We Need Your Feedback — Dr. Bill Mounce

Hi there- these are great points; Head, Heart, and Hands. I like to think that the hands do represent a call to action, but Biblically the concept of blessing falls nicely here too. what would it be like if we were to be a blessing through what we learned that we have got so passionate about? Examples of this could be given on the web pages where application is being sought. Keep up the great work.

Hi Bill,

First of all let me say that Biblical Training.org is an incredible resource and a great learning aide for me.

To improve the learning environment and/or improve the courses themselves, ideally this is what each course would be like for me:

1.  In addition to the lectures, a suggested reading list of textbooks or books...I love that a few have this; Biblical Greek and the Old Testament Survey; I realize that many who take these courses have no interest in learning more by reading or can't afford to buy books or don't have access to those books but still I think it's important.

2.  A lesson outline for each lecture.  I think this is very important.  I love to take notes, mainly because I forget things...a lot!  This gives me an idea of what the overall lecture is about...I think PDF form would be ideal as it gives us the option to print it out or just view on the computer screen.  The outline could also include discussion questions which would give us the opportunity to think about what we've just listened to, and possibly give us some application for the lessons as well. 

3.  A discussion forum within each course or lecture...this would give us the opportunity to not feel like it's just one person here, and develop a fellowship of sorts, much like a "real" classroom, but it gives us the opportunity to ask questions and share answers...I think this would be helpful to the learning and application process...I realize that there is a forum, but the threads are difficult to search and there seem to be no ongoing dialogues...

I guess what I'm saying is that I like to be challenged beyond just listening to some lectures.  I don't feel that just listening to lectures completes the process of learning...at least it doesn't for me.  I've just begun to work through Biblical Greek (I purchased the lectures through Teknia) and the Old Testment Survey...the OT Survey for me, is kind of like starting at the beginning...but I also chose it because there is a textbook and workbook available.  Classes I'd really like to see more done with are exegesis and hermeneutics for instance...

I'm really okay with learning on my own, and I do quite a bit of that anyway.  But what I need is some way to know that what I believe or what I'm learning is right or wrong...in school we're given quizzes and tests...doing it on my own gives me no way of evaluating what I'm learning, or if my application is correct.  It doesn't allow me to interact with other students or an instructor. 

Thank you for allowing us to provide feedback.

God bless...

Anita

Bill, I think what you are attempting is wise.  We have a generation which loves the application without the "do dilligence" of proper interpretation, and that has resulted in flacious beliefs with missed applications.  The approach you are suggesting is vital to Christian life.  I commend your approach and would suggest that every student of the Bible follow the procedure. 

I have used this approach for several years now, and if I might suggest, keep the heart and hand part closely connected to the head section.  Many biblical teahers have a tendency to do the exegesis of a passage and then proceed to manufacture spiritual lessons that do not reflect what the Spirit wants us specifically to learn.  I have been guilty of the same mistake.  Several years after I have so confidently asserted what God wanted me/us to learn spiritually, I wonder why I taught the lessons and where I got it.  It certainly was not in the text.  I have also found that the greater and more powerful appliations come directly from the text and not from my trying to be cute with my applications.

You ask, "how can we help people see that they are only one third of the way through the learning process when they have listened to the lecture?"  May I suggest that you not segment the process, but blend it into the contextual interpretation of the passage.  As the student does a proper interpretation, the spiritual lesson should naturally flow from the text.  Then proceed to discuss ways of implementation into Christian life. 

I'm sure you have already considered the above, but you did ask for suggestions and opinions. 

I think that the idea someone else posted of a forum for each class would be beneficial. Some things are best learned in community.

the forum community can take us deeper and spur us on to putting what we have learned into action.

So far, the most helpful knowledge I've made use of is the lecture by Dan Wallace on the History of the Translation of the English Bible.

I would love to work to a Christian History/Apologetics or Philosophy course certificate, but I'm in the Philippines and paying for it is a challenge - both in terms of getting the funds to do so and sending the funds.

I would love to see more Church history subjects and similar subject matter that deal with history, culture and philosophy that will help in providing the strong counter to the current ideological pushback that Christianity is facing from the secular media and nonthinking enemies of Christianity.

Ever since I started studying apologetics, I've gained a viable worldview that helps me explain the logical side of our faith to those that seek to challenge it, and it most often silences them, as I unpack the history and the logical perspectives of what we believe.

