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Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jonah, Samson, and David. Have you heard of these people? Their stories are part of the Old Testament and are important even today. This study of the Old Testament will help you understand how all the stories found in the Old Testament fit together and what lessons can be applied to your life today. You will walk away with a better understanding of how God graciously reaches out to you, His child, and calls you to Himself just as He did to His people in the Old Testament.
Objectives
- Describe what the Old Testament teaches us about God’s character.
- Understand why the Old Testament books are placed in the order that they are and identify the categories of books contained within the Old Testament.
- Explain the characteristics of each of the categories of books in the Old Testament.
- Identify the four eras (or periods) into which the Old Testament is divided.
- Understand the general narrative flow and major events in Old Testament history.
- Describe the important people in the Old Testament and their contribution to Old Testament history.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the authors of the Old Testament books, their purpose, and the context in which they were writing.
- Know the characteristics of Hebrew poetry and gain a deeper understanding of wisdom literature.
- Understand the context of the Prophets and summarize their collective eternal message.
- Michigan State University, PhD
- Dallas Theological Seminary, ThM
- Philadelphia College of the Bible, BS
Being new to learning the old testament I have found this course extremely helpful, it has explained things in a way that I could understand. I am very impressed with this course.
ChristineI learned a lot from this course and would recommend others to take this for a beginning look into the Old Testament.
TonyaI thought the course was great. The readings from Ray Stedman’s book were good but it was really a lot of reading.
GaryThis is a great course, it takes hard to understand events and puts them in a format that that makes them easier to understand.
RonaldReally a great way of viewing the Old Testament from a more organized and structured perspective, while continually reinforcing the message of a loving God pursuing, nurturing, disciplining, and ultimately redeeming his people in spite of their ups and downs and serial unfaithfulness.
JohnBeautiful and excellent course. Ray Steadman’s readings are awesome and Professor Sid Buzzel makes a good complement of the teaching.
OmarThe best part of the course for me was learning about the Prophetic Books. Now I know how to approach reading them, to whom the prophets were speaking, and the cultural background. I now have a better understanding of them.
LisaExcellent
JosephaWords cannot describe how much I have enjoyed learning about both the New and Old Testaments from Dr. Sid Buzzell. Dr. Buzzell is genuinely an anointed and gifted teacher, biblical scholar, and professor. I have enjoyed this course so much that I will be advancing my studies as I complete a D.Min. program with Liberty University in Pastoral Counseling.
AndreI liked the course and Dr. Buzzell explanations were very understandable.
NormandI find the course very helpful to me to understand the organization of the OT. The course is very well designed and guided through each section with easy. I love to study with both the printed lecture & the recorded sound. They enhanced my understanding of the subject. Very well done! Thank you!
DougI learned a lot with this course. It was practical, informative and I found myself searching out some of the material presented in the course for more information.
KathleenLearned so much about the Old Testament! Great overview!
JenniferI really enjoyed this course and learned a lot!
CoryThis course taught me a lot and was a fun way to learn.
PamI really enjoyed the lectures and the readings assigned in this course.
LisaI had no idea there was so much to learn about the Old Testaments as a whole. I’ve studied Old Testament books individually and have a good understanding of the books, but now looking at all the books as presented in this study, my understanding of each book has new, broader meaning.
RobertSometimes the quiz would ask questions that I hadn’t yet went over in the course. Not a big deal because they weren’t impossible.
SpencerThis course has been very beneficial and has opened my eyes more to the beauty of the Old Testament
TerryI really enjoyed the lectures!
TonyaI’ve studied individual books of the Old Testament before and many times frustrated because I couldn’t make sense of it.
This is my first course with odbu.org and I have finally found sense of it.
I look forward to continuing on to the other courses.
Thank you so much!
Amazing how it stimulates greater interest into getting more acquainted with the scriptures.
SolusI really enjoyed studying the old testament, it’s enlightment to my understanding and insight about this time of history.
