b. Assignment II : RECOGNIZING THE THEME OF A BOOK Read the entire Book of Ruth as many times as necessary, using nothing but the text of Ruth, and before looking at any commentaries, study bible notes or other extra biblical sources – 1. Identify the historical time period for the story and also the historical time period for when the book was probably written. 2. Write a Purpose & Central Idea Statement for the book of Ruth and for each section/chapter. 3. Describe in your own words what you think the author of Ruth is mainly trying to say to His audience. The Holy Spirit will direct you as you pay attention to the contextual clues. Be sure to include and identify the audience and make some mention of the content. But other words like why and how can also be used or a phrase like by meansof ? For example, a study of Romans 6 might yield a purpose-subject/verb statement something like this: To explain why Christians should not live in sin any longer Notice that the purpose infinitive is to explain. Note also that the subjects are Christians and their relationship to sin and the verb or action is should not live. ? Though each verse, chapter, or section has its own purpose, to teach something and to cause some kind of change, it is most important to develop first a purpose statement for the whole book, because each smaller context must have a theme or purpose that logically supports the overall purpose of the whole book. Some authors of Scripture clearly state the purpose of their book either in the beginning or at the end but if not often the purpose can be discovered somewhere in the beginning or at the end of the book. The paper should be 4-5 pages and students should use 2-3 academic level commentaries and/or Bible dictionaries as well the textbooks of the class as a source
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