Though most of the people who are determined to be hostile to what we believe are difficult to convince, I find that those listening in and paying attention to the discussion are now more inclined to consider the realities surrounding the message of the Kingdom of God and rethink their life perspectives.

Ultimately, what's transmitted to the head has to be sifted through in order to form a view that makes sense, and when it finally starts to come together, the picture that's formed makes you think about what you can really believe and how you should then live.  I find that happening with my own mathethes that I have continuing conversations with on how we can make the Living God known to the rest of this wounded world with the unique gifts and opportunities that only we have.

I think this all starts with evangelism. Evangelism brings the motivation to disciple others because they are new to the faith. The way BiblicalTraining can help is having lectures dealing with all the practical aspects of one on one evangelism, open air preaching, tracts, and equiping people to have enough knowledge to remove the fear articulating the gospel in a didactic manner to unbelieving souls. Once all this takes place, all the post-evangelism forms of ministry will come into necessity and require further learning. Studying the gospel and evangelism will give people the practical knowledge and experience of the saving power of God and urge them in the "heart" and "hands" steps that you mentioned. 

Bill,

First let me say thanks for what you are doing. Secondly I agree with Anita in that more material is needed.  I for one can't afford the books and sometimes I have nothing to go back on to bring things to memory.  I would like to see more transcripts and study guides made available.  Third, as far as the heart and hands on I find that God speaks to my heart during the lectures by giving me an understanding I never  thought I would have.  I not only have gained a lot of head knowledge but that head knowledge as presented by the instructors I have had has at times convicted me to my inner being.  The lectures make me at times uncomfortable and they make me think by looking at things in a different way.  It is great. They truly convict my heart.   I am becoming a more solid Christian with confidence that I now can impart knowedge to others with confidence.  After that the call to action is from the Holy Spirit, where we have to "work out" our salvation with fear and trembling.  God will lead us and teach us what we need for the path He has chosen for us.  Your program makes that path more understandable.

RWHJR

and the three fold focus is most appropriate. Praying you in.

Hi Bill,

Let me first say that nearly every day as I go through each course and every time our class meets each week, i praise the Lord for sites like yours that make available full seminary level courses like these to persons who would not be able to go or afford theological training at these institutions. I am a student facilitator for a mission minded seminary in Belize(Central America). The school which is based in Miami allows its branches worldwide to select courses not developed by them subject to their approval. Therefore as we have developed our 4-5 year program, i depend heavily on your site as well as Covenant Theological Seminary's Worldwide Class Room for courses.

At this point i must say how intrigued i am with what you've written above. Last Saturday we just began Dr. Ware's Systematic Theology 1 and in his very first lecture made this point which i have been meditating on. "Head, Heart, Hands and Habitat" This is the desire i have for the 11-13 men(including myself) that meet each week for these courses, as Paul says in Corinthians 13(and i'm paraphrasing) what we know now is incomplete and there will come a time when we will know completely and understand things of the Lord completely but the greatest things are faith, Love and Hope of which love is the greatest. Also in Galatians 5:6 Paul tells us that the most important thing is that our "faith is expressed through love", and this is the challenge i face as i lead myself and these men on this journey of theological education.

How does the knowledge of our God move from head knowledge to heart and then Hands? Dr. Ware explains it much better than i can, but in short it is the work of the Spirit taking these realities and impressing them on our hearts. And the primary way that we tap into this power is through prayer. So this is the first and most important thing.  This is really really important because there are some guys in my class that i sometimes wonder if they appreciate this and i think to myself what can i humanly do for them to "get it"? Very similar to preaching, unless the Spirit takes what we say and burns it into the hearts of men they are just words. So i have really started to pray for my class(and myself) as we listen to the lectures during the week and meet up on weekends to go through them.

Secondly i must echo what the user: artlvnanita said in his/her feedback to you. We need to be guided as to how to process this information. I guess not everyone will appreciate this but trust me this is something i personally needed this year. Not having this support has forced me to grow and think through the course and how best to help the other students, however, it has really been time consuming and many times i have failed. I am 31 with a young family(a 4yr old boy and 2 yr old daughter) and the time to listen to the lectures before hand, think through these issues and get ready for classes on a weekend is truely a challenge.

