This excerpt featuring pastor and author Philip Yancey is adapted from the free guide How to Study the Bible, originally published in the Nov.–Dec. 2014 issue of Bible Study Magazine. It is presented as originally published.
In this guide, 12 trusted Christian teachers reveal how they approach their own Bible study.
We often watch TV in isolation—and purely for entertainment. But what if there were a way to use TV to bring people together instead?
Faithlife TV offers an array of small group studies that turn your TV into a tool for facilitating discussions about important topics.
From women’s studies to theological conversations to marriage preparation and more, these five resources will help you connect with family, friends, or a church group. [Read more…]
Reading the Bible regularly can be hard. Sometimes it can feel like it takes too much work to understand what Scripture is really saying. And the last thing you want is for your Bible reading to become stale, or to feel forced.
If Bible study matters to you but you’re struggling to keep going, try some of these techniques.
Here are 15 ways to read the Bible with fresh eyes:
The Bible has a lot to say about orphans. The Hebrew word for orphan is yatom—usually translated fatherless. It describes a child who lacks the protection and provision of a family.
The best modern equivalent for this type of person is a foster child—a child whose parents are either unable or unwilling to care for them.
Let’s see what the Bible has to say about them.
We’ve seen a lot of discussion and debate in recent years on the nature of heaven, hell, and what happens after we die. But these discussions are nothing new. The church has been debating eschatology (the study of last things) ever since the time of Christ, and the Jews before Christ were discussing the same.
Scripture provides many insights about the afterlife. But when theologians combine these insights into a coherent whole, they come to some very different conclusions about what the Bible teaches. The nature and duration of hell is one such example.
In a culture that doesn’t sacrifice animals on altars when we make mistakes, it’s sometimes tough to explain how and why Jesus’ death on the cross atones for our sins. Without a system for understanding sin, sacrifice, and repentance, something doesn’t quite add up.
Sometimes when sharing the gospel we want to cut to the chase—Jesus rose from the dead and offers us eternal life. But to understand the significance of that world-changing event, people have to understand how sin hijacks our relationship with God, and how Jesus’ death restores that relationship.
As Paul highlights the contrast between Adam and Jesus in Romans 5, he communicates powerful truths about sin.
In Confronted by Grace: Meditations of a Theologian, Professor John Webster draws out three ways to define sin using Romans 5, all of which are needed to fully grasp its significance.
Christians believe that God knows everything. But does that mean that he predetermines everything?
Dr. Michael Heiser says no.
In The Unseen Realm, Heiser explores a biblical account of David which suggests that while God has divine foreknowledge of the future, not every event is predestined.
When the events of the Bible take place on the other side of the world, it’s easy to miss the significance of geography. A single verse could transport you miles away, and you might never notice. The books of the Bible deal with real, physical places, and even if we can’t be there, we can still use maps to get our bearings.
Sometimes the right map can help you see Scripture in a whole new way.
Inside every Logos 6 base package, you’ll find unique media designed to help you explore the biblical world. If your church has Proclaim Church Presentation Software, you can share some of your exclusive Logos media with your church. And only one person has to have Logos for your entire team to use this exclusive media in Proclaim.
Here are a few examples of the types of media your entire church can take advantage of when you connect your Logos account to your church’s Proclaim group: