Lesson 1 | Restatement
Why Take This Course?
Why are we driven to experiment with things? Because understanding is worth the rigorous process of testing.
A musician tests his hand positions until he can make his guitar sing, boys tweak their paper airplanes until they can do a perfect loop, and scientists experiment with their theories until they can establish their hypotheses. They all have one thing in common: the process of experimentation through testing.
In the same way, the diligent Bible student tests, tweaks, and experiments with his understanding of Scripture until it is robust. Only then can he confidently use that understanding in conversation, in counseling, and in teaching the Church.
Paraphrasing Is the Place to Test your Theory
If you are in this course, you have already learned to create a bracket or an arc that reflects the logic of a passage. That bracket is your theory. In it, you have proposed an interpretation. But, speaking metaphorically, you don’t yet know if it can fly, sounds melodic, tastes good, or accords with the facts of the case. In short, you don’t yet know if your bracket represents a true understanding of the text.
Paraphrasing is the laboratory in which to perform thought experiments, testing and tweaking theories, until you can demonstrate that your interpretation makes sense, accords with the reality of the biblical text, and can be accurately captured in a main point summary.
Do You Understand the Passage?
If you cannot say it in your own words, you don’t understand it.
When asked what a text means, if all you are able to do is repeat the author’s own words back again, it is likely that you do not yet fully grasp what he means.¹ This is because of two facts: (1) there is always more than one way to convey an idea, and (2) this can only be done if the idea is understood. Hence the ability to accurately restate another’s thoughts in your own words is a vital test and demonstration of one’s understanding.
In my experience, writing a paraphrase is one of the most difficult—and most rewarding—tasks in Bible study. Difficult, because you must wrestle with your questions until you break through to a clear understanding. You simply cannot put into your own words what you do not yet comprehend. Yet rewarding, because when you finally are able to state it in your own words, there is clarity, and you are able to share it with others and help them understand as well.
Course Metaphor and Outline
In this course we have chosen the detective metaphor to represent the role that paraphrasing plays within the Bracketing and Arcing Bible study methods. There are three reasons for this:
- The core principles overlap: Forensic science, like paraphrasing, aims to paint an accurate picture of what is objectively true. In the case of detective work, we are answering the question, “What really happened?” In the case of paraphrasing, “What does this really mean?”
- The processes are similar: developing a theory, testing the theory against the evidence, coming to precise conclusions, and taking action. Like a detective, paraphrasing picks up with a developing theory (bracket), then tests it (paraphrase), and arrives at conclusions that can be communicated confidently (main point summary).
- The pitfalls are shared: As in detective work, there is the potential for wrong thinking when writing a paraphrase. For example, it’s easy to “cherry-pick” evidence from the biblical text or get distracted by “red herrings”—details that seem more important than they actually are.
So Bracketing and Arcing relate to this course as follows: Build Your Theory: Your bracket/arc is your hypothesis—your initial take on what the author meant. Test Your Theory: Your paraphrase is your testing ground—a place for fleshing out mistakes and considering other possible interpretations. Prove Your Theory: Your main point summary is your conclusion—a demonstration of your understanding of the passage and ability to communicate it effectively.
The Bracketing-Paraphrase-Arcing Course Path
Our vision for this three-course path is as follows:
- Bracketing – We teach the core logic of the relationship labels and the basic principles of Bracketing. Though the instructor’s work steps contain paraphrases as an aid to understanding, they are not required of students.
- Paraphrase (this course!) – We strengthen your Bracketing/Arcing skills by teaching you how to arrive at a profitable paraphrase and main point summary. (Prerequisite: Bracketing or Arcing)
- Arcing – We teach the Arcing Bible study method while also requiring students to provide a paraphrase and main point summary throughout the course assignments.
So, naturally, our recommended path is Bracketing -> Paraphrase -> Arcing, because this will unfold for you the full functionality of the Arcing/Bracketing module in a step-by-step fashion, and serve you best in building one skill upon another. That said, students who begin with Arcing will still benefit from the other two courses.
The Paraphrase course will advance your Arcing/Bracketing skills to the next level and teach you to utilize the full functionality of the Arcing/Bracketing module to maximum effectiveness.