Ofcourse i cannot complain, you are making this available to us for free. Please don't think i'm being ungrateful, i really really really appreciate what you guys are doing and trust me you are making an impact in our church way over here in Belize in a way that you can't even imagine.

 I will give you a practical example.  This year we planned to do 4 courses. We have done Hermeneutics, OT Survey and now we are doing Systematic theology 1(Aug 4- sept 22) and will do part two( Oct 13 - Dec 1). For each course i try to get resources to enhance the course, to somehow move from head knowledge to the heart and then to the Hand, but this has been a struggle. Getting class work, essay questions, relevant books, discussion topics etc has been a challenge. These courses are an extension of the lecturers themselves, and my greatest challenge is to tap into their minds and try to extract heart and actions they want to convey. These things come across in class work, discussion topics, and assigned readings etc. Thankfully Hermeneutics had that in the text book, for the OT SURVEY there was a link to Dr.Stuart's Seminary and i found some stuff, but with OT SURVEY the class was really ignorant to the Old Testament so we desperately needed the Head knowledge, because the class just did not know. As we do other courses we can build on that OT Survey knowledge. However as i was putting together the resources for Systematic theology there was nothing. I have had discussions with Ed Taylor about this and he said the policy of BiblicalTraining is for us the users not to contact the lecturers directly(i think that is what he told me) so i have really struggled in putting together Systematic Theology which is pretty heavy stuff. Again i understand why we shouldn't contact them directly, we are not attending the seminary and paying for this stuff. However it was really a struggle to just select a Systematic Theology text book. Thankfully i have had some theological training before so i know general stuff to look for but even then i had to contact older men who i know and can lean on for help and guidance but i dont even know if i chose the right text, because everyone told me 3-4 different books. In a case like this i would have loved to know what Dr.Ware would've recommended.

Next January, God's willing, we will be doing Christ Centered Preaching, Thankfully this course is available on Covenant Theological Seminary's site. And the resources available via PDF for this course and the others they make avaialable are excellent. Dr. Chapell does an excellent Job of bringing across the matters of the head to the heart and then to the hands. (i have only listened to the first 2-3 lectures in preparation for next year) He really does walk you through everything and all this is made available via PDF for each class. I just told my class last week saturday that next January when we do the preaching course everything is done for us, and the lectures will work very closely with our text and i think it will be a really good experience.

In short what i think you guys need to do is one of two things. A) When you choose the lectures to post try as best as possible to get the details from the Lecturers themselves. Try as best as possible  to get from them what they want to impact to the heart and hands, like Bryan Chapell's preaching course. It is really good because literally all i have to do is print out the the class notes and follow and i really do feel i am being guided by him.

OR

Having already posted so many of these lectures you may not be able to get that feedback from the lecturers again, like in the case of Dr. Roland Nash. In this case someone from biblicaltraining.org will have to go through the courses and prayerfully think through these issues and present each course as fully as possible so that the learning experience will not only be about the head but will impact the heart and hands of your students. And this is not an easy task as i have found out this year. I have a full time Job, and already mentioned my young family but by God's grace our class has been wonderful. Infact my wife has been intrigued with our classes so much that she will be auditing Systematic Theology over the next 7 weeks.

Thanks again for everything and may the Lord continue to use your site to enrich his people around the world.

Dwayne Scott

Belize

I just wanted to say I have enjoyed this site very much. Thank you all for the work that has been put into this site.   I feel that recently I do better reading the material instead of listening to it. Could the lectures be available in text. I feel that this would allow me to take more in and meditate on it. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts.

Ken

First I want to say I have found the teaching to be very good and also practical. The fact that you used the phrase "different image" is a good way of thinking about the end result. When I finish a course or Bible study I want to picture myself humbly at the feet of Christ amazed at Who He Is as a result of that study.  I would like to see a format that incorporates all you have addressed with the overarching principle that we are not gaining the knowledge for knowledge sake but for the purpose of knowing Christ. All teaching should point us to Christ. The Saducees and Pharisees could not see the true Messiah because their eyes were blinded by what they saw based on their knowledge. I know that I am speaking in philosophical terms but lets face it I cannot help anyone with just knowledge. I must be able to point them to Christ both believer and nonbeliever. I don't mean to say we don't need knowledge but I do mean to say we need to picture the result of our study not as having knowledge to simply impart to others. Rather we need to see our study and knowledge as a means to allow them to see the true Messiah. We are saved but once yet we need the Savior every day of our lives. If I cannot see myself as needy then I cannot help anyone else see their need for Chritst. 

