Emmaus Institute five-week course starts in January
LINCOLN - The Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies will offer a five-week winter interterm course uniquely designed to familiarize people with the Bible, preparing them to read, study, pray, love, and live the Sacred Scriptures.
All are welcome to register for the course: clergy and Christian faithful — consecrated religious, teachers and catechists, Bible study leaders, dads and moms, missionaries, the curious and inquisitive.
Taught by Catholic convert and Emmaus president, Dr. Vern Steiner, “Opening the Word: Catholics and the Bible” will address five key questions aimed at Bible familiarity. Session 1 is titled, “Can Catholics Be Bible Christians, or Why Should They Be?” The second and third sessions will cover “What Is the Bible, and How Did We Get It?” Session 4 is “Can We Trust the Bible, (and if so) Why Are We Not Bible-Only Christians?” The final session concludes with “What Does the Bible Say, and Why Does It Matter?”
Included are discussions on some of the myths many Catholics and non-Catholics believe about each other and the Bible; why God chose written words as a medium of divine communication; how stories became books and books became collections and collections became Testaments; why Catholic Bibles are bigger than Protestant Bibles, how and why Bible versions vary and which ones are to be preferred; a consideration of those parts of the Bible that are hard to square with modern-day conceptions and objections about reality and morality; and an overview of the whole Bible that Dr. Steiner said is “conveniently memorable.”
“The course will lay the foundations for a second interterm course to be offered one year later,” he explained, “that will focus on questions of biblical interpretation, on how to read and understand the Bible in such a way that we hear the voice of God speaking through its pages.”
“Opening the Word: Catholics and the Bible” will be offered on five consecutive Mondays, 6:30-8:30 p.m., beginning Jan. 9, 2023, and concluding Feb. 6. The course will be recorded for students who wish to take it online. In-person students have free and convenient access to the online recordings.
For registration details, visit www.emmausinstitute.net and click on the course image or title on the homepage.
