Old Testament Survey - Course Introduction
Hi everyone, and welcome to the Old Testament survey course.
This course gives an overview of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This course is intended to introduce the big picture history and message of the entire Old Testament as well as a survey understanding of the background, organization, content and theological themes of every book of the Old Testament. This course is intended to cover the Old Testament in a systematic, consistent format to aid the student's learning and application of the material. This course attempts to be intellectually significant, without overwhelming with boring details. It is intended to help the student hear the intended message from the Old Testament and how it applies to current life.
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 blessed 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.
Introduction Video:
This is a brief video which introduces the nature of this course, and what you will accomplish through this course.
Click the Thumbnail to watch the video.
Course Description
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.
What you'll Accomplish
Who should take 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.
Course Objectives (Cognitive):
Upon successful completion of this course, each student should be able to:
- Articulate the 'Big-Picture' history of the Old Testament People of God and the overall message of the Old Testament.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of the Old Testament Scriptures and their relevance to life and ministry
- Place the Major OT people, events and books in a general chronology.
- Explain the main message(s), organization, theme(s), and/or character(s) of every OT book.
- Articulate how the Old Testament prepares for the climactic revelation of Jesus Christ.
Course Goals (Mindset):
Upon successful completion of this course, each student should have opportunity to:
- Use the OT as a means to grow in worship, devotion, and Christian character
- Use the foundation from this survey as the basis for continued fruitful study in the Old Testament
- Demonstrate a growing esteem of Jesus and His Holy Word.
How This Course Works
Course Syllabus
Click the following link to access the course syllabus, which gives detailed overview, explanation, instruction, and resources for the entire course.
Introduction to Course Resources & Activities Video
This is a brief video, which describes the course resources and the student activities which make up this course.
Click the icon to watch the video.
Course Textbooks
the following resources are required for this course, and the student is responsible to acquire them for use in this course:
Primary Textbook
The Holy Bible in a literal [formal equivalent] or dynamic equivalent [functional equivalent] translation (a paraphrase, such as The Message or The Voice is not appropriate for this course).
Secondary/Supplemental Textbook
Arnold, Bill T. and Bryan E. Beyer, Encountering the Old Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Books
This textbook may be obtained in a number of different formats, all of which are appropriate for this course:
- 4th Edition - Hardcover, ISBN: 978-1540965806
- 4th Edition - ebook, ISBN: 978-1493445844
- 3rd Edition - Hardcover, ISBN: 9780801031700
- 3rd Edition - ebook, ISBN: 978-1493401918
Course Resources
The following resources are made available to the student as part of this course:
Video Lectures
Each module contains a number of lectures on video. The 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.
Instruction Documents
Each module contains links that open 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.
There are also detailed instruction documents for all of the ongoing activities for every module. These can all be found below in the Course Documents
section.
Supplemental and Reference Documents
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.
Reviews
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.
Quizzes & Discussions
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 group leader chooses.
Course Documents
The following documents (in addition to the syllabus above) are relevant throughout the entire course, and so, they are included on this introduction page to cover the whole class. They are also made available in every module in which they are necessary. You may wish to look them over now, and then review them whenever they are relevant.
Course Schedule
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.
Course Bibliography
Below you will find a document which gives a detailed list of various resources for further study. This is not an exhaustive list, but will give you a head start at some of the resources available.
Timeline Instructions
Below you will find the instruction document for the Timeline assignment which is completed over all seven modules.
Course Activities
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.
Intake of course information -
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.
Interaction with course information -
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.
Application of course information -
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 activity instructions -
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.
How This Website Works
The layout of this website is intended to be fairly self-explanatory. You follow each module, in order, from top to bottom, completing each activity in the order it is given.
In order to keep each page from being too long, requiring the student to scroll forever, much of the material is hidden at first, and the student may click to access the material as it is needed. There are two general types of triggers on this website that will reveal hidden material, demonstrated below.
Links to Documents
Many documents, such as instruction sheets and study guides are embedded into each module. If your browser allows display of pdf documents, these links will open on the same module page, with appropriate buttons to download, print, zoom, etc. those documents as your browser's settings allow. If your browser does not have a resource to read pdf documents, this link will appear different and will either download the documents or open them in a different application. Click the link below to see an example of this type of embedded document and to test your browser's functionality.
Links to Various Activities
Various activities such as quizzes, videos, etc. can be accessed by clicking on the icon such as the one below. Clicking these icons will trigger access to the activity.
Click the Thumbnail to view this Example Activity
There is not an actual activity here. This is just an example to demonstrate the activity triggers you will see on this site. You may click the Close
tab at the upper right to close this example.
Main Navigation Menu
The menu at the top of the page may be used to jump to any module in this course at any time. This menu should be self-explanatory.
Links to the Next Module
At the bottom of each module is a link to the next module. Directly below is an excellent example of this. I pray that you will be able to find your way around this site with no issues and get the most out of this course.
Getting Started
At any time, you can click the menu at the top to jump to any module in this course. Or you can click the button below to begin Module 1. I hope you enjoy, and I pray that you grow in understanding of the Old Testament and devotion to its author.
