Three religious traditions look to Abraham as the "father of faith" in one sense or another: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the New Testament, both James and Paul consider Abraham an important model to Christianity. Since Abraham is such an im...

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Just who was David, king of Israel? Was he good or bad? He is called both a person after God's own heart and a "man of blood."This one-session study examines three important aspects of this key biblical figure. We will look at David as folk hero, fa...

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Inspiration. The word is used in various ways today. "Patrick is such an inspiration to us all." "The artist searched in vain for inspiration in order to paint again." "You will find that book in our `Inspirational' section on the left." "Notre Dame...

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Elijah was a famous prophet we find in the book of 1 Kings. Through the many stories of his attempts to be a loyal prophet of God, we learn something of the role of prophets, the nature of God, and the way God will act in our lives when we risk all ...

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We often hear the names Abraham, David, Moses, and Ruth in sermons and Bible studies. But just what was the importance of these figures whose lives span various books of our Old Testament? "Figures in the Old Testament Study Pack" consists of six on...

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We read the Bible because we believe that God can give meaning and direction to our lives through its words. However, it is no simple task to read and understand the Bible because there are real differences between the biblical context and our conte...

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Many of the verses of Isaiah are familiar to us as beloved passages we read and sing each Christmas and Easter season. But Isaiah is more than just a holiday reading. Isaiah speaks of God's relationship to the prophet, the people, the kings, and the...

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The book of Genesis comes to an end with the conviction that God has been at work in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Genesis 12:1-3 the promise was made that the family of Abraham would be great, that they would be given a land of their o...

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During the time of prosperity prior to the exile (587 BCE), a rigid moralism arose in Israel. The moralists applied the book of Proverbs to the human situation and claimed to teach how to have the good life. It seemed as if they had all the answers....

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Far too often the significance of this Minor Prophet is completely overlooked as people concentrate on the issue of the "great fish." Jonah is no fish story. It is a carefully crafted literary work whose importance for the formation of an adequate t...

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There is no more important human figure in the Old Testament than Moses. He is a person who transcends all the biblical categories that we might suggest. Prophet? Certainly Moses is pictured as a prophet: He is God's spokesman. He declares the word ...

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There are different names for God in our Bibles: LORD, Yahveh, Jehovah, Adonai, Elohim. Which was first? Are they all the same? Which is more personal, and how did the early community of faith understand God's name?This two-session study begins by c...

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Psalms is the most commonly read book of the Hebrew bible and there is much we can learn from studying it. This three-session, adult Bible study on Psalms leads participants through the book, particularly studying how the Psalms were collected and o...

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"Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16). These familiar words are on the lips of a bride addressing he...

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We've all either said or heard the statement "The devil made me do it." While it is usually said in jest, it raises important theological questions: Can Satan compel a person to do anything? Is Satan behind every evil act? What hope does a human bei...

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