Introduction

Welcome and thank you for enrolling in the Thursday Night Men’s Bible Study of the Major Bible Themes. While you may not have your textbook yet, I wanted to help you prepare for our time at the first class on September 4th. Let me get you started with your study:

Class Preparation
Study Time
Our Teachers
Our Prayer
Our First Meeting

Class Preparation

The text for our study is Major Bible Themes by Lewis Sperry Chafer and John E. Walvoord.

You can acquire the book from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Major-Bible-Themes-Sperry-Chafer-ebook/dp/B004BA51EK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474861456&sr=1-1&keywords=major+bible+themes), Christian Book Distributors or the DTS Bookstore.

As you will see, Chapter 1 is only five pages long and will take you less than five minutes to read. However, the study of Chapter 1 will require additional work. I would suggest that your time would be spent:

Prayer (variable time): thank God for the work of Chafer and Walvoord and for the opportunity to participate in this study. Pray that the Holy Spirit watch over and guide your study and protect you from Satan’s attacks to undermine your study and learning.
Read the text, Major Bible Themes(< 5 minutes)
Look up and study each cited scripture of the chapter. There are about 44 scripture citations. This activity will take just approximately 90 minutes, depending on study time. Don’t skimp here. Be sure and consider the context of the scripture—what came before and after.
Prepare answers for each of the questions at the end of the chapter. Some of the dozen questions require becoming better acquainted with the text, and some require original thought. This activity should take an hour.

In addition to our text, you will want to have a good Study Bible(s). You will want to check scripture with at least two or sometimes five or six different translations. Your Study Bible’s notes will help you interpret scripture accurately. As well, you may want to equip yourself with some basic texts to support your study. Check the Basic Bible Study References article in the Additional Materials of this website for some basic suggestions.

Study Time

As with other education models, most of what you will learn in this study of Major Bible Themes will occur as you study the text, the scripture and answer the questions in preparation for our class time. Our class will be a review, clarification, and discussion. I should warn you that if you have been away from quiet study time and thoughtful reading for a while—and most of us live in a world that doesn’t tolerate such a luxury—you’ll want to be creative in building protection for your study time or your learning will be compromised.

You will also want to leave time to “chase rabbits”. As facts or questions are identified, you’ll want to take advantage of this class preparation time to research them and extend your learning beyond the text or our class.

Our Teachers

Two outstanding theologians and educators will guide our study. Our text was originally written in 1926 by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary and internationally known Bible teacher and lecturer. He served as a professor of systematic theology at DTS and authored Systematic Theology and many other texts. The text was subsequently revised and updated by John F. Walvoord, President of Dallas Theological Seminary and author of numerous books on eschatology and theology. We will extend the text with materials from other sources (See “Additional Materials” on this website). While the text shows its age from time to time, we will update the language and define terms in your everyday vocabulary. Biblical principles are timeless.

Our Prayer for the Class

As Chafer writes in the Introduction, this study will cover a “limited number of the most vital and practical doctrinal themes.” As a man of God seeking to honor our Lord, this study will take us beyond Sunday sermons and weekly Bible Fellowships. I’m looking forward to our time together. I am praying for you that God will accept what we’re doing as worship and will help us overcome the challenges for study time that we’ll face.

Our First Meeting

We’ll see you Thursday, September 4^th, at 7:00 in Room B247, on the second floor of the Adult Education building, over the Choir Rehearsal Room. If you have any questions, please call or write.

Prayer requests, comments, and questions are encouraged. Use a handwritten note or email phil@philbruce.com.

Phil Bruce
Email: phil@philbruce.com