Just post John Coe's Spiritual Formation lectures on the landing page! Well, maybe not. But those had a huge impact on my spiritual life. I like the approach of spiritual theology, head and heart.

What about offering deeper pastoral and spiritual reflections on each course? After each course in the curriculum there could be a lesson or two that reflect on how the subject of the course impacts our life with God. 

I guess I would suggest that in general, Hands precedes Heart. I know that you reject that in the paragraph on Heart. But you also cite Dallas Willard, so I know the spiritual disciplines are not far from your thinking.

My personal disposition is to reflect ad nauseam, but if I were to leave at that, I would be a poorer disciple. Actually trying to obey Christ's teachings has been more instructive to me that what I hear in books and lectures. This is at least part of the point of the end of Matthew 7, right?

These things can be expressed more or less technically. Critical realist philosophers like Michael Polanyi emphasis knowing as a personal activity. Or, George MacDonald emphasizes simply doing the will of God -- a powerful testimony from such a contemplative person.

I think this is a great resource, and I thank you for the opportunity to learn.

Like said before I do think that quizzes and tests or even only a sheet with personal questions about what is being learned could be added to the courses to help us reflect on what we learned and how it applies to our lives.

Thank you.

First of all, thank you for all the hard work you and your staff are putting in this project. It really is a blessing and it's very much appreciated.

Building on what Anita has written in her comment, I would suggest that:

1. At the end of each lecture there are questions which regard all three points of the structure - Head, Heart and Hands. It should be possible to answer these questions online and also get feedback from biblicaltraining.org on the answers. It would be ideal if this was all on the same page as the lecture. By default, each user should only see his/her answers with their relative feedback from the administrators.
2. After someone has written his/her answer, it should be possible to read other people's answers in a forum-like structure, which includes both answers and feedback from biblicaltraining.org on those answers.
3. It should be possible to have a rating system for the answers which gives the possibility to both users and administrators to rate answers distinguishably.
4. It should be possible to easily switch between the forum structure (2) and the personal area (1).
5. It would be nice to have a reading list of books related to the lecture with corresponding buying links on Amazon, or other (this could be a revenue for your website if you create partnerships with these e-commerce websites).
6. It would be nice to have a dedicated section on the same page as the lecture where there is more in-depth information on linguistic complicacies related to the lecture. This section should include passages from the original manuscript text and the way in which the main translations have interpreted them.
7. It would also be nice to have a dedicated section on historical information related to the lecture.

You may now guess what my profession is. :)

I hope this is helpful.

Blessings.

Erion

I was intorduced to your teachings in koine greek and methodology in 2010 by H. Goulet. My oringinal quest was to become proficient with my lexicon. "Oh my, I didn't know how clueless I was!!"  By the Grace of God I'm treading through Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics at the moment and still memorizing vocabulary from your lesson plans.

Despite my subtle gains in knowledge, The Holy Spirit had to compell me to go higher.   Education is essential but you must place emphasis on His Work in the believer in order to be effective.

B. Taylor

MSI Student

For heart...

Maybe have each lesson include a verse or passage that sort of summarizes the topic. Memorization always helps me reflect and causes my heart to worship. You could also have reflection question. Not just more questions like the quiz, but ones that ask how you feel about this or that. (like Grudem's Systematic Theology)

For hands...

Reflection question asking how you could put this or that to work in your everyday life. Or offer suggestions on how we can put it to work in everyday life. Or If its a difficult topic, ask how would you communicate that in laymens terms.

Thank you for the wonderful resources! It's been a huge blessing! Im a graphic designer and I do some action script 3, if I can be a help to this ministry please let me know.

It is interesting that the first post reflected more of a 'head' response whereas the other main one reflected a relational viewpoint as to  where and by whom understanding was to be delivered. In the U.K there is an extreme polarity with some churches running good teaching and discipleship modules others doing either or or neither. I totally concur with the first post regards the more academic approach. In order to develop teaching within a church we require pastors and laity to be educated biblically, with regards to their knowedge (and methodology) of scripture and fundamental doctrines, but also if the tools for the transmission of this received knowledge are insufficient these need to be adressed.

As a teacher and one who has received a theological training I would like to see all of the points the first respondent indicated and the fundamentals of how this training can be developed in a relational process.

