Welcome!
This
site contains the resources for a basic "Bible Survey"
study. The study is organized into 36 sessions.
Each session is designed to be completed in one week.
There are daily Bible study assignments that will probably
take the average person between 40 and 60 minutes to
complete, and a weekly group meeting designed to be completed in approximately 2 to 2.5
hours.
A person can use this material as a guide to individual study, but I would strongly encourage you to attempt to find or organize a small group of people with which to complete this study. There are probably more appropriate resources for individual study available (see for example some of the sites listed on the links page). This study was designed with a group format in mind. Also, studying the Bible in community with other believers can be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding activities of your life. I strongly encourage everyone to become involved in a group Bible study.
The opening session is a general introduction to the Bible. It covers, in summary, the authenticity, origin, and integrity of Holy Scripture. The final session is an introduction to the Spiritual Gifts; a chance for the members of the group to help one another discover the ministry opportunities God has prepared for each of us. The remaining thirty-four sessions contain a survey of the Word of God. From Genesis to the Revelation, we will observe the beauty and majesty of these ancient texts; we will follow the broad sweeping trail of God's mighty plan for our redemption; and we will attempt to wrestle with the implications this plan has for our lives today.
We will come to understand that although the Bible was written by at least 40 different human authors, over a period spanning several thousand years, on several different continents, and in three different languages - every one of the sixty-six books of Holy Scripture speak to us with a single unified and consistent message. The central theme of this message is of course our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Shimmering just beneath the surface on every page of the Old Testament, fully revealed in the New; the Bible is the story of God's loving and merciful plan for your eternity. This course attempts to help people gain an appreciation for the overall scope of Scripture, and to prepare and encourage them to move on into a lifetime of exciting Bible study, mining the limitless depths of God's revelation to us through His Word.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is the primary medium through which the creator of the universe has chosen to reveal Himself. Of course the ultimate revelation of God was provided when He became a human being and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord ("For in Him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily." -Colossians 2:9). But it is through Holy Scripture that we grow in the knowledge of this man, our great God and Savior, who loved us and gave Himself for us.
The Bible contains the solution to every problem in human existence. It is beautiful literature - filled with wildly thrilling adventures, deep profound mysteries, beautiful poetic descriptions of human suffering and triumph, and magnificent, heart-rending hymns of praise and worship. It contains the most awe-inspiring thoughts that can occupy the human mind.
It was written by human authors (at least 40 different people: kings, scholars, philosophers, poets, statesmen, historians, doctors, fishermen, and shepherds). The Bible is 100% the work of human beings. One of the most fascinating things about the Bible is how incredibly human it truly is. In Scripture, we see the full range of human emotion poured out with intense honesty. We see the unmistakable imprint of each author’s distinctively human character stamped on each book. And yet, though so completely human, the Bible is also 100% the work of God. Do you see the strong parallel to our Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself is also 100% human and 100% divine?
The Bible has been miraculously preserved virtually unchanged through these many centuries. People have willingly gone to the stake to be burned so that the Bible might be preserved and translated into languages we can read and understand. The Bible is a letter from God. It is the world's greatest love letter, and it was written personally to you in blood on a Roman cross in Judea.
