Why BibleOnWeb
An article by David Cowan – May 2022
The Bible is essential reading not only for those wanting to mature in their Christian faith but also for those searching for an understanding of Christianity. It claims divine authorship through inspired human writers – in other words, a book that God has caused to be written and wants read and understood by everyone. If this is true, it follows that every effort should be made to “read it for all it is worth”.
The fact that the Bible is ancient literature, written thousands of years ago, is challenging for readers. Most of us have difficulty reading literature written a few hundred years back let alone a few thousand. To better understand its message, amongst other things, it is helpful to have some understanding of: –
- its overall message and where each Bible passage fits within this. Reading it as a series of unrelated books or passages can distort its message.
- the background and context to each of its books. A few essential insights can clear up a lot of misconceptions and help readers grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application for life today.
To illustrate, it would be difficult to make much sense of the “Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah 5 without some understanding of the role that Israel has played in God’s salvation plan. It would also be difficult to appreciate Paul’s comments about the “Law” in Romans 7 without some understanding of the issues being faced by the first century church. There are any number of examples that could be given to illustrate further.
Some might think that understanding the Bible in this way is for those who have theological or Bible College training i.e. for the preacher or teacher but not the average bible reader. However, if the Bible contains a message that God wants us to hear, surely it is meant to be read and comprehended by everyone from the armchair reader to the theological student.
In the latter years of my time on the staff of Bible College SA, courses of systematic study were offered regionally to lay people throughout South Australia. These provided the average church-goer an opportunity to systematically study the Bible and build a framework knowledge of its content and main themes. Some of the feedback from this program spoke of “greater confidence in reading the Bible”, “growing in faith” and “growing in knowledge of Him”.
In creating BibleOnWeb, my goal has been to establish an even more accessible “mini-version” of this program using some of the online resources that are available today. It differs to the Bible College program in that it will not require the same level of commitment, it will not have the academic standing and the classroom will be replaced by a small group. Even so, I hope it might prove to be an attractive option for those who are keen to better understand the Bible’s message but have not had the opportunity to attend a Bible College course.
This has been a retirement project for me. My plan is to try this out with a few discussion groups to see if these goals are achievable. I also hope to explore what is possible through the recent advances in information technology, particularly the availability of the web and other online resources such as video conferencing.