Something along the lines of how to set up dicipleship or mentoring in a church situation and individual 1:1 work to include teaching, and extend biblical training into the worldview situation we are faced with both within the church and in response to the surrounding cultural ethos.

I use your site extensivley to develop my apologetic stance and to refelct on biblical passages in mine own devotional time.

Many thanks

Jan

That such clear orthodox teaching is available to so many is a note-worthy accomplishment. . . truth is sorely needed when both good and faulty teaching is so  readily available online. But the question you raised is a good one, and your concern for practical knowledge is well founded.

Even when the teaching is true, there are limits to a website as a way forward to practical knowledge and experience. Much of the American church is awash with good teaching that has had little value when the reality of the church here is really weighed against what the Lord intends for His people. There must be a place for the Spirit not only to enlighten but to guide believers into truth and Christlikeness.

Believe that what would be of real service is not a class about these things, but repeated disclaimers that what is found here is not enough and to point them to the spiritual necessity of following Jesus with the truths that they have studied here.  On your end, editorially, this could be helped if each course in vital ways is connected to Christ.

Thanks again for this website and all the good teaching it contains, as well as the teachers who bring it.

I use the same questions each time. 

Hi Bill,

My method:  During my daily Bible reading, I have a journal open.  I write things in it.  Recently, I started doing the same thing when I listen to a lecture provided by BTI.  I have many friends who say things like "I can't journal."  Maybe they are right, but I found that it was a tool that I learned to use over time.  The method was pretty easy.  I had a short list of questions that I would attempt to answer from the passage or lecture.  I use the same questions each time.    Simple questions, like "Where is Jesus in that passage" or "Where is a need for a savior" in what I just heard or read. "How does that apply to me," or "How can I apply that to my life," and "Do I REALLY believe that in my heart?  if so, why and if not, why not."  There are many others, and the list has changed a lot over the years as I have grown in my walk.  The point is that although simply reading or listening has value, things often move too fast to really internalize what God is sharing with me through the lecture/passage.  Also, If I wait until I finish, I miss a lot.

My Suggestion:  Could BTI provided some "discussion" questions?  Not necessarily to be discussed so much as given detailed consideration by the student as he listen to a lecture (or reads a passage in the Bible).  These questions would not need to be lecture/subject dependent, but could be if necessary - as might be the case with a purely historical topic.   The questions could be grouped based on an individual's present level of Biblical knowledge and his or her maturity as a Christian.  The student decides where he or she is, then picks the question groups they want to answer - to themselves - in writing.  It is a technique that changes what could easily be a passive process (reading/listening) into an active one, where meditation and internalization of the message must be dealt with. 

I agree with others that the option to build a community through discussion boards is an excellent one, but I wouldn't consider something like this to be a graded or evaluated execrice.  If you do not need to share what you have written, you are more likely to be honest with yourself.  That opens up a fertile place for the Holy Spirit to engage you directly. This method takes the head knowledge, gives us a method to internalize it into our hearts (with His help), and then (hopefully) motivates to act in whatever way is appropriate.

Thanks

Jim

Head, Heart & Hands

From my experience I believe the order of events must be Heart, Head then Hands.

Not all the Head knowledge that can be obtained nor any amount of reflection on that knowledge will bring about the necessary change of Heart that is only brought about by true Spiritual regeneration – you must be born from above.

It is only after the Heart is renewed that the Head (Mind) can be renewed which results in renewed behavior.

The Holy Spirit is the instigator of all renewal whether it be Heart, Head or Hands - we are to simply submit to His renewal process.

‘Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling’ – taken by itself this verse implies that we are to take the initiative in doing ‘works’ and this makes us feel good because it gives us something to boast about, if only in our own minds (Heads) – but the following verse clarifies the matter:

‘For it is God (the Holy Spirit) who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose’ – the initiative ‘to will and to act’ is a direct result of the Holy Spirit ‘working in us’ – if He is leading then we will ‘fulfill His good pleasure’ – but if we are leading then we ought to greatly ‘fear and tremble’.

Is it our responsibility to read or listen to something, analyze the content and then do something with that knowledge? Or ought we to lay ourselves open to the Holy Spirit, allow Him to read us, to analyze us and to do through us His good pleasure.

