In my Bible study, I read commentary at the same to understand the context in which the Bible was written and I have learned so much that I never learned in Sunday school and in sermons.
It is fascinating.
And when you add in Heiser and people like Prof. James Kugel ("The Bible As It Was"), the Bible is the most exciting thing ever written.
If I were a youngster today, I would definitely major in Biblical archaeology or something similar.
I agree!
I prefaced the class with this:
I went to the same AG church for 18 years and then had to leave. I came back 15 years later to visit and the same teacher was teaching the same class I attended (about 50 people in the class). The same people I knew back in the day were still attending, still raising their hands and making the same comments they did 15 years before.
Imagine going back to your old high school 15 years after your graduation and visiting your old math teacher and, when you open the door to the class you attended back in the day, half the class is the same people you graduated with, still attending the same class, relearning the same stuff year after year.
And that is what we do in church. I want to change that. There is so much more we can learn. It’s about time we got our toes wet in the MEAT.
After the class they all wanted my notes. I had put together a very elaborate PowerPoint with animations and heavy notes. I sent out in a group email the notes part and a bunch of links to my sources, including Heiser’s site.
We’ll see where it goes next week.
But you are absolutely right. It’s like when I was first saved in 1981. It’s very exciting.