Category: Lessons

Condition in Death

• Lesson 8 for the week of May 15 to May 22

Key passages: 1 Corinthians 15:1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 John 11:25, 26 Most Christians believe that when a person dies (s)he goes directly to heaven or hell. Others, including Seventh-day Adventists, believe that there is an unconscious...

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The Restoration of Human Nature

• Lesson 7 for the week of May 8 to May 15

Key passages: Romans 6; 8 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Galatians 5:16-26 Exiled from Eden and at enmity with our Creator, we ask if there is a road back home? Is there a bridge across the great...

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The Fall

• Lesson 6 for the week of May 1 to May 8

Key Passages: Genesis 3:1-24, 4:1-26 Romans 3:9-20; 7:14-8:5 Coaxed by a lying serpent, first Eve and then Adam disobey God. As readers of the story we have barely comprehended the curses directed by God against...

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Origin of Sin

• Lesson 5 for the week of April 24 to May 1

Key Passages: Isaiah 14:12-15 Ezekiel 28:12-19 Revelation 12:7-9 Key Questions: If evil is not an eternal reality, it must have had a beginning. Common Christian teaching points to the origin of evil in the devilís...

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Spirit, Soul, and Body

• Lesson 4 for the week of April 17 to April 24

Key passages: Genesis 2:7 Matthew 10:28 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Like a Swiss pocket knife with attachments for different jobs, a lot of words are versatile enough to be used to convey quite different meanings in...

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Our Social Nature

• Lesson 3 for the week of April 10 to April 17

Key Passages: Genesis 2:18, Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, John 8:29 Key Questions: Did God create the universe because he was lonely? Does every one have a capacity and a need to connect with God? How can this...

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Our Physical Nature

• Lesson 2 for the week of April 3 to April 10

Key Passages: Psalm 8:1-9; 139:13-16 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Key questions: The Biblical story of creation includes a scene where God fashions the first human being out of clay from the ground. The biblical view of...

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Created in the Image of God

• Lesson 1 for the week of March 27 to April 3

Key Passages: Genesis 1:26-31; 2:18-25 Key questions: According to Genesis, the first humans were made by God in or into the image of God. What capacities are included within “the image of God?” What expectations...

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Introduction

• Introduction

ERNEST J. BURSEY Professor of Biblical Studies Dean of the School of Theology at Walla Walla College What does the Bible teach about human potential and the human condition? There are other perspectives besides that...

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Principles of Prophetic Interpretation

• Lesson 10 for the week of February 27 to March 6

Key passages: 2 Pet. 1:19-21 – Prophecy not a matter for private views Isa. 61:1-3 – Good news and vengeance Luke 4:16-21 – Good news without vengeance Daniel – Historical prophetic sequences, culminating in the...

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Guide for the Last Days

• Lesson 9 for the week of February 20 to February 27

Key Passages: Dan. 8:17, 19 – The vision is for the time of the end; cf. Dan. 12:9 (sealed until time of the end) Dan. 7:15-16 – Daniel was terrified by the prophecy and needed...

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Uniqueness of the Gift of Prophecy

• Lesson 8 for the week of February 13 to February 20

Key passages: Joel 2:28-29 – Gift of prophecy in the last days Acts 2:14-21 – New Testament application of Joel Heb. 1:1-3 – Jesus the better revelation 2 Pet. 1:21 – Prophecy is divinely initiated...

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The Bible Its Own Interpreter

• Lesson 7 for the week of February 6 to February 13

Key passages: John 16:13 – Spirit guides into truth Isa. 8:20, KJV – Testing by “the law and the testimony” 1 Cor. 2:9-14 – Unspiritual cannot understand the spiritual 2 Cor. 3:14 – The hardened...

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Languages & Translation of the Bible

• Lesson 6 for the week of January 30 to February 6

Key Passages: Ezek. 3:5 – Hebrew not a difficult language (!) Luke 24:27, 44 – NT references to the OT as Scripture 2 Kings 18:26 – Aramaic vs. Hebrew, a matter of understanding cf. Ezra...

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