It is a good thing to want to emulate our LORD and to 'do something' for Him, but Jesus was always in the center of the Father's will for Him and always did what the Father desired Him to do - do you really think that Jesus awoke every morning and read a portion of scripture, analyzed it and then decided what the Father's will was for Him that day, I don't - as I see it, Jesus was in constant communication with the Father through the Spirit and in perfect submission to the will of the Father through the Spirit which resulted in His perfectly doing the Father's will as the Spirit worked through Him - that is the example Jesus set for us to emulate.

If the Holy Spirit isn't working within you then no amount of human endeavor will accomplish His good pleasure.

I understand your idea behind the "Heart" part, but for what I've experienced and also learned from other teaching models is that the more you do things, the more you internalize the truth behind them. Actually, as far as I know, the hebrew learning model is based on actions: you learn until you do.

So my suggestion is that we add a sort of feedback loop between "Heart" and "Hands", like small baby steps to start working towards internalizing the whole truth (as it could take a long time for this). Just the mere excercise of thinking: "how should I start putting this in practice either in my thoughts or in my daily walk?" could ignite the way towards internalizing the truths just learned.

Just my opinion. Thanks for the website. Hugs!

AL

Dr. Mounce,

I happen to be in the market for a new job. One thing that I have noticed about the better online job services is that they include what you might refer to as a timeline. This device shows you what steps in the application process you have completed, which step you are currently on, and what items are still to be completed. An example would be something like this...

Personal Information >>> Resume >>> Experience >>> Education >>> Skills >>> Certifications >>> Review >>> Submit

As you complete each step, it is marked, but you can always go back to edite the contents under that step.

Perhaps you would find a similar approach usefull in further developing your course materials.

Kind regards,

Andy Dickinson

Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Much of what plagues us in the church today is a result of our biblical illiteracy. It is now a foregone conclusion among most religious educators, so this forum is very important. There are, in my opinion, many reasons for this.

1. Disconnected learning - (that may not be the best characterization but here's what I mean). All too often, our periods of learning are unrelated. We hear a series of sermons on Sunday in the Gospel of John, we then go to BSF or BT and study an epistle and then we read the Psalms in our devotional time. In the end, we fail to make any connections between them.

2. Improper groundwork - most lay people have little or no idea what a "genre" is and how we read them differently. This becomes an issue when reading the Bible. We shouldn't treat a paragraph in the epistles the same way we read a paragraph in the narratives. So, a good class in hermeneutics is, not just helpful, but necessary. We have to follow the rules that have been established by those far wiser than us.

3. Disorganized learning - Dallas Willard also asked: "When have you ever seen a church with a plan for learning?" All too often we bounce from one testament to the other with no real regard for the flow of the Bible. The Bible is a story and should be read that way. We wouldn't pick up a favorite novel (story) and read chapter 1 followed by chapter 27, followed by chapter 4, etc. The net result is that we fail to see the "big picture" or metanarrative. We don't interpret the details in light of the grand scheme. As someone above suggested, this can end in all kinds of fanciful interpretations. An example might be the book of Hebrews. How can we effectively understand that book without a proper understanding of Exodus - Deuteronomy with their detailed descriptions of the Law, priesthood and covenants?

4. The tendency in the church today is to minimize knowledge and propositional truth. That's a big mistake and it is also a tacit approval of a post-modern philosophy of education. Understanding and wisdom are predicated upon having the correct details (facts) at hand (in our minds). One of the best ways to increase the potential for Bible retention is to use a wide variety of activities. Simple lecture (the de facto method in the church) just does not do it. This may seem too academic to some but we probably don't learn an OT fact any differently that we learn a fact about American history. Using variety gives us more opportunity to use those facts in ways that actively involves the learner. Multiple activities also provides for repetition. I think this is what is behind Deuteronomy 6 and 11 (talk about the law when sitting around the table, walking down a road, etc.)..

5. As our repertoire of facts increases, we can then discover the interrelatedness of those facts. That's called understanding. A good teacher should always emphasize the larger biblical context. How do, for example, the prophets affirm the Law? How do the gospels relate to the covenants (more to the point, how does Jesus fulfill them?). And, how do the epistles affirm the gospels? Where does the Wisdom literature fit in all of this?

Educators have discovered multiple levels of understanding. Comprehension is different than application, which is different than analysis, etc. In the end, our goal should be to help our learners build their own theology. We are all theologians in some sense but the real question is whether we will be good ones or bad ones.

