The Bible Reset

*People hear "story" and think "fairy tale." But stories are everywhere, and they play a definitive role in who we are. The Bible's claim is that it's the true story of the entire world – here's why that matters.

5 Worldview Questions:

1. Who Are We?
2. Where Are We?
3. What Is Wrong?
4. What Is The Solution?
5. What Time Is It?

*Borrowed from N.T. Wright's The New Testament and the People of God pp 132-133

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

The traditional understanding of the Christmas story is well-established in Christian imagination: Mary and Joseph arrive in the town of Bethlehem as strangers, only to find "no room in the inn." With nowhere to go, they find shelter in a lonely stable and Christ is born into the company of livestock.

But what if that story has been shaped more by Christian tradition than what's actually in the text? We take an in-depth look at the birth of Christ as told in Luke's gospel and unpacked by Dr. Kenneth Bailey in Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. With a keen understanding of ancient Near Eastern culture and Greek language, Bailey helps us see a much more realistic version of the Christmas story, full of richness and beauty that has been overlooked for centuries.

Click here to download the excerpt of Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes
Sign up for the IFBR Christmas devotional: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/christmas/

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

"What became clear immediately was how different our discussions were about God's Word." We've spent the past few episodes talking about why community Bible reading and organic conversations make all the sense in the world, but what difference does it actually make? Pastor Chris Morrison's church was the very first church to try Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience, and it completely changed how they interact together around Scripture. Chris joined us to talk about their experience.

Watch Chris' video story: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/church-read-entire-bible-immerse/

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

In our last episode we traced the historical shift of the Bible from a book read in community to one read in private. Today, we take a look at the problems inherent in only reading alone, then suggest 4 ways we can work to recover the community interaction around the text that God's people have enjoyed for so long.
Bowling Alone: https://amzn.to/39zlUps
Unleashing the Word: https://amzn.to/3odInfz
Learn more about Immerse: ImmerseBible.com
Order Immerse (use code IFBR10 for 10% off!): https://www.tyndale.com/l/immerse

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

From a book read, heard, and discussed in community to a book experienced in quiet isolation. How did we get from there to here?

Links:
Nehemiah 8 Story
Y'allVersion
Destroyer of the Gods by Larry Hurtado

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

"The way we've read the Bible is very much monochromatic – as if it's all the same thing...I think we need to get past that." Dr. Jeannine Brown joins us to discuss the importance of understanding the different types of literature in the Bible, and how being attuned to literature can unlock the Bible in "full color." Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Brown.

Jeannine Brown Bio
Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics
Gospels as Stories

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

"The way we've read the Bible is very much monochromatic – as if it's all the same thing...I think we need to get past that." Dr. Jeannine Brown joins us to discuss the importance of understanding the different types of literature in the Bible, and how being attuned to literature can unlock the Bible in "full color." Part 1 of our interview with Dr. Brown.

Jeannine Brown Bio
Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics
Gospels as Stories

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

What is the Bible? What are we supposed to do with it? Simply changing the format can change how we answer those two questions.

In this episode, the last in our series on the Bible's format, we dive into the ways Reader's Bibles fundamentally change how we interact with the text.

Comparison of poetry in 1-column vs. 2-column Bible: https://bit.ly/2FLzRUH

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

In Episode 4 we outlined the deficiencies of the Modern Reference Bible. But what's the alternative? What could the future of the Bible look like?

Christopher Smith joins us to talk about the work and research that goes into the creation of Reader's Bibles – Bibles which remove all of the modern additives and replace them with literary structures which actually honor and display the natural contours of each book. He and Glenn tell the story of how they met to create The Books of the Bible, a Reader's edition which became the precursor to Immerse: The Reading Bible.

The Rev. Dr. Christopher Smith is a writer and biblical scholar who is also an ordained minister and served local churches as a pastor for nearly twenty years. He has an A.B. from Harvard in English and American Literature and Language, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and a Ph.D. in the History of Christian Life and Thought, with a minor concentration in Bible, from Boston College, in the joint program with Andover Newton Theological School. He was heavily involved in the design and creation of Immerse: The Reading Bible.

After Chapters and Verses: https://amzn.to/2Sx2R5l

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/

The physical format of our modern Bible is often taken for granted. But where did chapters and verses come from? How did we go from stories, letters, and song lyrics to something resembling an encyclopedia? And what are the implications of a Bible that invites us to use it like a reference manual?

The Institute for Bible Reading is a nonprofit ministry. Support our work, including the production of The Bible Reset podcast, by joining ChangeMakers: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/changemakers/