Lesson 1 | Restatement
Lesson Objective
In this lesson you will learn the nuts and bolts of paraphrasing—restating the facts in your own words.
The Sherlock Holmes mystery “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” opens with a train ride to the region north of Dartmoor. A prized racing horse has gone missing, its trainer murdered. As Holmes and Watson travel to the scene of the crime, Holmes takes advantage of Watson's unfamiliarity with the case to unpack the details afresh in conversation.
‘You have formed a theory, then?’
‘At least I have got a grip of the essential facts of the case. I shall enumerate them to you, for nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person…’
Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.” The Adventure of the Silver Blaze.
The same can be said with regard to studying the Bible. As ideas are set before one’s eyes through the process of restatement, important details are brought front and center; the sequence of events, muddled in one’s brain from reading the passage several times, gets sorted; the tone of the author is felt. In short, the meaning of the passage starts to become clear.
Specific Goals
- Distinguish between the advantages of commentary-style and paraphrase-style.
- Learn to creatively restate a sentence in various ways.
- Understand the significance of capturing the tone of a biblical author when paraphrasing.
- Recognize the role of imagination in interpreting scripture through the lens of its original author.