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The Bible in Depth

October 2008 - February 2009
Exodus: Gateway to the Bible
Leader: Rev William H Stokes

Click here to register on line for this class.

A fourteen week course held on Thursdays at 10:30 am - 12:00 noon or 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm in the Parish Hall.  



This course offers an original way of studying Biblical Theology.  The Book of Exodus will be used as a gateway to the rest of the Bible. As we follow the story of God's redemption of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and the establishment of the covenant relationship at Sinai, we shall be led to reflect on much that Scripture says about God, about human nature and about what God has done for us.  The intention is to help you use the testimony of the Scripture as you reflect on what you believe.

This course uses the commentary-style as a way of studying the message of the whole Bible.  It's structure is provided by the story told in the book of Exodus, for that is the way the biblical author organized what he had to say about God and humanity.  It is a commentary because we shall not stop with what Exodus has to say.  Once we encounter God making promises, for example, we shall then look to see what the rest of the Scripture says about God's promises.

Every section of Exodus will remind us that the themes it introduces occur elsewhere.  It does not contain a unique message, but is part of an ongoing tradition by which Israel, through many centuries, reaffirmed and reapplied what it understood about God.  It is that tradition as a whole that is the Word of God to us.

But the Old Testament record does not in fact represent a completed tradition, for the same themes reappear in the New Testament, often taking on new meaning because of the coming of Jesus Christ.  The unity of Old and New Testaments, amid change and development, will be emphasized as we see how the testimony of Exodus has influenced the lives of believers century after century.

Required Text: Kerygma - 'Exodus: Gateway to the Bible'and a good study Bible - The Oxford Annotated Bible (NRSV) Study Edition is recommended.  Both the work book and the study Bible may be purchased in the Canterbury Bookstore.