Now Is the Time to do that Bible Study (Free Resources)
If you’re like me, you suddenly find yourself adjusting to a new schedule, even if only for a season. But moments like this often provide an unexpected parenthesis in life that actually creates space. Of course, you could fill that parenthesis with a bunch of reruns from The Office, or you could fill your time with something more edifying.
Now is the perfect time to sharpen those Bible study skills. Over the past week a number of different publishing companies and institutions have made a wealth of biblical studies resources available for free for a limited time in order to aid students and churches as they transition to remote environments.
ESV.org Free Basic Subscription
Crossway has made a free basic subscription to their online Bible study software at ESV.org available until May 31, 2020. Their service is subscription based, but they’ve graciously made it available to anyone who signs up for the next couple of months.
The service includes several study Bibles, tools to engage with the Scriptures in the original languages, interactive Bible studies and a number of reading plans.
Free Online Bible Interpretation Course
In my opinion, this one falls into the “best kept secret” category, but Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has a whole list of free online, seminary-level courses online. Unlike the rest of this list, these are always available and cover a wide range of topics from systematic theology to missions history.
Today, I want to specifically highlight the course by Dr. Akin on interpreting and teaching the Bible. The lectures are excellent, and this is a great way to learn how to study the Bible in a fruitful way.
Free Lifeway Curriculum
Lifeway has also stepped up in a big way, providing a ton of their Bible study curriculum for free to churches. The caveat: your church will have to first sign up for you to have access to this material. That said, this is a free offer for all churches with no strings attached.
If you are a leader in your church, consider making a few extra clicks on your computer and providing this free resource to your congregation right now. If you’re not a church leader, and are interested in looking over this large collection of Bible study curriculum, reach out to your pastor or staff and see if they will sign up for this. It only takes a few minutes.
Bonus: Massive Free Logos Package (for SEBTS students only)
This last one is a bonus, but it is only available for current Southeastern students. If you are a student at another seminary, check and see if this deal is available for you as well.
Southeastern has a partnership with Logos and the latter has graciously provided free access for 60 days to a massive collection of theological and biblical resources in what they are calling their remote learning library. All SEBTS students already have access to a free Logos license, and this provides an additional trove of free resources. If you are a SEBTS student, and you haven’t already done so, create a Faithlife account with your student email address, and these resources should populate that account.
