Treasures of the Old Testament -- Revealing the Gems Hidden in Scripture (an online class only)

Description:  The Old Testament is the foundation of western culture and the Christian faith.  Yet its teachings are often contradictory -- both within itself and with the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament.  While many still believe that the Old Testament was written by the hand of God (through Moses and the other "writing prophets"), significant and substantial evidence points to the Old Testament being the work of many writers and editors from the tenth century before the common era (900 BCE) through the inter-testamental period (200 BCE to 100 CE).

Does this invalidate the teachings of the Old Testament?  Definitely not.  It was the scriptural authority of Jesus to which he often referred or alluded.  And it is still a valuable tool for our understanding of our relationship with each other and with God.  Yet to interpret the Old Testament literally is to ignore the Semite tradition of those times: a) that accurate history was less important than the message the story was designed to convey and b) that allegory and metaphor were common literary tools.

Treasures of the Old Testament is an interactive, online class, accessible from your home!  It will cover the various major "schools" of authors of the scripture, tracing its development, look at the various types of "lessons" that we get from reading scripture, the process of metaphysical Bible interpretation and then focus on your favorite Old Testament stories. Using metaphysical interpretation, we'll transform the stories of myth and history into narrative that you can apply in your life today.

Class size is limited so get your registration in today!

Scheduled to Begin:  April 22, 2010, 6:30pm MDT

Duration:  4 weeks, one two-hour session each week through May 13

Location: at your computer -- at home, on the road, etc.  We are stepping into this new technology to allow you to engage our several classes from wherever it is convenient for you.

Tuition:  $45

Materials Required:  a PC or Mac with a webcam and broadband internet access. We will use the website www.elluminate.com for our on-line classroom (password and classroom address will be provided each student upon registration). We will also use an on-line Bible and the linked Metaphysical Bible Dictionary (thanks to its developer, Mark Hicks of Austin, TX). A few webcams are available to borrow from the church bookstore. For those not familiar with on-line classrooms, the instructor will provide one-on-one familiarization for each student prior to the first class -- the orientation will be scheduled at the time of registration. We might have students from all over the English-speaking world -- this will be an interesting experience!