Religious Studies Report: Examining Interpretations of the Bible

This report analyzes five readings in the field of theology and religious studies. The first reading focuses on interpreting the Bible, discussing various approaches and the importance of understanding its different sections. The second reading examines the New Testament Canon, exploring different perspectives on its formation and the acceptance of specific texts. The third reading investigates the historical evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ, drawing from classical, Jewish, and Christian sources. The fourth reading explores feminist interpretations of the Bible, addressing gender roles and challenging traditional views. The fifth reading examines the Bible as a human response to God. The report provides summaries of each reading, highlighting the authors' positions and key arguments, offering a comprehensive overview of the selected topics and their significance in religious studies.

Running head: THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Theology and Religious Studies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Reading number One
Purpose
The purpose of this book How to Read the Bible with All its Worth is to determine the
ways that the Bible could be read and interpreted properly (De Jonge, 2001). The different
sections of the Bible will be discussed by removing the obscurity in it.
Brief summary
This reading is about the ways of interpreting the Bible in the most useful ways. The
Bible has many sections and the authors of these various sections have gone on to discuss
various things. This reading acts as the way of understanding the Bible properly (De Jonge,
2001). The various ways the Bible can be read and the main themes and issues within it could be
understood have been discussed in this book. One of the most important issues in interpreting the
Bible is that the preachers have highlighted on several issues in this religious book and the basic
truths have not been revealed in the way that it should have been (De Jonge, 2001). The Bible is
quite a complex book and the various issues have been brought out in this book to be understood.
As many people have interpreted the various sections in various ways, this has become quite
unclear for the readers to understand these issues properly. It is obvious for the Christians to read
and instructions in the Bible but they do not understand it properly indeed (De Jonge, 2001).
It has been said in the book that the authors are the main interpreters. It is all about their
understanding properly. The people should be able to understand it properly when they go
through the book. As an example, the word Cross creates many types of symbolisms in the minds
of the readers and most people seem to understand it as the Roman Cross. The Catholic and
Protestant Christians have interpreted the Bible in different ways. The understanding of the

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different personals like the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit has been displayed in different
ways as per the culture of the readers (De Jonge, 2001). The language differences have been
creating barriers in this case as well. The orthodox Christians will also believe in the cults of
Christianity as well.
Author’s position
The authors of the book are Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. The authors have
demonstrated the Bible in all the possible ways. They have highlighted all the relevant facts
about the interpretation of the Bible in the suitable ways. The author has argued that some of the
Christians have gone on to obey the Bible in the most ways. The author also insists the fact that
the people should be able to understand the meanings of the words that have already been
discussed in the Bible. The topics of the Bible will have to be understood the matter of salvation
is quite associated with it.
Reading Number Two
Purpose
The purpose of this reading The New Testament Canon is to discuss on the various facts
of the New Testament (Fee & Stuart, 2014). The people who are ardent followers of Christianity
are mainly the audience of this piece of reading.
Brief summary of reading
In this section, the brief summary of this reading will be provided. This book has
provided its views on the New Testament. In the new studies regarding the New Testament, new
information have been collected by the theological experts. The Holy Scripture is a very
important part of the New Testament (Fee & Stuart, 2014). In the recent studies, it has been

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revealed that it is not at all same as the word of the God. The book like Apocalypse had its
importance in the time it was written but it had lost its importance in the later times. This is why
some of the books regarding theology had been accepted by the churches.
It is a very important argument that the Christians are not ready to admit the things that
are being said in the New Testament are canonical. The professors like Semler and Childs have
shown the New Testament in various ways (Fee & Stuart, 2014). Childs has argued over the fact
that the Biblical interpreted for the canon. The difference between the notions of Semler and
Childs lies in the fact that Semler has believed in the historical presentation of the Bible but on
the other hand Childs has argued over the theological understanding of the New Testament (Fee
& Stuart, 2014). It has been believed that Bible has remained to be the sole source for the
theological interpretation of the world. Semler has also said that the criticism for Bible has
changed over the times. This will be very much helpful for them indeed. The theological
interpretations by Semler had been countered by Childs (Fee & Stuart, 2014). The New
Testament Canon took long years to be implemented properly and this came to proper practice
until the second century only. The two other authors also have presented their own views in this
context like Zahn and Harnack. Their ideas about the New Testament Canon have been different
as well.
Author’s position
The author of this reading is H.J. De Jonge. The differences between the sayings of
Semler and Childs have been discussed. The traditional theological critique has been done in this
reading. The author has represented the interpretation of Childs that all the books of the Bible
can be represented as a part of the canon individually (Fee & Stuart, 2014). The authoritativeness
of the early Christian writings has been evaluated in this context. He has also analyzed the

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Catholicism and orthodoxy in Christianity in the best ways he could present. The proposed
audience of this reading is the people interested in the orthodoxy in Christianity.
Reading Number Three
Purpose
The third reading in this paper is the Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the
Bible. This book was published in the year 2015 (Mykytiuk, 2015). The purpose of this article is
about discovering the real characters of the Bible who actually existed in this world.
Brief summary of reading
This reading describes about the different things about the existence of Jesus Christ as a
real human being. The sources that have been evident in this context are generally the classical,
Jewish and Christian. Tacitus had used the character of Christus to symbolize Jesus Christ
(Mykytiuk, 2015). He has also mentioned the name of the Christus from whom the term
Christians had originated. This will be helpful for them It has also been mentioned that this
character named Christus had been assassinated by Roman governor of Judea (Mykytiuk, 2015).
The timeline of the death of Christus has been recorded just during the time of Jesus Christ as
well. The time has been recorded as sometime round 29 C.E (Mykytiuk, 2015). The mystery in
this context is the fact that he did not address any particular sources that he had used in his
writings. As Tacitus has been recorded as one of the most revered historians of Rome, his
writings should never be ignored (Mykytiuk, 2015). He has produced some of the best and
prolific historical writings during his time. This article reverberates the fact that Tacitus had been
the Proconsul of Asia and he used to punish the people whom he found to be guilty of being
Christians. Josephus has also taught many things about the presence of Jesus Christ as a real

