Zoom | December 4, 11, and 18 | 7:30 pm Eastern | 3 Sessions

The Gospel of Luke offers our most extensive biblical look at the anticipation of Jesus’s advent. Through angel visits, the enthusiastic response of faithful women, the lowly circumstances of the birth, and the earliest days of the incarnation, the Gospel trumpets the significance and shape of God’s appearing among us in Bethlehem. Join the Rev. Dr. Allen Hilton for a three-week engagement with all this wonder.

The Book of Revelation is a strange book, full of conflicting timelines, bizarre images, and coded language. This course will look at the many different ways to read and interpret this ancient text by analyzing its historical and literary context and exploring the many different ways people have used the book.

The 6 sessions will occur on September 16, 23, 30, and October 7, 14, and 21 at 7:30 pm Eastern on Zoom.

Register at https://tinyurl.com/mtb8n3kv.

We’ve reached a moment in history when the world needs Jesus-followers to be ONE Body. As social ties fray and break around politics and other divisive forces, as loneliness becomes epidemic, we do well to hear and heed the apostle Paul’s prescriptions for the divided Corinthian church. Among Paul’s letters, 1 Corinthians gives us the clearest picture of daily life in a first-century church. In it, we may just see ourselves — and our way forward as Christ’s body. Join Rev. Dr. Allen Hilton as he opens this fascinating epistle with us.

The 8 sessions will occur on January 13, 20, 27, February 3, 10, 17, 24, and March 3. After attending all 8 sessions, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.

Register once for all 8 sessions at 1 Corinthians in the First and 21st Centuries Bible Study

Advent comes wonderfully but relentlessly every year, and the task of preaching and programming and participating freshly in the annual observance, with its sometimes-threadbare traditions, can be a challenge.

This Advent, join Rev. Dr. Allen Hilton as we have some faithful fun with the annual pageant. Every year, kids don the costumes, parents and grandparents and godparents capture video on their cell phones, but what do we actually know about the characters in this drama? In this study, we’ll spend the four Thursday evenings of Advent diving deeper into the stories behind the cast, using descriptions from their ancient social world to build a historically-based character profile for each part.

Nov 30 — The Big Shots (Augustus Caesar, Quirinius, Herod, and the Magi)

Dec 7 — The Heavenly Host (Unnamed in Matthew, Gabriel in Luke, Host of Heaven in Luke)

Dec 14 — The Lovely and Lowly (Shepherds, Innkeeper, and Animals)

Dec 21 — The Adorable Couple (Mary and Joseph)

The four sessions will occur on November 30, December 7, 14, and 21. After attending all four sessions, participants will receive a Certificate of Participation.

The Hebrew Bible contains three books that are concerned with "wisdom" as their primary object. These are the books of Proverbs, Job, and Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes). These books are remarkable for the fact that they never mention Israel and are concerned with humanity at large. Two other wisdom books are included in the Catholic canon and the Protestant Apocrypha. These are the books of Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon. These books do concern themselves with Israel, but retain the typical wisdom focus on humanity as such. This series will examine the question "what is wisdom" and consider the distinctive contribution of these books to the biblical tradition.

The six sessions will occur on September 25, October, 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30. After attending all six sessions, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.

Register at: Biblical Wisdom: An Online Bible Study

    I just went through the Psalms course and wanted to discuss the contradiction of what I’ve been taught which was that Psalms are meant for instruction but also not all the time because of the deep emotions of anger that are expressed. How can we differentiate between the two?

Thanks

One-stop shopping is a 21st-century westerner’s dream: efficiency in a time-crunched culture. Are you looking for a single Bible book that opens the entire endeavor of being Christian? Try the apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. The whole history of theology has been played out in its pages. In it Paul engages the human predicament, the gracious and just divine response to it, the shape of God’s grace as it enters an individual life and then a Christian community… The list could go on and on. We even get a glimpse of Paul’s contact list. Join Dr. Allen Hilton this January and February as we gather for eight Zoom sessions reading Romans closely and well — both for our deeper understanding of Paul’s good news, and for our more faithful practice of it. This study is designed for Bible readers of all levels. Hilton will appreciate but not presuppose prior knowledge of or expertise with the text. So come open the letter with us!

The eight sessions will occur on January 11, 18, 25, February 1, 8, 15, 22, and March 1. After attending all eight sessions, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.

Register at: Epistle to the Romans: An Online Bible Study

The last three books of the Pentateuch - Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - are among the most challenging in the Bible. From obscure rituals to the narratives of Israel in the wilderness, from the law against homosexuality to the golden rule, from Mount Sinai to the border of Canaan, these books span a wide range of genres, contents, locations, and theological positions. In these six sessions, we will make our way through this maze of material, and see how the most challenging material can also be the most rewarding.

The six sessions will occur on September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, and 20. After attending all six sessions, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.

Register at: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy: An Online Bible Study