Quail Neighborhood Men's Bible Study - Additional Information

Question: What if I'm not a “good Christian”?

We're going to be talking about God's truth, as revealed in His Word, the Holy Bible. If you are a seeker of the truth you will feel comfortable with us, and we with you, even if you are not currently a church-goer, or even a believer in Jesus. If you have more questions than answers, well, so do we. We invite you to delve into the Word with us, and see what we find.

Question: Must I attend every week?

We don't ask for any commitment at all, except that you respect the group and the work God is trying to do in us and through us. So feel free to attend as often or as infrequently as you wish. We hope, of course, that the group will become so important to you that you will arrange other elements of your schedule so you can usually be with us.

Question: What subject matter will we study?

The Holy Bible, and by that we mean the 66 books recognized as the official canon by most Christian churches. We do not plan to study any of the apocryphal or deuterocanonical books, or any of the other “gospels” that have emerged, or any books about the Bible.

We are going to start with six or eight sessions on the parables of Jesus. After that we will go where the group decides to go, following the lead, we hope, of the Holy Spirit. For each Bible passage we will look at the historical and cultural context, we'll read and discuss the text itself, we'll consider other related Bible passages, we'll talk about life application, and typically bring in some commentary towards the end just for completeness.

Question: What version of the Bible will we use?

Each member of the group will probably have his own favorite version. It doesn't matter, as long as we recognize that (a) a paraphrase is a paraphrase, not a translation; and (b) more recent translations are generally to be preferred, because of the evolution of language and the discovery of additional manuscripts since, for example, King James's day.

If you want a recommendation here are several good translations: The New King James Version (NKJV), The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), The New American Standard Bible (NASB), and The New International Version (NIV). For a good paraphrase, consider the New Living Translation. For our purposes steer clear of condensed or rearranged versions.

Question: Do I have to buy anything?

No. If there are handouts, we'll provide them. If you don't have a Bible, we'll be happy to give you one.

Question: Who are the leaders?

Initially Roland Foster and Al Smith will coordinate and lead the sessions. Both of us have experience and a heartfelt desire to share God's Word with others. Later on we expect that others will assume portions of the responsibility.