With the availability of Generative AIs like ChatGPT, Germini, and many others, we should change our traditional Bible Study to make use of them for a more productive and fruitful study.
Firstly, we need a notepad to record our study.
I highly recommend the mind mapping software Freeplane. It is visual and has many features that help us arrange, analyze, and organize our notes.
You search the internet for the Bible version that you like, choose the passage you want to study and copy and paste it into the Freeplane mind map. Or you could just fire out the AI software ChatGPT, and enter the passage and version you want in the prompt e.g. "Luke 24:1-12 NASB"
With the Freeplane, you can divide the sentences into sub-parts to highlight the key concepts. It makes the key points stand out. You can add in your comments, the interpretation of the facts, as you go along. You can group a paragraph of text and give them a title. You can highlight the text and the background to give a better visual understanding.
You can then collect the comments you have made into lessons you have learned and apply them. The old method of facts, interpretation of facts, and applications are still applicable and be followed.
Here is the first cut...
We could have started by asking ChatGPT to give us the lessons from the passage. But I prefer to start with our own study first before getting ChatGPT to help.
Now we use ChatGPT to see what else we can learn.
We put the following into the prompt of ChatGPT "Lessons from Luke 24:1-12".
Here is the ChatGPT response:
Luke 24:1-12, which narrates the discovery of Jesus' resurrection by the women who visited the tomb, offers several profound lessons for believers. Here are some key lessons:
1. **The Reality of the Resurrection**:
- The empty tomb and the angelic proclamation that Jesus has risen affirm the foundational Christian belief in the resurrection. This event validates Jesus' identity as the Son of God and confirms His victory over death and sin.
2. **Faithfulness in Adversity**:
- The women who went to the tomb early in the morning demonstrated their devotion to Jesus despite the fear and sorrow following His crucifixion. Their commitment exemplifies faithfulness in difficult times.
3. **God's Faithfulness to His Promises**:
- The angels remind the women of Jesus' own prophecy about His death and resurrection. This highlights that God's promises are reliable and will be fulfilled, even if they seem impossible.
4. **Witness and Testimony**:
- The women, after encountering the empty tomb and hearing the angels, go back to tell the apostles. This underscores the importance of sharing the good news and bearing witness to God's work in our lives.
5. **Skepticism and Belief**:
- The apostles initially dismiss the women's report as nonsense. This illustrates that even close followers of Jesus can struggle with doubt and skepticism. It challenges believers to trust in God's word and the testimonies of others.
6. **Seeking and Discovery**:
- Peter's response—running to the tomb and investigating for himself—demonstrates the value of seeking the truth actively. His wonder at the empty tomb suggests an openness to divine revelation and the beginning of understanding.
7. **Role of Women in God's Plan**:
- The passage highlights the significant role women played in Jesus' ministry and as the first witnesses to the resurrection. This emphasizes the value and importance of women in the faith community and in spreading the gospel.
8. **Transformation through Encounter**:
- The encounter with the empty tomb and the message of the angels transforms the women from mourners to messengers of joy. This indicates that an encounter with the risen Christ brings transformation and a new purpose.
9. **Hope and Renewal**:
- The resurrection represents hope and new beginnings. It reassures believers that death is not the end, and there is always hope for renewal and eternal life through Jesus.
By reflecting on these lessons, believers can deepen their understanding of the resurrection's significance and its implications for their faith and daily lives.
We can see ChatGPT has outdone us. Giving us more pointers for us to learn. We can include them in our lessons learned to make them our own.
During our study, if we come across any puzzling verse, we could just ask ChatGPT. e.g.
"Who are the two men in dazzling apparel?"
Here is ChatGPT's response:
The "two men in dazzling apparel" mentioned in Luke 24:1-12 are generally understood to be angels. Here are some key points that support this interpretation:
1. **Description of the Men**:
- The description of their clothes as "dazzling" or "gleaming like lightning" is commonly associated with angelic beings in biblical literature. Angels are often depicted with a radiant appearance that reflects their heavenly origin.
2. **Role in the Narrative**:
- The role of these men is to deliver a divine message. They inform the women that Jesus has risen, reminding them of Jesus' own words predicting His death and resurrection. This role as messengers is typical of angels throughout the Bible.
3. **Parallel Accounts**:
- In other Gospel accounts of the resurrection, similar figures appear. For example, Matthew 28:2-7 describes an angel who rolls back the stone and speaks to the women. Mark 16:5 mentions a young man in a white robe, and John 20:12 describes two angels in white sitting where Jesus' body had been.
4. **Reaction of the Women**:
- The women's reaction of fear and bowing down suggests they recognized these figures as heavenly beings. This response is consistent with other biblical encounters with angels.
Taken together, these points strongly indicate that the "two men in dazzling apparel" are indeed angels, sent to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus to the women at the tomb.
We can feed our lessons learned to ChatGPT and learn even more...
(In Freeplane mind map, just copy Lessons, and paste it into ChatGPT prompt "My learned <ctl><v>")
This is ChatGPT's response:
Your learned lessons from Luke 24:1-12 are insightful and capture the key elements of the passage. Here’s a slightly refined version that retains your points while adding a bit more detail:
### Lessons from Luke 24:1-12
1. **Eagerness and Faithfulness of the Women Who Served Jesus**:
- **Early Morning Dedication**: The women demonstrated their commitment by going to the tomb early in the morning, showing their devotion and willingness to serve Jesus even after His death.
2. **Signs of Jesus' Resurrection**:
- **The Heavy Tomb Stone Rolled Away**: The removal of the stone, likely by angels, provided physical evidence that something extraordinary had happened, allowing access to the tomb.
- **The Empty Tomb**: The absence of Jesus’ body served as circumstantial evidence of His resurrection.
- **Angelic Confirmation**: The angels’ appearance and message encouraged and confirmed to the women that Jesus had indeed risen, as He had promised.
3. **Skepticism Toward the Story Told**:
- **Disciples' Doubt**: The initial disbelief of the disciples highlights a natural skepticism and the difficulty of accepting the miraculous without concrete evidence.
4. **Need to Validate the Story Told by Others**:
- **Peter's Verification**: Peter’s decision to run to the tomb to see for himself underscores the importance of personally verifying extraordinary claims.
5. **Evidence-Based Faith**:
- **Fulfillment of Prophecy**: The fulfillment of Jesus' own prophecies about His death and resurrection strengthens faith based on evidence and divine promise.
These points reflect the significant themes of faith, evidence, and the transformative impact of the resurrection story. They also emphasize the human elements of devotion, skepticism, and the need for personal validation in the journey of faith.
Now, we could replace our lessons with the ChatGPT version or we could just improve ours.
Here is my final version:
1 The eagerness and faithfulness of the Women who served Jesus
2 The signs of Jesus resurrections
The heavy tombstone was rolled away for access.--- by the angles?
The absence of Jesus’ body served as circumstantial evidence of His resurrection.
The angles encouraged and confirmation of Jesus' resurrection using what Jesus had foretold them.
3 Be suspicious of the story told
4 Need to validate the story told by others
5 Evidence-based faith
The fulfillment of Jesus' own prophecies about His death and resurrection strengthens faith based on evidence and divine promise.
Doubts are good. When they are resolved our belief could then be stronger.
These points reflect the significant themes of faith, evidence, and the transformative impact of the resurrection story. They also emphasize the human elements of devotion, skepticism, and the need for personal validation in the journey of faith.
