Unknown Host (5:30)

What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg. The Bible department is actually powered by arma.

Unknown Co-Host (5:38)

What is arma?

Unknown Host (5:39)

I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we design to help people, everyday.

Dr. Manny Arango (5:48)

People, learn the Bible for themselves.

Unknown Host (5:50)

We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere can have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community, a community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding.

Unknown Co-Host (6:24)

Out on the Bible together.

Unknown Host (6:26)

If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want.

Unknown Co-Host (6:34)

More exclusive access to me and the.

Unknown Host (6:37)

Entire armor team, how about you go.

Unknown Co-Host (6:39)

To thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post.

Dr. Manny Arango (6:43)

The link in the description of this video.

Unknown Host (6:46)

Let's make this your year to become a Bible man.

Unknown Co-Host (6:52)

So one last big idea is that this is going to take work, but I promise it's worth it. And can we be real? I've done a lot of the work for you. Like you just gotta show up. You gotta show up to the Bible department. You gotta listen every single day. I promise I've done a lot of work for you. We're gonna make it digestible, but it is gonna take work. It's a different way of engaging with the Bible, but it's totally, totally worth it. So let's talk about the genres of literature that we're gonna find in the New Testament. Here. The first genre of literature, the Gospels. Okay? There's no other place in the Bible where we have gospel accounts. The gospel accounts are trying to answer the question, who is Jesus? However, the four gospel accounts are different. They're different because Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all have an audience. And so they're taking source material of things Jesus did, Jesus said. But they're applying that source material differently to different audiences. So when we approach the Gospels, we're always going to ask a twofold question. What was Jesus saying to his audience? And then what was the gospel writer saying to their audience? And since the audiences are different, right? Mark's audience is Roman, Luke's audience is Gentile, Matthew's audience is Hebrew, and John's audience is Jews and Gentiles. Since each gospel writer has a different audience, they are going to put a different spin on the story of Jesus. They're going to present Jesus in a different way. One of the things I want you to remember as we go into the Gospels is that the Gospel accounts are not photographs, but portraits. A photograph has to be accurate, right? My photograph on my ID better match my face or I ain't going through TSA PreCheck. But if I commissioned an artist to draw a portrait of me, then now the artist has the liberty to depict me based on their interpretation. And the word interpretation is going to be huge for us this year. We're going to use the word interpretation here at the Bible department a lot because it's not enough to just say, what did the Bible say? We have to ask, what does the Bible mean by what it says? And that means that we have to use context to fill in the gap of interpretation. We don't just want to ask what the text says, but we want to ask what does the text mean by what it says? Which is going to require that we're going to have to have good interpretation skills. Next we're going to get into the book of Acts. And the book of Acts is going to be the historical timeline that all of the letters fit into. Okay, so instead of just going to the book of Philippians, we're going to look at the book of Acts and go, well, what was Paul doing in Philippi before he ever wrote a book of Philippians? Maybe when he was in Philippi, this historical moment can give us some context on what he meant in the book of Philippians. So there's a reason that the book of Acts goes before Paul's letters on this plan. So the book of Acts is the historical backbone of the entire New Testament. And then we are going to get into letters. Letters are an ancient genre. Christians weren't the only people who wrote letters. We're going to study Greco Roman letters. This is a genre that most people just aren't familiar with. And I liken it to being in the car with someone who's on the phone. This actually happened to me a couple of days ago. I was in the car with my wife and someone called her. She was in a full blown conversation next to me and I'm nosy, so I'm trying to figure out who's she talking to? Are they okay? Is my wife happy? Is she sad? Is she upset to be on the phone? And all I have is what my wife is saying. I'm not privy to listening to the person on the other end of the phone. Now, I would have loved for my wife to put this person on speakerphone, but that's a whole nother case. That's a whole nother story altogether. The person wasn't all speakerphone, so I had to use my context clues to try to fill in the gaps and try to figure out who was my wife talking to and what were they saying. But I only had one side of the conversation. Well, when we get to letters, we get to epistles like Peter and James, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. We only have one half of the conversation. So I'm going to give you a lot of historical context to try to figure out, well, why did Paul say that? Did Paul really mean that women shouldn't talk in church? Or is there something happening on the other end of the phone that would actually cause us to create or come to a different interpretation? Because it's not important, just saying what Paul said. Paul said women shouldn't talk. No, what's more important is what did Paul mean? And oftentimes there's context, something happening on the other end of, of the phone. And then, last but not least, we got everybody's favorite book of the New Testament, which is Revelation. Now, the English word for apocalypse, that's a Greek word, is revelation. And now this is one of the most misunderstood words on the planet because most people think of an apocalypse. They think of a zombie apocalypse. They think of an event where the world ends. But actually, in its context, an apocalypse is an unveiling. It's a revelation. When Elisha is actually praying, there's an army surrounding the city that Elisha's in. He says, lord, would you open my servant's eyes that he could see? And when he. When the Lord does open his servant's eyes, he realizes that there isn't just a chariot, human chariots, but they're chariots of fire. What did the servant experience an apocalypse and unveiling? In John's apocalypse, what happens is that John gets a revelation that although it seems like Emperor Domitian, or maybe it was Emperor Nero, although it seems like they rule the world from their Roman throne. Want to know what John gets an apocalypse of? A revelation of? He gets a revelation that the lamb that has been slain from the foundation of the earth, that that lamb is actually in charge, that the creature that seems weak is actually in authority. And that's an apocalypse. That's the revelation that we all need, that Jesus is Lord. And that is what the New Testament is actually all about. It's revealing to all of us the Gospel. And what is the gospel? It's not that Jesus died for your sins. No. It's that he is king, that he's Lord. And so the gospels, the letters, the book of Acts, the apocalyptic book at the end of the New Testament are all preaching the gospel, the message that Jesus is Lord, that he's the Lord over sickness, that he's the Lord over governmental authorities, that he's the Lord over everything. He's. He's Lord. And our process of discipleship is the process whereby we surrender more and more and more of our lives to His Lordship. And so I pray that this journey, this year of you reading the Bible would actually be a journey where you would surrender more and more and more of your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Because that is what the New Testament is all about. You coming to a revelation that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Unknown Host (14:33)

We got a lot of work to do.

Unknown Co-Host (14:34)

Let's roll up our sleeves. But we got all the tools that we need to do the work that's ahead. It's work that is worth it. It's going to be so rewarding.

Unknown Host (14:44)

I'm already proud of you.

Unknown Co-Host (14:46)

Like I'm proud of you for embarking on this journey. Not only am I proud of you, but I love you. It's going to be great. Let's dive in the loop.

Dr. Manny Arango (14:59)

Thank you so much for joining me on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful, it would mean the world to me if you'd give us a follow rate and review the show. And don't forget to share. You can learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com or and find us on Instagram hebible department. If you want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.