Covenant News

New Seminars Encourage Biblical Literacy

CHICAGO (May 15, 2000) - According to researchers, the Bible is still the most prevalent book in the country, but experts say Christians aren't reading nearly enough to know the basics of the faith.

Many leaders within the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) share that concern. In response, the denomination has launched a new initiative through its Department of Christian Education and Discipleship to help address this need.

Dr. David Nystrom, professor of New Testament and chair of the Department of Biblical and Theological Studies at North Park University, will lead eight Knowing and Living the Word seminars including:

• Jesus and the Gospels
• The Aims of Jesus
• The Gospel of John
• The apostle Paul
• Paul and his community
• Paul's letter to Corinth
• The book of James
• The latter portion of the New Testament, specifically I and II Peter, Hebrews and Revelation.

ECC President Glenn Palmberg has received good reviews of Nystrom's teaching, courtesy of his own children who attended Nystrom's classes at NPU. He and Department of Christian Education and Discipleship executive director Doreen Olson are convinced that congregations will appreciate both the knowledge he imparts and the passion with which he imparts it.

"This (new initiative) addresses a real need in the church, a strong desire to increase one's knowledge of the scriptures," Palmberg said. "Obviously, it's a crucial part of following one's faith in Jesus. And I'm sure churches that take advantage of this opportunity will want to do so again and again," he continued. "David Nystrom is a superb teacher, a very engaging person, and a real joy to get to know," Palmberg said. "I have long known and respected David and have been aware of his gifts for a long time because he was very central to my own kids' experience at North Park."

One of the Covenant's five affirmations is the centrality of scripture, observed Olson, "and I recognize David as someone who embodies biblical literacy. I see him not only as an articulate, gifted teacher of the word, but a committed student of the word itself," she continued. "He has such a gift for making the bible come alive in an everyday, practical sense."

Nystrom prefers not to characterize the seminars as a Biblical Literacy 101 class – he prefers the descriptive term biblical competency instead. Terminology aside, he is aware that "clearly, our culture is becoming less and less versed in biblical knowledge." He hopes his seminars will not only increase knowledge, but will add a practical aspect to the lives of those he is teaching.

"Scripture was intended to be important in life," he said. "They (authors) wrote it because they wanted scripture to connect with life. That's been a passion of mine and it's been a part of denominational life since the beginning, he said. "One enormous task is to communicate the actual message of the text itself. A task beyond that, to paraphrase Paul, is how to rightly handle the word of truth," he continued.

"The bible needs to be read and understood as the biblical authors intended it to be understood," Nystrom said. "That task alone isn't simple. There has been steady erosion of the knowledge of the bible in the past three or four decades and has been illumined by the problem of how to rightly understand scripture."

The challenge to encourage individuals to read and understand scripture is reflected in Barna Research Ltd. surveys indicating that although 92 percent of American households report owning a Bible, fewer than one-half say they read the bible during a given week. Of those who do read, the average time spent in scripture averages 52 minutes per week, which might help explain why nearly 65 percent of those surveyed did not know the message of John 3:16.

"It's disturbing that some Christians who've been in the church a long time have little understanding of the Bible," said Olson. "When we know that being a Christian means radical obedience to the truth of scriptures, and yet we fail to be a student of the scriptures, that's troubling."

A native of Belmont, California, Nystrom attended Peninsula Covenant Church in nearby Redwood City. After graduating with an ancient history degree from the University of California-Davis, he returned to Peninsula Covenant and served as a resident intern in youth ministry, taking seminary classes along while working with high school students and college-aged young adults. He eventually earned a Master of Divinity from Fuller Seminary and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Roman Social History from UC-Davis. In the process, he discovered how his knowledge of culture and history could aid one's understanding of the Bible.

"Scripture really can and does connect with modern life, largely because it reveals and illumines that God desires to connect with us," said Nystrom. "Secondly, I'd say that it's really possible to understand the minds of the biblical writers and uncover their pattern of thought," Nystrom continued. "Those two inform each other. I think we really can learn to think as the biblical writers did and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to make good biblical decisions."

Nystrom has already led a handful of seminars, including the 2000 Youthworkers Connection in Chicago in January. To aid pastoral leadership, the ECC Department of the Ministry says the seminars will count toward continuing education hours.

For more information on the Knowing and Living the Word seminars or to schedule a seminar at a church, contact Betzy Bower by mail at the Department of Christian Education and Discipleship, 3311 W. Foster Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625; by telephone at 773-583-0220; or by e-mail at Betzy1029@aol.com.

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