Bible Study Curriculum
As I write this page my Bible study constituency has changed from people near my own age, with a life of church experience, who love the Bible and know it to varying degrees, to college students. These wonderful young people are from a different generation and culture. They have mixed motives for studying the Bible (taking my classes is a graduation requirement), and they have much less of a life context in which to relate to the Bible. Supporting their learning has made me very humble, and I have learned much from them. Looking at passages I love through their eyes has impacted not only how I think about leading small group Bible study, but has impacted how I view the very passages themselves. I will be sharing these lessons on Monday of the Asilomar conference.
For me, one of the biggest challenges in bringing the Bible alive in the college classroom is that most young people do not have a large enough cache of life experiences to bring to bear upon the stories and characters in a way that would evoke a greater depth and richness from them. But their big hearts, willing minds, and fresh thinking more than make up for what they lack in maturity. Yet, I have come to value those life experiences, small or great, that we all bring to the Bible story. The Bible is really a template to which we bring our lives of faith.
While the Bible is the Book of Life, and its inspired Word our sufficient guide to eternal life, I have come to appreciate that the story each of us brings to the Bible is also hugely significant. This is why studying the Bible in community with others is such a deeply satisfying experience. It really isn’t scholars or creeds or church officials that give life and authority to the Bible. It is our faith that turns the water (the words on the page) into wine (the inspired, living Word).
Yet sometimes our over-familiarity with these stories turns them into ‘stereotyped, borrowed speeches.’ And if that is our experience, so might it be for our children and Sunday School pupils. But I’ve found that listening to other voices around the table of Bible study not only brings the good news alive again, but doing so surfaces challenges to the Bible that force us to engage it at a deeper level – and in that deeper place we begin to find the kind of answers (or at least good questions) that bring transformation.
It is not so much in or on the Bible pages that people will find Jesus, but, as the Apostle Paul tells us, the church (that’s you and me), that we are the living body of Christ. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “Go preach the gospel and if necessary use words.”
The Foundation Stones curriculum is the best “excuse” I know for gathering long time Bible lovers and first time students to study and cherish the Bible together. These workbooks are organized for group study with background material, small group hands-on tasks, and questions about both the Bible text and its application today. Your group can decide on its own pace and how to use the material. We hope you’ll give them a try!
Yours sincerely,
Helen Mathis
Editor, Foundation Stones
Download Order Form: (PDF format)
