Discussion Questions

Chuck Pike compares the Old Testament to his Boston-area two-family house with a hidden third-floor bedroom blocked by sheetrock; what “hidden third level” of Scripture do you think most Christians in your circles never discover, and what habits in Bible reading keep that stairway closed? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What “hidden level” of the Bible do most Christians you know never notice? What Bible-reading habits keep them from seeing it?

The lesson claims “the early Christians understood the Old Testament…on three levels” (basic storyline, moral lessons, and foreshadowings of Christ); what would have to change in the way your group prepares/teaches Scripture in order to consistently look for all three levels rather than staying mostly at level one? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If the Old Testament has a story level, a moral level, and a Christ-foreshadowing level, what would your group need to change to look for all three every time?

In the Passover example, Paul uses the removal of leaven to confront “gross sexual immorality” and ties it to being “booted out of the community” (church discipline); how does that combination of “Christ our Passover was sacrificed” and “purge out the old leaven” challenge modern evangelical instincts about grace, tolerance, and what love requires in a church? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does Paul connecting “Christ our Passover” with “get rid of the old leaven” and church discipline challenge how evangelicals think about grace, tolerance, and love in the church?

Chuck highlights that the Passover command included “don’t go outside of the house” and that safety was connected to staying under the blood-marked doorway; how do you react to the implied boundary-lines of salvation/protection, and where do modern Christians tend to resist the idea that God’s deliverance comes with specific conditions and warnings? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you feel about the idea that God’s protection has clear boundaries, like staying inside the blood-marked house at Passover? Where do Christians today push back against God giving conditions and warnings?

He says Justin Martyr’s use of the Old Testament “opened my eyes up to the power of the Old Testament in persuading unbelievers,” similar to Acts; what would it look like for you to actually argue for Christ from Old Testament patterns the way Justin did—what fears, skill-gaps, or theological assumptions get exposed when you imagine doing that? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What would it look like for you to persuade someone about Jesus using Old Testament patterns like Justin Martyr did? What fears, missing skills, or beliefs would get in the way?

David Bercot is quoted: “If we are to accurately understand Scripture, we must learn to think as Easterners,” and Chuck adds that Western readers dismiss early Christians as “strange”; when have you been tempted to label apostolic logic as “doesn’t make sense,” and what does that reveal about whether you trust Scripture to set your reasoning patterns rather than the other way around? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When have you read the apostles and thought, “That logic doesn’t make sense”? What does that show about whether you let Scripture shape how you think, or you judge Scripture by your own logic?

Chuck contrasts “Western-style” prophecy (Isaiah 53 spelling things out) with “Eastern-style” prophecy as analogy (Passover lamb details mapping to Christ); which kind of prophecy do you instinctively trust more, and what does your preference suggest about what you think God “should” sound like when He communicates? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Do you trust more direct prophecy (like Isaiah 53) or prophecy by analogy (like Passover pointing to Jesus)? What does your preference say about how you think God should communicate?

Paul argues for paying full-time ministers by quoting “you shall not muzzle the ox,” and argues against being “unequally yoked” by referencing “do not plow with an ox and a donkey”; how do these examples confront the modern tendency to treat Old Testament laws as irrelevant, and what do they imply about God embedding Christian instruction inside seemingly “non-Christian” commands? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do Paul’s uses of “don’t muzzle the ox” and “don’t plow with an ox and a donkey” challenge the idea that Old Testament laws don’t matter? What do they suggest about God hiding Christian lessons inside everyday commands?

Peter says the flood waters were a “type” and baptism is the “antitype…which now saves us,” and Chuck explains antitype like a wax seal impression; how does the blunt phrase “baptism…now saves us” land in your theological framework, and what tensions does it create with common evangelical ways of speaking about faith alone, assurance, and “just a symbol”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you make sense of Peter saying “baptism now saves us”? What problems does that raise for common evangelical talk about faith alone, assurance, and baptism being only a symbol?

Justin Martyr’s readings of Exodus 17 (Moses’ arms held up between two men as a foreshadowing of the cross) and Joshua 2 (Rahab’s scarlet cord as blood-protection like Passover) are presented as “too detailed…too specific” to be accidental; what criteria should a serious Christian use to discern faithful typology from speculation, and how willing are you to let early Christian interpretations challenge your current boundaries for what counts as “biblical”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How can you tell the difference between good typology and people just guessing too much? How open are you to early Christian interpretations stretching what you think counts as truly “biblical”?