DonaldThe course was helpful and value-adding to my Christian walk. It gave me a bigger picture of what is the Old Testament all about. Thank you to ODB Univ team for coming up with such a wonderful and comprehensive course.
Ma. RemediosI really enjoyed this course and loved the extra notes and different formats available for learning i.e. visual and auditory.
KateThis course was very informative. I learned things about the Old Testament that I had not learned before. Dr. Buzzell spoke very clearly. He was easy to listen to. Thank you for offering this.
LoriI am glad I took this course as it has been a good eye-opener for me. I have a better understanding of how to read the Old Testament to make sense and how it is related to present-day life and also the importance of relating it to the New Testament which I will be studying next.
JohnEnjoyed this course. Many Thanks and God Bless.
SchalkThis course opened up new learning for me about the Old Testament. Very well done.
GretaI enjoyed this course. My understanding of the Old Testament has grown tremendously. Thank you!
DannitaOverall, I appreciate the videos, written information, lesson illustrations, and lectures. All of the information given helped me to complete this course successfully.
OdessaThis is the first course of this kind, Bible study, that I’ve ever attempted. I loved it and couldn’t wait to get at the next lesson. I have purchased Ray Stedman’s “Adventuring through the Bible” as I found it wonderfully instructional and just good reading. This course gave me new clarity about the Old Testament’s purpose, structure, authorship and necessity to understand the whole Bible. Up next, New Testament Basics.
RockneDr. Buzzell performed an incredible task in excellent fashion of summarizing the Old Testament ! He took an extremely complex book and broke it into 10 short manageable pieces. I highly recommend this course to individuals, like myself, who have little knowledge of the Bible. I look forward to taking Dr.Buzzell’s course on the New Testament knowing I will acquire a thorough background of knowledge just as I have of the Old Testament. Thank you Dr. Buzzell!
PatrickThis has motivated me to continue with more courses – informative and encouraging the student to keep going. Material is excellent – Thank you for this awesome course that I have just completed
ToniI really enjoyed this course! I’m looking forward to the next course! I liked the charts and other illustrations that were provided for the visual learner. I enjoyed the instructor as well. This was an EXCELLENT foundation for further learning. It has encouraged me to read more of the Bible and now I have a nice mental background while I’m reading.
VickiOutstanding course, thank you!
AnggaraGreat lessons and information. The professor explains everything in detail and in an easy to understand manner. It is also entertaining along with the images, charts, and diagrams. I am really enjoying the coursework.
DavidThis was GREAT! I love how the questions in the quizzes made you really have to interpret and understand the content. It was not simply just fact recall!!
CarleeI liked the organization of the scriptures and lessons. It was very efficient and helped me a lot. I was doing my own study in the Old Testament and this lined up to what I needed. I very much appreciate the studies.
BrendaThe lessons are easy to understand and make me more hungry for God’s words.
FlorencioI have studied the Bible for over 40 years and yet found the insights and structure led me to new understandings. An excellent course as a refresher.
WesI am very pleased with this course and it’s content. I enjoyed Dr. Buzzell’s class instructions.
The course has blessed me richly and I want to continue on with the New Testament section as well as more Old Testament courses.
I feel the course was helping understand from an overview perspective on how the Old Testament was constructed and pieced together in a manner that helped make better sense of it, allowing me to follow where everything ties together even though it is not organized as each book leading to the next.
RichardInformation covered logically and very thoroughly.
CecilIt was very interesting how books fit together and not necessarily in the manner they are listed in the Bible. This method of arranging books gave a much wider understanding of the Old Testament.
AileenExcellent way to learn and grow.
AaronI thought this was very good and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about God and the Bible.
WilliamThis course is valuable to Bible students at any level because it has insights that will assist the student in future study of the Old Testament. I have been a Bible student most of my adult life but learned new and exciting things during this class.
RichardA big thank you. I was able to understand Old Testament and it will help me a lot in my readings. More blessings!
Gemma