Bible Studies

I have enjoyed the Bible classes I had in both college and Seminary. As a preacher, I usually had a portion of my sermon devoted to a discussion of the text that formed the basis for the sermon. As a pastor, I had the privilege of leading many classes that studied the Bible, including the Disciple Bible Study that was an important part of the United Methodist Church program at the time.

My interest in the Bible shows up In Lectionary Pondering, as I share my study of the biblical passages for each Sunday of the lectionary.

I have put myself upon a program to read the Old Testament accompanied by an excellent Jewish Study Bible. I plan on writing a book on the Old Testament that will combine my interest in history and theology by placing biblical texts in their historical context and showing how the Old Testament undergoes various theological transformations that open the way for the new revelation of the God of Israel in Jesus of Nazareth and as understood by the New Testament. I plan to explore in a separate book the development of the law in the Old Testament, focusing upon the Ten Commandments, the Book of the Covenant, the Holiness Code, and the Deuteronomic Code. In a separate book, I want to explore early Israel, the Patriarchs, the Mosaic period that produced the Tribal Federation explained in Joshua-Judges-I Samuel 8, and the early monarchy of Saul, David, and Solomon. This period includes the development of the J Document in the Torah, the story of Ruth, the Song of Solomon, and some of the sentence wisdom in Proverbs. In a separate book, I will explore the period in which Assyria is the dominant political, military, and religious power of the region, a time that gave rise to the prophetic community around Elijah and Elisha, the E and P Documents in the Torah, and gave us the writing prophets of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. This was also a time when the sentence wisdom of Proverbs was expanded to include prophetic insights. I will explore in a separate book the period in which Babylon becomes the dominate power in the region, a time that lead to exile, and gives us prophets like Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habbakkuk, Ezekiel, and II Isaiah. This was also a time of putting together the Torah as we now have it, as well as the Deuteronomic History in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. In a separate book, I want to explore the period in which Persia is the dominant power, which will include III Isaiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. In a separate book, I plan to write a book in which the primary power is the Hellenistic culture that arose out of the conquering of the regious by Alexander the Great, which include most of Daniel and several of the books of Apocrapha.

I plan a book on Jesus of Nazareth.

I plan a book on the Pauline writings.

I plan a book on Revelation.