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human being (Mykytiuk, 2015). He was considered to be a Jewish priest. He has given the
description of his brother James who can be presented as the real life existence of Jesus Christ.
The New Testament has also identified James as “the brother of the Lord” or “of the Savior”. It
has also been notified that the book Jewish Antiquities by Josephus, the real existence of Jesus
has been presented as the Testimonium Flavianum (Mykytiuk, 2015).
Author’s position
The author of this reading Lawrence Mykytiuk has discovered many things about the real
life existence of Jesus Christ. He has been presented as a person with real life existence in many
of the writings in the writings of that period. This is why he has revealed that Jesus existed as a
human being and his Greek name was Christos (Mykytiuk, 2015). The name of his brother was
Jacob. The opinions about Jesus from the Jewish leaders were not all positive indeed. The author
has also stated that he was executed during the governorship of Pontius Pilate in Judea.
Reading number Four
Purpose
The purpose of the reading Feminist readings of the Bible is to determine the several
issues about the feminist interpretations of the Bible (Ø kland, 2015). The feminist people are
protesting against the stand of the Bible that has always put the most stress on women as
subordinates to the men.
Brief summary of the reading
The gender theory has evolved over the years and it has to be kept in the foremost section
to review the Bible. The women have always been seen as ‘the second sex’ and the feminist
people have been in the centre of all the attraction (Ø kland, 2015) The Biblical texts have to be

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analyzed from the gender-critical roles. This article depicts the fact that the feminist reading of
the Bible only started as an academic project only. The foremost importance will be on the
liberation of women from all the constraints of the society. The Bible will have to be discussed
from the feminist view as well (Ø kland, 2015)
The masculinity has dominated the most parts of the Bible so the time has come to
change these facts. The people will have to be conscious and they have to give better place for
women in the society as the Bible has presented some parts of the society in the larger aspects.
The Enlightenment of Jesus can be seen from the angle of the women as well. This would
enhance the cultural history of the women (Ø kland, 2015) The entire background should be
based on the history. The women have to survive in this society and the experts have shown that
they should be able to give their best efforts to showcase women from a point of holding the
power (Ø kland, 2015) The gender hierarchies will have to be challenged in most of the cases in
this context. The radical separation of body and mind has been done by the great philosopher
Rene Descartes. However, he has attributed the aspect of mind and reason with that of the male
and the body with the female. This is why the Bible could interpret the God as the divine
identity. The God can be taken as a female as well for the divinity. This is why the feminism
attributes could be given to the God as well.
Author’s position
The author Jorunn Ø Kland has given an overview about the different matters on the
aspects of feminism in the Bible (Ø kland, 2015) The Bible has many characters but very few of
them are female. The participation of women within the Biblical scenario will have to be kept in
mind. He has clarified that the women will have to be given a specific position in the Bible to

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give them a divine entity. This will rather cement their place in the minds and hearts of the
followers indeed.
Reading number Five
Purpose
The following reading Reading the Bible Again for the First Time written by Marcus j.
Borg. The purpose of this reading is to determine the most important facts about taking the Bible
as a human response to the existence of God (Borg, 2001). The Bible and the God have a very
deep relationship within themselves. Bible can be connected with some of the topics and these
are human response to the God, sacred scripture, sacrament of the sacred and Bible as the word
of God. This article has produced the thing that the New Testament has been the outcome of the
Early Christian Movement (Borg, 2001). On the contrary, the Old Testament is seen to be the
outcome of the ancient Israel. The Bible can be seen as the result of the two ancient
communities. This is why the Bible can be viewed from various aspects. This is the reflection of
the fact Bible is just the mere production of the words of the local communities and not of the
words of God.
It can be seen from another way as well and i.e. to see it from the viewpoint that there is
no relationship between the God and the Bible. This will clearly suggest the importance of the
human beings with the words of the Bible. This is why the Bible will have to be seen from the
corner of human product as well (Borg, 2001). The Bible is believed to be the Holy Scripture for
the Christians and they believe that it is the God who can be seen as the ultimate author of this
Holy Scripture. It is believed by some of the Christians that the Bible is the divine product and
the laws and rule presented in the Bible are the laws of God. The stories told in the Holy Genesis

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must be seen as the creation of God (Borg, 2001). As these stories are created by God Himself,
they cannot be wrong. This is why the Bible can also be seen as the manifestation of the human
activities apart from the creation of God.
Author’s position
The author Marcus J. Borg has represented the relationship between the God and the
Bible. The Bible has been the Holy Scripture for the Christians (Borg, 2001). The human beings
have represented the God’s creation and therefore the Bible is a mere reflection of the God’s
creation helped by the human beings. The human beings also have put their best efforts to put
light on the different aspects of the Bible.

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References
Borg, M. J. (2001). Reading the prophets again. Reading the Bible again for the first time: taking
the Bible seriously but not literally, 111-144.
De Jonge, H. J. (2001). The New Testament Canon.
Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. (2014). How to read the Bible for all its worth. Zondervan.
Mykytiuk, L. (2015). Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible. Biblical
Archaeology Review, 41(1), 44-51.
Ø kland, J. (2015). Feminist readings of the Bible.