Enjoying the Bible:
How to Equip Students to Read
with Imagination (Not Just For Information)
Ben Tameling
Grandville Calvin Christian High School
How many of us have heard/struggled with/felt pressure to/deeply desired for our students to move from…
“head” knowledge
to
“heart” knowledge?
This does NOT mean…
This does NOT mean…
Christian Theology
A Curriculum for the 12th Grade
Ben Tameling
Fall 2010
Course Description:
“This course explores the central theological affirmations of the Christian Church from a Reformed perspective, drawing on the Scriptures as well as the reflections of fellow Christians past and present to make students more aware of and active in their own faith journeys as they engage the world.”
But also…
Human beings are:
“In short, this book is about the pleasure of understanding. By that I mean two things.
First, I mean that understanding what we read can be pleasurable.
But, second, I mean that, sometimes, you must take pleasure in something in order to understand it.”
(Preface, ix)
From “what does this mean?”
to
“how does this make me feel”?
“I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.
It was for me the day of vengeance;
the year for me to redeem had come.”
Isaiah 63:3-4
“The Kingdom of God is like”...
From immediate application
to
long-form reading.
“How Personal Application Can Derail Your Bible Reading”
By Glenn Paauw
https://instituteforbiblereading.org/personal-application-derail-bible-reading/
Immerse:
The Reading Bible
“I enjoyed reading the word of God without being distracted or losing interest in what I was reading. In past Bible classes, teachers would often skip around from story to story in completely different books that I would be lost and confused. Reading the Bible this way helps me better understand what the passage is telling me. Listening to stories i’ve already heard before is different too, because I’ve never really read each of the whole stories and not just sections.”
“Luke 2 became more like a story that was a part of a bigger story than just a group of memorized verses. I never realized that there was no innkeeper!”
From (individual) owner’s manual
to
(communal) sacred story.
B. Image-bearers: commissioning as kings/priests…and then rebellion
C. Abraham’s family → Israel: “bless all nations”
D. David’s descendants = kings forever
E. Jesus, the true King
D’. Kingdom of God inaugurated.
C’. Abraham’s family → the Church: Jews + Gentiles united
B’. Image-bearers: restored as kings and priests of creation
A’. New Creation
Chiasm! Woo hoo!
“Biblical stories tell only the actions and description essential to the story. The omission of definitions and unnecessary detail provides silence, time and space through which the listener experiences the mystery, awe, and wonder so characteristic of sacred story…”
“So much happens in the Old Testament: murder, betrayal, wars, cheating and so on. Stories full of complications. I wonder if every movie is somehow based on the Bible. I think the main story line of every film can be found somewhere in this book. When I read the Bible or watch a movie I always try to find the connection between them, and there are many similar happenings. The movies have stolen some ideas from the Bible, I’m pretty sure about that.”
Thank You!
Q & A