Hi everyone, and welcome to the Old Testament survey course. The official description of this course is: An overview of the Old Testament, highlighting its organization, overall themes, historical context, and major events, as well as key ideas, events, people, and message of each Biblical book. I have taught this material at the college level for years. And I'm now making this material available for schools, churches, small groups, and individuals who would like to know God's Word better. I'm fortunate to be able to offer this material without charge, but please don't assume that it is low quality because it is free. This course has been proven in many educational settings, and I have worked hard to make this material beneficial at many levels. Feel free to use this material in any way that honors Christ and advances His kingdom.
Click the icon to watch a brief video, which introduces the nature of this course, and what you will accomplish through this course.
This course is aimed to be useful for a broad spectrum of students. This course is an introductory survey of the Old Testament. Therefore, it is aimed for people with little or no previous knowledge of the Old Testament. However, this course can also be beneficial to those with significant previous exposure. This course is primarily designed to help Christians grow in their faith. But it will also be informative for any person who would like to be better informed about the Christian perspective on the Old Testament. This course will give an overview understanding of what Christians believe about the first part of the Christian Bible. This material was originally taught at the college level, but it is accessible to almost any level, because it is a beginner level course. And this course has been designed to be used by either an individual, or by a group. Therefore, it is appropriate for churches, colleges, schools, small groups, or any group or individual who wishes to understand the Old Testament better.
Upon successful completion of this course, each student should have opportunity to:
Click the icon to watch a brief video, which describes the course resources and the student activities which make up this course.
The following resources are made available to the student as part of this course:
Each module contains a number of lectures on video. These videos cover a portion of the course material. And they also include reviews at the end to summarize the teaching of each section. It is recommended that the student not just passively watch the videos, but actively interact with the course material. Blank lecture notes are included in each module for your benefit. These can all be watched from the course website or, if you prefer, there are links to each video in the Rumble or YouTube interface, in addition to an audio only version for download.
Each module contains links to documents which contain detailed instructions for all the module's activities. There are two different instruction documents in each module. One is for a person who is working through this course on their own, with instructions for individual activities. The other instruction document is for people working through this course in a group setting. And it contains instructions for group activities.
Some modules contain documents which supply supplemental information relevant to the module. And there is a two page summary document for each book of the Old Testament to be used for reference and review. These are contained in the appropriate module for each book.
As mentioned earlier, each video lecture contains summary reviews. The review material for each module is gathered into a slideshow, so that the student can view all the review material for each module in a convenient format.
Each module has a review quiz to review and test the student's understanding and retention of the course material. Most of the questions come from the video Lectures, but the required textbook reading is also fair game for the review quizzes. The questions are objective type questions and are automatically graded. The quiz questions are randomly generated from a larger bank of questions, so that the quiz is different each time. Therefore, the student may profitably take the quiz more than once to see more questions.
And each module has a list of discussion type questions which concentrate on thematic issues and application of course material. If the student is working through this course as an individual, these questions can be used for personal reflection and meditation. If the course is taken in a group setting, these questions are appropriate for group discussion, or possibly for essay questions on an exam, if the course leader chooses.
There are three basic groups of student activities for each module: intake activities, interaction activities, and application activities. In each of the activities, the student should concentrate on gaining knowledge, but also focus on conforming their attitudes and lifestyle to the course material, as they use this course to know the God of the Old Testament.
The intake activities are designed for the student to gain access to and receive relevant information about the course topics. Because of the nature of the Old Testament as revelation from God, it is important that the student start with a listening posture, to receive from the faith delivered once and for all to the saints. There is certainly a time for the student to contribute their insights (in the next two types of activities), but it is important to start with receiving the information. This does not mean the student should be passive in these activities. Rather the student should actively engage with the course material, with a goal to listen and learn.
The interaction activities are designed for the student to thoughtfully process and mull over the information until they thoroughly understand it and have it committed to memory. The student will rehearse the information in a variety of ways and assess how well they have understood and retained the course content.
And finally, the application activities are designed for the student to solidify their understanding by working through the ways that the course information connects with their own life and ministry in current society. The process of learning is not complete until the information is put into practice.
Detailed instructions for all course activities are included in each module in slightly different forms for either individual or group study. See the Student Guide or Group Guide in each module for a description of this module's activities.
This course is divided into seven modules based on the content. Therefore, each module has a different amount of material, and will take a different amount of time. The course is designed so that an individual student can go at their own pace.
In the past, this course has been taught in 12 week and 5 week intensive formats. Below I have included both the 5 and 12 week schedules, as well as an extended week by week schedule in 43 sessions as possible guidelines for groups.
Whether you are working through this course as an individual or as a group, I recommend finding whatever schedule works best for you. And I encourage you to remain faithful to completing this course and growing in your Biblical knowledge and practice.
In the following sections, you will find the layout of a typical course module. Also in these sections, you will find (in the appropriate section) all of the introductory material and explanations for all the assignments as described above.
In this section, you will find a brief introduction to each individual module. This section includes the objectives for each module.
In this section, you will find documents for each course module. These will include instructions for all activities, background material, and any supplementary material for the module.
Below, you will find links to documents which cover the course as a whole.
In this section, you will find the video lectures on all the course material. They are designed to be watched in order, but each video should make sense on its own. Each thumbnail will open a standard embedded web video when clicked. These can be expanded to full screen, or there is a link if you prefer to watch them in the Rumble or YouTube interface. In addition, there is a link to download just the audio for offline review.
Below you will find the two introduction videos for the entire course (which are also available above).
Introduction to the Old Testament Survey Video
