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The study of the original languages of the biblical text is a great way for Christ to reveal deeper insight into its meaning

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Word Study Fallacies

English-Only Fallacy:

The English-only fallacy occurs when you base your word study on the English word rather than the underlying Greek or Hebrew word and, as a result draw unreliable or misleading conclusions.

 

Root Fallacy:

Is a butterfly actually a fly that has lost control and crash-landed into a tub of butter? Is a pineapple a certain kind of apple that grows only on pine trees...It is true that a word’s individual parts may accurately portray its meaning, but only if the context supports such a meaning.

 

Time-Frame Fallacy:

This fallacy occurs when we latch onto a late word meaning (usually a meaning popular in our own time) and read it back into the Bible, or when we insist that an early word meaning still holds when in fact it has since become obsolete.

 

Overload Fallacy:

Most words can mean several different things. The overload fallacy is the idea that a word will include all of those senses every time it is used. For example, the English word “spring” can refer to a season, a metal coil, an act of jumping, or a source of water. You would be overloading “spring” (pun intended…perhaps) to assume that in every passage in which it occurs, the word carries not just one, but all of those senses.

 

Word-Count Fallacy:

We make this mistake when we insist that a word must have the same meaning every time it occurs. For example, if we are confident that a word carries a certain meaning in seven of its eight occurrences in Scripture, we might be tempted to conclude that it must have that same meaning in its eighth occurrence.

 

Word-Concept Fallacy:

We fall prey to the word-concept fallacy when we assume that once we have studied one word, we have studied an entire concept. If, for example, you want to discover what the New Testament says about the church, you should certainly study the word translated “church” (ekklēsia). Yet it would be a mistake to conclude that once you have studied ekklēsia, you will know all that the New Testament teaches about church.

 

Selective-Evidence Fallacy:

When we cite just the evidence that supports our favored interpretation or when we dismiss evidence that seems to argue against our view, we commit the selective-evidence fallacy.

Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. “Word Studies.” In Grasping God's Word: A Hands on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, 129–31. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001.

Religion Databases

Andrews University Standards for Written Work

Recommendations and requirements of all departments and programs of Andrews University.

 

ATLA Religion Databases with ATLA Serials

ATLA Religion Database® (ATLA RDB®) with ATLASerials® (ATLAS®) combines the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with ATLA's online collection of major religion and theology journals.  This database is produced by the American Theological Library Association.

 

Biblical Research Center

The Biblical Research Institute staff consists of several Adventist theologians working at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who promote the study and practice of Adventist theology and lifestyle as understood by the world church.  The Institute provides theological resources for the administration and departments of the General Conference and the world church. It identifies areas of doctrinal and theological discussion seeking to enhance their understanding and builds commitment to the truths of Scripture.  It encourages and facilitates dialogue with the Seventh-day Adventist theological community, endeavoring to foster doctrinal and theological unity in the world church.

 

Center for Adventist Research 

A leading documentary collection for the study of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, its predecessors and related groups, from the Millerite Movement of the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The Center holds publications in all formats on all aspects of the Seventh-day Adventist Church--its mission, theology, and activities--including those from official and unofficial sources. The center serves as a Branch Office of the Ellen G. White Estate, the rare material repository for the James White Library and as the Andrews University Archives and Records Center.

 

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

A digital library of hundreds of classic Christian books selected for edification and education. 

 

Ellen G. White Estate

The Ellen G. White® Estate, Incorporated, is an organization created by the last will and testament of Ellen G. White to act as her agent in the custody of her writings, handling her properties, "conducting the business thereof," "securing the printing of new translations," and the "printing of compilations from my manuscripts.  It is through the Estate that you can search the complete writings of E.G. White online.

 

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Office of Archives, Statistics and Research

The archives houses over 20,000 linear feet of records covering the entire period of the Seventh-day Adventist Church history. Patrons can trace the development of the church through these records, which include legal instruments, minutes, reference files, reports, correspondence, publications, recordings, films, video and audio tapes, and photographs.  This site marks the beginning of an effort to place some of the most referenced archival documents in a flexible and expandable online system.

 

New Testament Gateway

Award-winning web directory of internet resources on the New Testament. Browse or search annotated links on everything connected with the academic study of the New Testament and Christian Origins. This major upgrade of the site improves navigation and introduces lots of new features. For all the latest information on the site, please visit the NT Gateway blog.

 

ProQuest Religion

ProQuest Religion provides an excellent source of religious news and information, informative details on doctrines and philosophies, and scholarly reports on religious history. More full-text journals have been added in related religious studies, such as philosophy, ethics, and international perspectives. Many essential full-text titles cannot be found in any other online database.

 

SDA Periodical Index

The Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index provides indexing to approximately 40 Seventh-day Adventist journals and magazines.

 

Theological Research Exchange Network

The Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) is a library of over 10,000 theological thesis/dissertation titles representing research from as many as 70 different institutions. Titles may be ordered online through our search and order system.

TREN also makes available conference papers presented at annual meetings of several academic societies. Here are a few of our conference paper sources:

 

Free Web Resources on Religion

Compiled by Yale University Divinity School Library this LibGuide contains free online resources for the study of Christianity.

Library of Congress Classification

This guide includes print and online research tools related to the study of religion and theology.  It is a selected list of resource materials and is not meant to be exhaustive.  Please see a reference librarian for additional research assistance.

 

The call numbers for all areas of religion range from BL to BX.  However, many interdisciplinary sources in other areas, for example HQ (family, marriage, women) may be relevant. 

Daniel Wallace on NT reliability

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