Bible study

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The Bible study is an event of churches as well as communities of free church , pietistic and awakening tradition or individual biblical circles serving the common Bible study . Other names for Bible study are Bible Review Hour and Bible Discussion Group .

history

The reformers had already asked the community to study the Bible intensively . In his book On the Order of Worship in the Congregation in 1523 , Luther proposed daily meetings at which biblical books should be continuously interpreted. Zwingli and Calvin offered Bible lessons at a high theological level in their churches . The Anabaptist movement also carried out communal work on the Bible in their communities . However, it was only Pietism that succeeded in making Bible study an indispensable part of church life. In Württemberg the so-called hour arose , which quickly spread in the southern German region and was taken from there as a permanent establishment by emigrating settlers to Russia and the Balkans . Here the hour or Bible study became a special characteristic of the Protestants . They were called Stundists ( Russian Stundisty ) after their Bible study practice .

In the 19th century revival movement , the Bible study became the starting point for spiritual renewal. While many pietistic circles submitted to the church's word and sacrament administration during Sunday services , the weekly and often daily Bible study sessions were open spaces in which lay people could also have their say. Hour keepers and biblical messengers went from place to place and proclaimed their reviving message here based on the Bible. In contrast to the Sunday service, queries were allowed in the Bible study and the in-depth discussion and theological discussion were even desired. The official churches in many places fought the spreading biblical movement as a conventicle nonsense . Other churches used these impulses of pietism and the revival movement and made the Bible study a fixed part of their congregational work.

Course of a traditional Bible study

There is no set structure for the Bible study; As a rule, however, the following sequence has developed: After a brief greeting, a song sung together and an opening prayer, the chairman of the meeting gives an introduction to the Bible text to be discussed. Afterwards you are encouraged to ask questions. In a fourth part, the understanding of the Bible passage is then deepened with the help of questions and additional contributions. Free prayers - often also a prayer community - conclude the Bible study.

developments

More recently, the focus of the Bible study has been on working together on the text. In many congregations and communities it lives on today in the form of manageable house groups .

Other churches (especially free churches) have developed a special church Bible school program based on the Sunday school system in English-speaking countries, in which biblical narratives and texts, topics and everyday questions are dealt with in small groups using a booklet.

Student Bible Group

A student Bible group , also SBK or Schübi , is a group of Christian students who meet during school time to deepen their faith through prayer and reading the Bible . Student Bible groups are usually informally led by the students themselves, often alternately. To represent the school administration, a student Bible group usually appoints a person from among its members through an informal consensus or a formal democratic electoral process , who often also has certain leadership functions.

In contrast to house groups, student Bible groups usually do not belong to one congregation or denomination and are usually composed of members of different denominations. Some are completely autonomous, others are supported by non-denominational target group-specific networks such as Student Mission in Germany (SMD), the Navigators or United Bible Groups , which often represent a moderate evangelical direction. These networks help through study material and through loose contact with experienced contacts (often former members of student Bible circles), but do not have any actual management functions. The SMD alone looks after around 600 student Bible groups at schools all over Germany.

The program is determined by the students themselves, the focus can be on ongoing Bible study, topic-centered Bible study or discussion groups. In addition to Bible study and prayer, personal exchange often plays an important role. Due to the non-denominational orientation, denominational theological questions hardly play a role; topics of Christian life in everyday school life are essential. Some student Bible groups are missionary active through friendship evangelism , poster campaigns or school worship services.

See also

literature

  • Reinhard Breymayer: The hour of edification as a forum for pietistic rhetoric . In: Helmut Schanze (Ed.): Rhetoric. Contributions to their history in Germany from the 16th to the 20th century . Athenaion, Frankfurt am Main 1974, pp. 87-104 (= Athenäum Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1974 [= Fischer Athenäum Taschenbücher , 2095], pp. 87-104).
  • Joachim Zeiger: Bible Study. In: Helmut Burkhardt u. a. (Ed.): Gemeindelexikon , Wuppertal 1986, ISBN 3-417-24082-4 , p. 79f.
  • Burkhard Müller: The "hour" in the old school building (in Hülben ). In: Klaus Möllering (Ed.): Where my faith is at home. Local history for sky seekers . Leipzig 2006, ISBN 978-3-374-02362-2 , pp. 231-240.
  • Heiner Feldhoff: The hour . In: The holey sky. Narratives . Brandes & Apsel, Frankfurt 2005, 978-3-86099-512-9, pp. 117-125.