Friday, November 6, 2015

FREE ONLINE CLASSES & LECTURES FOR STUDYING THE BIBLE & APOLOGETICS

Some excellent classes from some of the best Christian scholars alive (and me)....and they are all FREE!

*MY CLASS ON PAUL'S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS by Brad Cooper: Class sessions are in video format....and links to several resources (many FREE) are included, also.

*HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD by Brad Cooper: This is my FREE course presenting a basic cumulative case for Christianity. Each class includes audio, handouts, PowerPoint, and lots of resources for digging deeper.

*BIBLICAL eLEARNINGAn impressive array of excellent courses on the Bible, Biblical background, Biblical languages, and Church history by top scholars. Among them are lectures on Matthew, Acts and Romans by Craig Keener. Keener is perhaps the greatest living scholar on Acts and has recently published a massive commentary with more than 45,000 references to ancient extrabiblical literature. He has also published 3 commentaries on Matthew, the Zondervan Biblical Background Commentary on the New Testament, and a massive 2-volume work on miracles. Having nearly completed the course on Matthew, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

*BIBLICAL TRAININGA well-rounded curriculum. And the classes are all of very high quality. Some are by foremost scholars for the area being taught. There are many Bible courses at Biblical Training. I do highly recommend the course on Romans taught by Douglas Moo, whose Romans commentary is generally considered to be the best available. The courses that are explicitly about apologetics are listed below. There are also courses on philosophy: "Essentials of Christian Apologetics" by Ronald Nash (2 hours 20 minutes); "Christian Apologetics" by Ronald Nash (14 hours 35 minutes). Four courses by Dr. Nash that are related to worldview analysis and thought. See my "Worldviews" bibliography here. Dr. Nash is witty, brilliant and easy to understand. I highly recommend his courses and books.If you are using an Android device, you can download their app at Google Play.

One more at Biblical Training to point out: "Why We Trust Our Bible." A series of 37 lectures by top experts in their areas: "The uniqueness and authority of the Bible are always under attack. Professors and writers are claiming that Jesus never existed, Jesus never claimed to be God, the early church changed the basic preaching of Jesus, books were left out of the Bible, the copies of the Bible that have come down through the centuries are hopelessly corrupt, and how can you trust your translation where there are so many? This class walks you through the process of how we received our Bible and why we can trust it. Dr. Darrell Bock discusses the life of Jesus in lectures 1-5. Dr. Craig Blomberg discusses the reliability of the Bible in lectures 6-11. Dr. Michael Kruger discusses the process of formation of the New Testament Canon in lectures 12-21. Dr. Dan Wallace discusses issues relating to manuscripts and textual criticism in lectures 22-27. Dr. Bill Mounce discusses the philosophies and process of translation in lectures 28-32. Dr. John Piper discusses the content, cohesiveness, scope and power of the Bible in lectures 33-37."

*SeminaryLite: A list of links to 179 FREE courses in a 17-page Google Drive document compiled by my friend David Jonesque.

*CHRISTIAN LEADERS INSTITUTE: From their web site (in the About section): "Are you called to minister? Are you looking to study the Bible to complete ministry programs? Does free college-level Christian leadership courses for ministry training programs interest you? Christian Leaders Institute is a ministry of Christian Leaders College and your gateway to fulfilling ministry credentials that fit your needs....MINISTRY LEARNING AWARDS: These ministry awards recognize the completion of ministry and Bible training programs. They are also accepted by the Christian Leaders Alliance in the clergy recognition program, including many licensed and ordained roles....COLLEGE-LEVEL COURSES ACCEPTED BY CHRISTIAN LEADERS COLLEGE (CLC) [a low-cost college of which the Christian Leaders Institute is a part]: Christian Leaders Institute is a ministry of Christian Leaders College and most of your college-level courses you complete can be credited for Christian Leaders College programs. These include certificates, diplomas, and degree programs."

*GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY has several free foundational courses, such as Biblical Interpretation, Old and New Testament Survey, Church History, Theology, and World Missions. 

*THE GOSPEL COALITION COURSES: A FREE course for every imaginable topic. The courses vary but some supply video or audio lectures PLUS assigned reading PLUS links for additional reading resources that are FREE.

*"TACTICS: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions" by Greg Koukl
*Online Course: Session 1  Session 2  Session 3  Session 4
*Book: Tactics by Greg Koukl
*Recommended Viewing: "Suitable For Framing | Full Episode | Columbo" (If you don't know who Columbo is, this will be a great introduction. And if you do, consider this a needed refresher.)

