Introduction to the Old Testament

A five session course offered as part of the diakonia of the Greater Milwaukee Synod, ELCA.

• St. John Lutheran Church, Brookfield, Wisconsin.
• Saturday mornings, 9:00 A.M. - 12 M.
• 12 September - 10 October, 2009

This course is intended to introduce students to the Old Testament, providing both a survey of its contents and opportunities to learn helpful ways of reading this ancient, but ever-new, collection of writings. Through reading of major blocks of the biblical material, the students will learn the basics of the history of ancient Israel in its encounters with God. Class sessions will provide introductions to the historical environments in which the Old Testament came into being, and to various methods which have been used to understand the meaning of scripture.

• A modern study Bible. List of suggested Bibles.

• Lawrence Boadt. Reading the Old Testament: an introduction. Paulist Press, 1984.
• Jacobson, Diane, Mark Allan Powell, and Stanley N. Olson. Opening the book of faith: Lutheran insights for Bible study. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008.

Class Slides

1. In the beginning
2. Becoming a nation in the promised land
3. Classical prophets (8th century)
4. Reform and fall
5. Rebuilding for the future