Does your church or small group use books or just only the Bible? Our church uses books in discipleship classes but for Sunday school we are going through the gospel of John and a book was mentioned but not required to purchase. In another class they are going through a book that the teacher wrote. So you can conclude that at our church we use both books by human authors and the Bible. At some churches they use only the Bible for discipleship and Sunday school. What about yours?
When I mean books I can mean commentaries, study guide books, or topical books with a theological theme such as the Gospel According to Jesus or Slave.
Adult study classes
Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by evangelist6589, Apr 19, 2017.
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evangelist6589 Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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We use only the Bible to read and discuss, nothing like a study guide. That does not mean that individuals do not use helps, commentaries, etc. as they study.
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blessedwife318 Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
If a class is called Bible Study one would and should expect the Bible to be the primary books being studied. If you want to do a book club and discuss a book that is another thing all together. One of the problems I see in the American Church at large is to much reliance on what other people say the Bible says instead of digging into the Bible themselves.
BTW studying the Bible doesn't mean not having study aids such as a commentary, and Greek, Hebrew Lexicon, but the main book should be the Bible not the other way around. Too often the Bible is treated as the aid to what ever the latest pop Christian books is.
A good test I think is if you can articulate a Biblical argument from the Bible, not what so and so wrote.
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Had a situation where we were told that anyone leading a lesson would use the quarterly lesson book. No one said anything about not using the bible or any other aids; but it was emphatically stated that they didn't want us doing lessons "on our own."
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Baptist Believer Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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Baptist Believer Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
In my experience, this way of teaching is quite rich, and students look forward to each week because they are in the middle of a story or argument, and they want to see how it turns out.
As you would expect, the Bible is front and center in our studies. I provide handouts that I prepare for each lesson that provide handy references and connections to other parts of scripture, with the occasional quote, definitions, maps, and other study aids, but we spend 80% or more of our time working with the text, pulling out the meaning.
I have, from time to time, broken up the longer book studies with shorter, more topical series of lessons designed to make connections between various parts of scripture or deal with topics often not explicitly discussed in church. For instance, in recent years I have taught a series on Genesis 1-11 where we looked at the foundational stories of humanity; also a systematic study of the human body, where we looked at the the nature and character of the human body, from Creation, the Fall, what the Incarnation tells us about the body, the Resurrection and Paul's teaching on our resurrection bodies, and the eternal physical state of humanity; and then a study on God's careful and methodical re-approach to humanity after the Fall, through Abraham, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Babylonian Exile, the Second Temple, the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit, and the Apocalypse and Final Judgement.
While the topical classes are fun to teach because so many people are figuring out how all of their previous knowledge fits together, I think careful verse-by-verse study is a stronger way to make disciples - which is my mission. While I deal in knowledge, I also stress application because head knowledge is useless without faith (action). -
Buckethead Baptist MemberSite Supporter
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Many, many years ago, I became a SS teacher at an Army Chapel. A few weeks into my teaching, the Chaplain wanted to know what material I was using for my 4th grade class. I told him - just my Bible - he insisted that I get SS quarterly - so he ordered some - the kids did not care for it - and prefeed my teaching straight out of the Bible. - So that's what I did - stop using the quarterlys.
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God bless. -
Buckethead Baptist MemberSite Supporter
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evangelist6589 Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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evangelist6589 Well-Known MemberSite Supporter