6. Of course, the fulcrum in all of this is the teacher. A teacher who understands the learning process will have a full quiver of learning activities available, as well as an understanding of his students and how they learn. This kind of teacher will command respect AND encourage faith and action.

7. I find it interesting that Jesus is said to have asked 283 questions in the gospels. I don't know how many of those he went on to answer for his students. Similarly, he also told upwards of 60 parables (depending on how you define a parable), only two of which he interpreted for us. He had to have known that many would get it wrong but he did it anyway. This may give us some indication of how we should teach Bible.

Well, this is somewhat sketchy but hopefully it will be helpful.

Randy

Bill,
Thank you so much for this amazing website!  I first found out about biblicaltraining.org while I was on the tenkia.org website.  I have picked up your text book and am sloooowly going through the book at my own pace (finishing up chapter 12).
I am a daily visitor to this site and am blessed to have a job where I can listen to all of these courses and do my work in the process.
I have completed both Hermeneutics classes ( I loved Dr. Robert Stein’s class), History of the English Bible by Dr. Daniel Wallace (Please more classes from him!!!). 6 hours of Church History but needed a break from that class. I am currently listening to your course on the New Testament and getting ready to start 25. Pastoral Epistles.   This has truly been a blessing and I have learned so much.
Now here are my suggestions and insight.

Awhile back I wanted to delve further into my knowledge and understanding Christianity. I have been a Christian for over 20 years but settled into a humdrum mediocre walk. As I started seeking the Lord and his knowledge a new world was opened up to me. All these new terms were opened up to me: Textual Criticism, Hermeneutics (Exegesis, Eisegesis ),and  Proof texting ; it was a new world and my eyes were opened.  But the more I Learned and am learning the more questions I have.  I have had a chance to speak to my pastor and he is very knowledgeable but we haven’t really had the time to discuss all my questions.
It would be so helpful if you could integrate a forum or comment post section within each lesson. This would allow people to ask questions and those that know to answer.  It would be great if the professors running the class could comment on occasion. 

I also wanted to mention this, I am Pentecostal  and go to an Assembly of God Church,  I have noticed a slant towards Baptist which I’m ok with but it would be great if Biblical Training offered some classes and some insight by some Pentecostal professors as well.
Right now here is the things I am trying to work out in my mind. 
 

As it pertains to Biblical Hermeneutics the classes teach you should never try and interpret a scripture or passage that the author never intended . I understand the pitfalls like being sad and opening up the bible at any spot and put your finger down and it says, “Then he went away and hanged himself.” Or if you’re angry at someone and your finger goes down to “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.” These are extreme cases of misuse of scripture.
 

Now here is something that I have experienced.  Five years ago I was diagnosed with cancer I prayed for healing went through the treatments and God has healed me.  But about a year out I started worrying I thought I felt lumps come back I got really depressed. I opened the bible and kinda did one of those finger things the book opened up to Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  

I received that word and my faith was renewed, nothing was wrong with my health and the cancer didn't return! We eventually had 2 more kids I named one Jeremiah and the other Judah. Judah was our fourth   

The thing is that the Holy Spirit did lead to that but Jeremiah’s letters to the Jews had to do with the Babylonians deporting the Jews to Babylon in 597 BC.  If we only use the text strictly what the author intended we hinder the Holy Spirit to allow the word to speak to us and affect us in a positive way.  I do understand the dangers of eisegisis and proof texting but the experience I had helped me in my walk and there was nothing wrong with it. So it would be nice to have a place to ask questions and talk through questions.

-Joe

I am fairly certain that your in your classroom teaching experience you found students who started college at a later age were more thoughtful, reflective, and asked the best questions. Why would that be? Because the content of a course made more sense to the student with a broader foundation of life experience, employment, and sanctification.

Take, for example, the youthful approach to church music. How can we account for the general failure of the youthful to understand the proper role of music in the church? Lack of the aforementioned broader foundation which is also sometimes called immaturity.

Therefore alblopez is exactly right: 

"for what I've experienced and also learned from other teaching models is that the more you do things, the more you internalize the truth behind them." 

Doing fosters understanding and understanding, doing. Yet understanding is slower to come without adequate knowing.

A weak analogy:  Intake (knowing), compression (doing), ignition (digesting, contemplating, understanding), exhaust and repeat the cycle.