The Bible is as familiar in Western society as anything in our culture. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't developed a strong opinion one way or the other about Christian scripture. Unfortunately many of us experience the Bible as out of context quotations of individual scriptures and stories.
If any of us are to gain an accurate understanding of the Word of God we will have to make an effort to understand it in its original contextual meaning. Every book of the Bible was written to a specific people of God living in a unique circumstance. If we fail to recognize this we could dilute the Bible's original meaning and message with our current contextual understandings. We need the message of Christ straight, free from any personal, cultural, or historical dilution.
This is the goal of our Bible Study. In this Bible Study we will explore entire books of the Bible one passage at a time. We will strive to appreciate and apply the Bible's original message to our modern lives.
This focus on the contextual understanding of scripture will help us further experience the person and work of Jesus Christ which should be the focus of any Bible study.
Actually reading the Bible should also be the focus of any Bible Study. So we, as much as possible, do not include excerpts from scripture on the pages of our study. We encourage you to follow along with your own Bible or to access one of the many online Bible resources.
So Grab your Bible and join us as we explore scripture one book at a time.
Vernon L. Harper