FOUNDATIONS
What's In the Bible?
Lesson 2 - Old Testament Overview (part 1): Creation to Exodus
Lesson 3 - Old Testament Overview (part 2): Israel's Kingdom(s)
OT map - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
OT map - Kingdom of David & Solomon
OT map - Kingdoms of Israel & Judah
OT map - Babylonian Empire & Exile
Going Further
The best starting point for knowing the Bible is seeing the big picture of the big story. The following resources provide an overview of the grand narrative of the Bible as a whole.
The Bible Project videos
What Is the Bible? (5 min.)
The Story of the Bible (5 min.)
Overview of the Old Testament (12 min.)
Overview of the New Testament (8 min.)
Vaughn Roberts, "God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible"
Nine short videos (about 10 min. each) from his book by the same title. You can download an outline of each talk, and you don’t need to read the book in order to benefit from the videos.
Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story, 3rd ed. (Baker, 2024)
This is one of the very best introductions to the content of the Bible. A shorter version of this book for study groups has been published as The True Story of the Whole World (Brazos, 2020).
How to Study the Bible
Going Further
Searchable Online Bibles for Finding Books, Words, or Phrases
ESV or NASB translations
Good cross-references for related Bible texts (click the superscript letters)
ESV Study Bible and several others available with annual subscription
Several dozen different English translation available here
Video Guides about Bible Books, Literary Types, Themes, Words
See especially the video collections “How to Read the Bible,” “Old Testament Overviews” and “New Testament Overviews”
"Eight Questions to Ask Every Time You Open Your Bible" (44 min.)
An introduction to asking the right questions to understand the Bible.
An 11-session course on interpreting the Bible
Study Bibles
These works offer helpful essays on the sections of the Bible, short introductions to each book of the Bible, and study notes at the bottom of each page that explain the literary, historical, and theological aspects of each passage in the Bible as well as maps, illustrations, charts, and timelines that make the Bible come alive.
Books about Bible Study Methods
Matthew Harmon, Asking the Right Questions: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Applying the Bible (Crossway, 2017)
Daniel Doriani, Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible, rev. ed.
(P & R, 2022)
Key Christian Beliefs
Going Further
Video Classes
Scott Swain, “Basics of Systematic Theology”
This set of video lectures by Reformed theologian Scott Swain taught at First Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Orlando. Swain covers the doctrines of God, the person and work of Jesus, salvation, and the church.
D. A. Carson, “The God Who Is There”
In this basic introduction to faith, D. A. Carson walks through the big story of Scripture, explaining key biblical texts from each major turning point of the Bible’s grand narrative and what they reveal about God.
Books
Jon Nielson, Knowing God’s Truth (Crossway, 2023)
In one of the simplest introductions to the core beliefs of the Christian faith, Presbyterian pastor Jon Nielson explains the Bible’s primary teachings about God, humanity, Jesus, salvation, the church, and life after death. A companion video series and workbook are also available to reinforce and deepen one’s understanding of the book.
J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Tyndale, 2001)
A classic summary of the core beliefs of the Christian faith. Packer is a master of clarity, and his book covers dozens of concepts in very accessible bite-sized chapters that are just 3-4 pages each.
William Edgar, Truth in All Its Glory (P & R, 2004)
In addition to providing a concise explanations of major Christian beliefs, Edgar’s book also presents a brief history of the Reformed church tradition from the 16th century to the present.
Creeds & Confessions of Faith
Here is a link to 12 talks on the ancient creed from the 4th century that is the most universally accepted summary of the core beliefs of the Christian faith.
Here is a link to 6 talks on the ancient creed that summarizes the core beliefs of the Christian faith. The course is available on audio or video with written transcripts
Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) & the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC)
These documents are confessions of faith that serve as doctrinal standards for Presbyterian churches. The WCF linked here is the modern English version officially adopted by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), the denomination of Central Presbyterian Church. (For the original 17th-century English version, see here.)
A modern confession of faith adopted by the Christian Reformed Church. It not only affirms classic, historic doctrines but also includes fuller sections on questions and topics related to the church’s mission that have received more attention in past century.
