Overview

This 8-week course (meeting 4 times) engages the key themes and content of the Old Testament. The course pays special attention to the issues that arise in handling the Old Testament in a way that honors the various genres involved and ultimately centers on the gospel of Jesus Christ. This course also explores the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to teach and preach the Old Testament in ways that are biblically sound and practically effective.

Learners will use Sandra L. Richter’s The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (IVP, 2008) and Tim Keller’s Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (2016).

Intended Competencies Our learning together in community aims to enable learners to:

• Summarize a biblical theology of the Old Testament through the lens of the covenants and explain how those point to Jesus the Messiah.
• Understand how to handle the various genres of the Old Testament in personal study as well as teaching and preaching contexts.
• Explain why we should engage the Old Testament, including understanding some of the challenges and pitfalls that can occur in doing so.
• Develop key strategies and practices for teaching and preaching Scripture well in a variety of ministry contexts.
• Effectively apply what was learned to teach (a lesson, Bible study, youth or children’s lesson, construct a worship service) or preach a sermon based on an Old Testament text or texts that integrates the strategies and practices of the course.