I
must have spent an hour staring cross-eyed at one of those 3-D
pictures, my nose a fraction of an inch from the paper, hurting
my brain, still not seeing anything. This is too tough, and
for what? Everyone else in the group saw the deer in the woods,
or at least said they did. Frankly, I can’t see the woods
for the trees. I am about to fake some show of astonishment
when suddenly I do see the deer ready to leap off the page.
Once I’ve seen it, I wonder how I could have missed it
in the first place. What had looked like random squiggles making
no sense at all was in truth—layer upon layer—a
picture of delicate beauty.
Each decade has had fun with optical illusions meant to trick
our brains into seeing something fresh and new and unexpected.
Do you see an old woman or a young woman? Can you see the face
of Jesus? The trend currently is to create one large picture
that is really a mosaic of many smaller images. I admit I find
this style easier on the eyes and the brain, but it especially
intrigues me to see how the artist tells the subject’s
story by retelling many, many other stories. When you look closely,
each mosaic piece contributes a significant memory, a moment,
a joy, a sorrow. When you step back to look, the light and shadow,
the coloring of those moments are essential to the whole picture.
We have a tendency to approach Bible study on the mosaic level,
forgetting to step back to see how those individual stories
of people and places and events fit together to give us a wonderful
view of the Bible whole. The KERYGMA Program’s classic
study The Bible in Depth by Dr. James A. Walther assures
study groups of an up-close and in-depth discovery of Scripture,
but makes its approach through an examination of ten great themes
running through both Old and New Testaments. Learners become
acquainted with people and stories, but also come to see them
in connection with the larger record of a people of faith. “Aha!”
moments are common even for those long practiced in the study
of Scripture. Seeing the whole picture, sometimes for the first
time, is exciting and astonishing.
Like all Kerygma courses, The Bible in Depth does
not need to be led by an expert in biblical studies. The leader
is intended to be a learner among learners. The author of this
study does, however, assume participants will come with some
degree of familiarity with Scripture. This allows the course
to attain the depth of exploration it promises. For the study
each participant, including the leader, will require a Resource
Book containing the background reading for each session. The
group’s leader will also require a Leader’s Guide
for a variety of excellent study experiences from which she
or he will develop a personalized lesson plan.
We need a course like The Bible in Depth to help
us look at the daunting task of Bible study from another angle.
You are invited to step into the world of Scripture and come
to know by heart all of the stories of faith and promise. Step
back, too, and see all of the narrative and thematic connections
that provide, layer upon layer, the light and shadow of the
Bible’s Big Picture. |
