online cOURSES

To celebrate the launch of our website which coincides with the beginning of Advent; check out our 24 part Advent Devotional, ‘Thankful in Advent!’

For the 24 days leading up to Christmas day we revisit familiar bible passages as an opportunity to give thanks for the Advent story. Just click below to start the journey…

Prior to 1798, the worlds understanding of Ancient Near Eastern history and culture relied almost solely upon the bible’s historical witness. In a little over two centuries since, our knowledge has increased exponentially. This explosive growth is the result of the relatively new ‘soft science’ of Biblical Archaeology.

In this module we explore how the vital development of this discipline has reframed how we understand the Bible. We examine its development, some of the key players, its limits and how it should and shouldn’t be used in dialogue with the scriptures.

The great story of Jesus is played out in a unique and diverse geographical context. Land is the determining factor in human culture… Settlements, dwellings, fresh water, crops, food, clothing, manufacture,  who and how you worship, who and where you fight, all emerge from the geography.

In this module we unpack how the lands of the Bible dominate and shape the story of the Bible. This course will take your understanding of the text to new levels and elevate your understanding on every page.

For millennia the Levant has been a inter-continental transit corridor. In 332BCE, as Alexander the Great swept through on his way to conquer Egypt, his journey through Israel would forever change the biblical world and impact biblical faith. Every other army that had marched was Eastern in culture; but the Greeks were something entirely different!

In this module we examine the tragic legacy of Greek culture on the Jews,  the fledgling church and the whole of Western Christianity. Warning: this module will challenge your understanding of christianity as we know it…

Although the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. Both Old and New Testaments were written by Hebrew thinkers, referencing the Hebrew God, using the context and conduit of a Hebrew Worldview and Culture. However, in the West we consistently overlook these important details and try to interpret this book through a modern Western lens. In doing so we miss the depth, colour and nuance of what the text is actually saying.

In this module we unpack how the Hebrew worldview works and the perspective necessary to read scripture for what it is.

When Jesus and his followers are described as ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Disciples’ in the Gospels, the authors were not describing a new and novel concept. Rather, they were tapping into the rich and well established religious context of first century Galilee. Exploring this context gives us a rich insight into Jesus’ missing years, recruitment, student goals, learning models and methodologies.

In this module we examine afresh the twenty-first century implications of being called to ‘be’ and ‘make’ disciples. Warning: your spiritual health might be forever changed!

Centuries after the resurrection of Jesus, Jewish Rabbis looked back to the Second Temple period and noticed common methods of understanding and interpreting the Word of God. All of these were used by Jesus and His disciples. This methodology was retrospectively named PaRDeS; a word of Persian origins that means ‘orchard, park or garden’ (hence paradise). We are all the poorer if we come to the Bible and forget it is a Jewish book, written by Jewish authors, revealing a Jewish Messiah.

In this module we teach you how to read and interpret this literary ‘paradise’ to bring colour, nuance and depth to your understanding.

In the last 25 years the knowledge base of Ancient Near Eastern Studies has grown exponentially. So much so, that we now know that the Bible is not as unique a document as we had assumed. It holds a common worldview, shares creation & flood stories and references many cultural and spiritual touch-points with the literature of its neighbours. However, unlike the assertions of its neighbours, it is fiercely monotheistic in nature. Could it be that as well as establishing the Hebrew worldview it was written to expose, contend with and demolish the mythology of its neighbours?

In this module we take a journey into the world of comparative religious studies to discover how scripture boldly contends against the gods.

‘The reality is that many of us feel more comfortable with the God of the New Testament than we do with the God of the Old. The classic 2nd Century heresy that flows from this thinking, is Marcionism: the creation of two different Gods for two different testaments. Scripture is clear though ‘The Lord our God is One’. So what do you do with all the ‘nasty bits of the Old Testament without violating the nature of God?

In this module we unpack how to read the ‘nasty bits’ in light of where they sit in the historical arc of the Bible; the genre they are written in and their place in the dynamic, progressive revelation of Jesus Christ.