Grasping God's Word
Summer 2019
When: June 2, 2019 — August 25, 2019
Time: 10:55am — 12:30pm (note: class time is extended to cover the material)
Where: Room W247
Class Description: The goal is to equip Bible readers, teachers, and facilitators through this 13-week class, in the basic tools to interpret and study the Bible. This includes:
Understanding the differences in translations
Understanding how words/language works
Understanding the historical significance of biblical times
Have a basic understanding of the biblical genres of literature
Once completed, students will be well equipped as they continue to engage their own studies and lead their groups!
If you have questions about this class, please email Vinnie Angelo at: vinnieangelo@goldenhills.org
Question Box
Have a question that didn't get answered in class, or that you didn't think of until later? Feel free to submit it here, and Vinnie will either address it in a future class, or via private email (please write "GGW" in the Subject line).
Text Books
Please choose either: "Journey Into God's Word" or "Grasping God's Word" as a textbook. Descriptions of each book are found below (click on the icon to view on Amazon.com). One of the textbooks is needed for week 1 (see the syllabus for details)
Journey Into God's Word (Recommended Book)
This is the shorter version of "Grasping God's Word." It is 153 pages long. Each chapter is 10-12 pages long and is a good option if you don't have a number of hours to dedicate to study during the week. $10
Grasping God's Word (3rd edition - hardback)
This is a much longer textbook (490 pages long). Each chapter is about 20 pages long and is a good option if you want to pursue this subject with an academic mindset (this book reads much more like a college textbook). $27
GGW Laminated Sheet
Recommended: This is a 4-page laminated sheet that provides a summary of each chapter in Grasping God's Word. It serves as a very good "cheat sheet" to recall the overview of each topic covered in the class. $10
Class Resources (to be updated)
Here's the class overview/calendar
Download the Lecture Outlines for the class (PDF file). [the notes are largely based on the textbook, and will be used in class for the lecture]
Download the PowerPoint slides from each class (in the form of a PDF file)
Download the PowerPoint slides from each class (in the form of a PDF file)
Class Audio
Weekly Homework Resources
This is a quick lecture on the major differences between translations (King James and other modern versions)
This video will show you a simple way to do a word study
I have linked to a webpage that will provide resources (videos and books) regarding Biblical Theology (note, the videos linked here are recommended homework for the week 5 unit on Biblical Theology and Christocentric interpretation).
Here is the first 40 minutes of this new documentary. Please try to watch the entire film, but at the minimum watch from 27:00 minutes— 39:00 minutes (this section describes how we understand a "Christocentric" reading of the Bible).
Week 6: What is the Lectio Divina?
This article will accompany "Journey Into God's Word" students for the week 6 study (Role of the Holy Spirit & Application)
The article can be found HERE
Read the Mosaic Covenant chapter from the 2019 GHCC study "Covenants." Please pay special attention to pages 76-78.
Here are some resources for week 10 (Torah and the Prophets)
Week 12: Reading Revelation
Here are some useful tools for reading and understanding the book of Revelation
Check out this YouTube channel called "The Bible Project." They do a great job of setting the biblical story to creative images. This will serve as a good overview to any book of the Bible you might be studying (they are attempting to create videos for all 66 books).