Purpose

The purpose of these study materials is to make your Bible study meaningful and fun, exclusively using resources on the Web.

These materials focus on the cultural world of Jesus. First century Palestine was a very different world from ours and its people had very different assumptions than we have. One part of responsible Bible study is to try and understand how the Bible's cultural world differs from the one in which we live. If we fail to do this, we may completely misunderstand what God is trying to say to us through the Bible. As Harry Emerson Fosdick once observed, "Those who take a text and do not get the context are likely to use it as a pretext."

The Olympieum in Athens evokes the dominance of Hellenistic culture in the 1st century.

While originally developed for an adult Sunday school class at Columbus Mennonite Church from December 2000 through February 2001, anyone can use these materials. I welcome suggestions for improvement. E-mail me at danschrock@juno.com.