A New Era

Fragment of a commentary on Isaiah, from Qumran.

The World Wide Web has inaugurated a new era in Bible study. Until recently, serious Bible study required you to have two things: a Bible and a collection of scholarly books about the Bible, such as commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, or specialized studies. But these books can be very expensive. In the last twenty years, I (Dan Schrock) have invested over $5,500 in printed Bible study resources. Most Christians will not choose to invest that kind of money in Bible study resources. Church and public libraries sometimes have good resources for Bible study, but the selection is limited and often out of date. As a result, many Christians have been frustrated by their inability to find scholarly resources that will help them understand the Bible.

The Web is changing this. There are now some exceptionally fine materials for Bible study posted on the web. Assuming you have a computer and an Internet Service Provider, you can use these Bible study materials for the price of a local phone call. Reputable materials that were once inaccessible to most people are now freely accessible to most people. You can study the Bible in ways that were once impossible.

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