid reading the Bible or doing what it says?
Prompts if no response: They believe it is like any other ancient book; they do not think it is God’s Word to humanity; they don’t like some of what the Bible expects human beings to do; they don’t want to be controlled; they pick and choose what they like so they can make God in their image.
Discussion Question 3:
What are some ways we know that the Bible is truly the Word of God?
Prompts if no response: Fulfilled prophecy in history, internal consistency between different books of the Bible that are thousands of years apart, Christ’s words saying the Scripture can’t be broken.
Hypothetical 1:
What would you think or say if you heard this: “The Bible has many errors, contradictions, and inconsistencies in it.”
Prompts if no response: Just because we can’t immediately understand something doesn’t mean it is an error; we have to take each scripture we read in context and balance it with other scriptures; it is better to study and discern meaning from the Bible than to read into it what we want it to say to fit our own ideas.
Hypothetical 2:
What would you say if you were told: “Most of the Bible is figurative (symbolic), not literal.”
Prompts if no response: History and archeology prove many prophecies and stories, not just lessons.
Closer
Since we believe the Bible is the Word of God, what should we do with it?
Prompts if no response: Read, study, and engage with it every day; prove it to ourselves; use it to guide our lives.
Scriptures for more study or reference
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; John 10:35; John 17:17