RATIONAL & DESCRIPTION
Grade 8 students investigate the mystery of God the Holy Spirit as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the universe. They will be equipped with Bible study skills to examine Scripture as an ancient library and culmination of God’s work through the nation of Israel, redemptive work of Christ, and early church, reclaimed and understood by reformers and modern people as written for the life of the church. Students apply the practices of life journaling to engage deeply with scripture individually, corporately, and applicably in their lives. The essential question for the course is, “How is the Holy Spirit at work in the work of the church and how can I partner to see the Gospel inform how I engage faithfully in the world?”
BIG IDEAS
The story of the Bible leads us to discover who God is, who we are, how to love others, and what the world is like.
Learning about the Biblical story can encourage a sense of joy, curiosity, and wonder.
Becoming Biblically and ethically discerning involves applying scriptural principles, gathering evidence, developing empathy, learning from the perspectives of others, and assessing our decision-making.
In response to the Creator God, we express ourselves as creative beings when we use our giftings to create plans, serve others, and respond to Biblical principles.
CURRICULAR COMPETENCIES
Purposeful & Disciplined
- Use inquiry processes, tools, and textual interpretive skills to recognize the literary elements and techniques, understand socio-cultural context, values, and perspectives in the Biblical text.
- Recognize diversity in the different forms, features, genres, and contextual structures of the Biblical text that reflect different purposes, audiences, and messages.
- Recognize and appreciate the role of story and narrative across the Biblical text and its implications for worldview, values, beliefs, and perspectives.
Ethical Discernment;
- Construct an ethical decision-making framework and evaluate ideas from a variety of sources and perspectives, including those that are Biblically-informed.
- Formulate good questions about creation, identity, and the nature of God.
- Make ethical decisions by applying effective critical thinking that engages with scripture to assess impact of ideas on people, identity formation, and communities.
Service & Citizenship;
- Identify collaborative and community-based partnerships and strategies to participate and respond to real needs, for real problems, and real people.
- Identify and reflect on giftings and participate in opportunities for student leadership that encourage equipping and active participation in service-learning experiences.
- Reflect on implicit biases that emerge when participating in service-learning experiences to promote lifelong engagement in leadership and service.
Creativity and Connection-making
- Take courageous risks to develop, refine ideas, and represent Biblical concepts through various creative form
CONTENT
- Bible study tools
- (Bible commentaries; The Bible Project; Reading Plans and app; NIV Study Bible app; Bible word dictionary for word studies; the Message, Passion Translations)
- Bible study skills
- (old testament and new testament echoes and connections; observation, interpretation, application; inductive study); Understand the three senses of scripture (literary, socio-cultural/historic, and existential- application)
- Bible study concepts
- (word studies in original languages- Hebrew and Greek; understanding genre and organization and structure of a text)
- Genesis
- Acts (The Story of the Spirit; The Story and Growth of the Church; Pauline epistles- Galatians)
- Psalms and spiritual gifts