A Reforming Catholic Confession
A “Mere Protestant” Statement of Faith affirming the important doctrines that unite Protestants across the diversity of their different denominations and traditions.
Personal Worship & Growth
Lesson 1 - Intro to Personal Worship
Lesson 2 - Praying from Scripture
Lesson 3 - Biblical Models of Prayer: Psalms & the Lord's Prayer
Lesson 4 - Worship "Face-to-Face" and "Side-by-Side"
Lesson 5 - Forming a Spiritual Growth Plan
Lesson 6 - Growth in Community
Going Further
Prayer
Paul Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (NavPress, 2017)
A great starting point to learn the foundations of practicing the presence of God. Miller’s numerous anecdotes illustrate the highly personal quality of relationship and ongoing conversation with God that is appropriate and available to sons and daughters of God.
Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (Dutton, 2014)
Keller covers all aspects of biblical teaching about prayer, the experience of prayer, and the practice of prayer, with helpful lessons from famous writings about prayer in church history.
Praying from Scripture
Donald Whitney, Praying the Bible (Crossway, 2015)
A simple guide for learning to pray from the Bible is this very short book. With specific, practical examples, Whitney shows how any text in the Bible can become a guide and prompt for all types of prayer.
Martin Luther, “A Simple Way to Pray”
Luther, the professor who pioneered the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, wrote this short article for his barber, who asked him how he should pray. Luther offers extended examples of the prayers he prayed for his own life and times from the 10 Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. Luther offers examples of how the same text can prompt several different categories of prayer.
Worship "Face-to-Face" (times set aside for worship)
Central Presbyterian Church offers a daily prayer guide each week with short orders of worship for morning and evening prayer, emailed Monday through Friday. Central’s guide unites public worship on Sunday to daily prayer so that worship from Sunday echoes and deepens through the week. The structure follows roughly the same order as corporate worship:
Call to worship
Hymn/song
Confessing our sin and receiving God’s forgiveness
Hearing God’s instruction from his word (with Psalms and other readings)
Praying our petitions for the church and the world
Being sent with God’s blessing
The call to worship, songs, and confession of sin come directly from Central's Sunday liturgy. Other written prayers and the scripture readings correlate with the main themes of the Sunday sermon in order to amplify its impact with further meditation and prayer. Sign up for the daily email HERE.
Worship "Side-by-Side" (woven throughout one's daily life)
Jan Johnson, Enjoying the Presence of God: Discovering Intimacy with God in the Daily Rhythms of Life (NavPress, 1996)
A great book describing how to weave prayer into all the rhythms and tasks of daily life so that we experience prayer as an ongoing conversation with God throughout our days.
Spiritual Growth Plans
[Audio] Ruth Haley Barton: “A Rule of Life: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation”
Ruth Haley Barton, “A Rule of Life: Cultivating Rhythms for Spiritual Transformation“
An article introducing the general idea of a personal rule of life or spiritual growth plan.
Mike Farley, “Establishing a Spiritual Growth Plan”
Some practical guidelines for writing a personal rule of life or spiritual growth plan.
Mike Farley, "A Template for a Spiritual Growth Plan"
A template to use for setting specific goals for spiritual growth in seven major dimensions of life. These guidelines suggest general categories of action in these severn areas for the purpose of prompting reflection on setting specific goals for action in each dimension of life.
This website organized by Stephen Macchia contains many different creative examples of rules of life prepared by different individuals, which you can see here and here. These examples have varying modes of expression and levels of detail, but they are all useful for stimulating our imagination for different methods of composing our own spiritual growth plans.
Alastair Sterne, Rhythms for Life: Spiritual Practices for Who God Made You to Be (InterVarsity Press, 2020)
A guidebook for understanding our personal story, personality, and roles and then crafting challenging but achievable goals for spiritual growth in many dimensions of life in relationships with God, self, and others.
Justin Earley, The Common Rule: Habits of Virtue for a Life of Purpose (InterVarsity Press, 2019).
An outstanding book on crafting a spiritual growth plan in many dimensions of life.