Missed a session? Watch the recorded episodes of this series below:
Have you ever tried to read the Bible and given up? Or read a passage and had no idea what you were reading? Have you ever felt confused? Helpless? Dumb?
This series is for anyone who wants to take the Bible seriously. We’re going to give you a set of tools that will help ease some of the difficulties modern people have with reading and interpreting the Bible.
Here’s how it works:
Through both Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, we hope to give you the tools to appreciate your Bible as the extraordinary gift that it is. Both series are open to the public, so bring a friend.
This series is for anyone who wants to take the Bible seriously. We’re going to give you a set of tools that will help ease some of the difficulties modern people have with reading and interpreting the Bible.
Here’s how it works:
- On Sunday mornings, we’ll get an overview of the big picture of the Bible. What are the different sections? When were they written? Who put it together, and which parts are the most important?
- On Wednesday evenings, we’ll get the tools to go in-depth into a small passage of scripture. How do we learn about the author? How do we check the translation? How do we find other relevant passages of scripture? How do we find useful historical background? How do we sift through the enormous quantity of information about any given passage?
Through both Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, we hope to give you the tools to appreciate your Bible as the extraordinary gift that it is. Both series are open to the public, so bring a friend.
Sessions:
August 30: Manuscripts & Translations - Rev. Meredith Mills
Who wrote the Bible? How? When? And how did we get the version we have today? In this opening class, Pastor Meredith will walk us through a brief history of where the Bible comes from and why it matters.
Who wrote the Bible? How? When? And how did we get the version we have today? In this opening class, Pastor Meredith will walk us through a brief history of where the Bible comes from and why it matters.
September 6: Historical
Why is there so much weird stuff in the Bible? How do we learn what it would have meant in its original context? In this class, visiting professor Dr. Tim Brookins will teach us about the world of the Bible, and how to explore the historical context of any given passage.
Why is there so much weird stuff in the Bible? How do we learn what it would have meant in its original context? In this class, visiting professor Dr. Tim Brookins will teach us about the world of the Bible, and how to explore the historical context of any given passage.
September 13: Things to Notice - Keywords/Phrases
How do we read a passage? How do we really dig deep into what it says? In this class, Kaisi Cunningham will walk us through the process of analyzing the keywords and language of a particular passage.
How do we read a passage? How do we really dig deep into what it says? In this class, Kaisi Cunningham will walk us through the process of analyzing the keywords and language of a particular passage.
September 20: Languages & Search Engines
How can we read the Bible if we don’t speak Greek and Hebrew? In this class, Richard Olds will walk us through some basics of biblical language, and introduce us to tools that will help amateurs navigate the much contested world of biblical translation.
September 27: Geographical
Why does it matter where it happened? In this class, visiting professor Dr. Jack Beck will introduce us to the necessity of geography in Biblical interpretation, and teach us the tools we need to place any given passage on a map.
October 4: Connecting the Dots & Sharing
So what have we learned? What can we do now? In this final class, we will connect the dots of everything we have learned in previous classes and apply our new tools to a Bible passage.
Upcoming EventsSession 5: Geopgraphical
September 27th at 6:30p Guest Speaker Dr. Jack Beck Westminster United Methodist Church, Houston 
I love building things. I love wild places. And I love adventure. How adventurous? My wife and I built our own airplane so that we could fly to national parks, national forests, and wilderness areas where we love to camp, climb mountains, backpack, and snowshoe.
What may surprise you is that this outdoor, adventure junkie spent enough time indoors to earn a few advanced degrees. I have an M. Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. (Hebrew and Old Testament from Trinity International University). For sixteen years, I taught courses in Hebrew and Old Testament at various colleges and universities in the United States. But today my classroom is the outdoors. I spend part of each year teaching field study classes in Israel for Jerusalem University College. As I have traveled and met people from all over the world, I’ve noticed how powerfully place influences people. Who we are, how we think, and how we most naturally communicate are powerfully influenced by the places from which we come. Take me for example. I grew up in the Midwest and sound every bit as Midwestern as I am. The same is true of those who wrote the Bible. They don’t speak like they are from around here, because they are not. But they sounded local to their family members and friends who lived where they did. Here is where it gets interesting. When the Holy Spirit moved the thoughts of God into writing using these individuals, they wrote in much the same way they thought and spoke. The geographical references, experiences, and forms of expression that peppered their day-to-day speaking appear within the pages of our Bible. You may not have thought about this before, but part of what the Lord is anxious to say in his Word, he has said using geography. For nearly three decades, I have tried to connect with the geographical experiences of the biblical authors and poets so that I might better understand how they thought and wrote. I have walked hundreds of miles where they walked, experienced the weather they knew, and listened to the sounds that filled their days. A little of me is now “from there.” Because of that, I read the Bible differently. I experienced what I call a geographic conversion of my Bible reading. Details that I had missed or ignored leap off the page, offering new and exciting insights into old and familiar passages. I am honored to share what I have learned in the books I write and the documentaries in which I appear. My goal is simple. I want to help others make the Bible’s geography meaningful. |
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Join Us for this EventWestminster United Methodist Church in the Parlor
5801 San Felipe St. Houston, TX. 77057 Register here. |