*CREDO COURSES: Tons of classes on the Bible and apologetics by top notch scholars. There are always lots of FREE courses and related resources available, as well as courses that require payment.

*REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARYOn Android devices, download the Reformed Theological Seminary app from Google Play to access their classes. You can also access the classes through iTunes. I highly recommend the class on the Gospels by Michael Kruger.

*The Special Divine Action Project: This is the #1 place to go for scholarly discussion of miracles. This YouTube channel features dozens of lectures by top scholars on the philosophical discussion of miracles, especially featuring the work of Timothy McGrew. There are also several videos by Craig Keener (another foremost expert on this issue), Richard Swinburne (one of the foremost Christian philosphers), Sir Roger Scruton, Ian Hutchinson, Susan Eastman, Peter Harrison, Neal Audenaert, Raymond C. Tallis, and Lenn Goodman.  There are two sets of Timothy McGrew's lectures here: "The Deist Controversy" and "The Great Debate"....the latter of which I have listened to in its entirety at least three times now. Excellent!

*L'ABRI IDEAS LIBRARY hosts a well-organized, vast array of lectures by Francis Schaeffer and many others.

*MOODY'S archive of 88 lectures by Francis Schaeffer.

*INSTITUTE OF BIBLICAL DEFENSE: Dr. Phil Fernandes has a large number of lectures on both apologetics and the Bible hosted at Sermon Audio. If you are listening to these on an Android device, you will want to download the Sermon Audio app.

*PETER KREEFT has several lectures available online.

*THE CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS ALLIANCE (CAA) has many lectures available from their members, including some more prominent apologists. Information about the speakers and their contact information are also included for those who would like to have them come speak at an event.

*ASBURY SEMINARY has dozens of lectureships and lectures and conferences available online.

*FREE COURSES AT DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: The Gospel of John taught by Mark Bailey; Genesis taught by James Allman. More online courses at DTS. For Android devices, go to Google Play and download the Dallas Theological Seminary app.

*LAST SEMINARY a full curriculum of classes, including apologetics classes by Douglas Groothuis and Phil Fernandes...11 lectures on Science and Religion by John Polkinghorne.....and a full range of New Testament Biblical Studies courses. Also hosts a ton of resources organized with the classes.

*TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL (TEDS) has free samples of some courses online, featuring four lectures on the book of Hebrews by D.A. Carson, etc.

*WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: A well-organized assortment of courses and other resources, including apologetics, Bible and theology.

*"HOW TO GET A THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION THROUGH iTunes U": iTunes has a vast array of audio resources and this article is an excellent guide to finding them. Note: I have not been able to access these classes using the links provided. Download the iTunes app on your PC or Apple device and search for the class there. 

*THE THEOLOGY PROGRAM: Six courses in Audio and video at Bible.org, with assigned readings, PowerPoint slides, and vocabulary quizzes. Classes are as follows: Introduction to Theology, Bibliology and Hermeneutics, Trnitarianism, Humanity and Sin, Soteriology, Ecclesiology and Eschatology. Also available: Principles of Biblical Teaching.

*APOLOGETICS ACADEMY, the ministry of Jonathan McLatchie. Jonathan is putting together an exciting and original online apologetics training opportunity. It includes weekly live online meetings with expert apologists and also mentoring. I highly recommend that you check this out. They are also recorded and archived online.

*COVENANT THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: Numerous recorded courses and lectures, topically arranged.

*CHRISTIAN COURSES

*BIBLEARC: This site has a state-of-the-art suite of Bible study tools with the ability to diagram. And it offers classes for understanding the Bible. (Courses are in the process of being developed during 2016-2018. "Free in developing countries" only, but only $5 per month for others.)

*IMPACT 360 INSTITUTE: "How to Question the Bible and Keep Your Faith" taught by Jonathan Morrow. Includes course handout and 58-minute video. This ministry also has other free courses and also paid courses at a reasonable cost.

*ETERNITY BIBLE COLLEGE: founded by Francis Chan. 

*THE C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE'S "BASIC APOLOGETICS COURSE" by Dr. Art Lindsley. (20 sessions of nearly an hour each). Originally published on DVD, they are available online now for free. Dr. Lindsley's profile can be found here.

*BLUE LETTER BIBLE INSTITUTE has several classes on apologetics and the Bible.

*HOME STUDY COURSES at Apologetics Press.

*HILLSDALE COLLEGE: Includes classes on C.S. Lewis and surveys of some of the most important books to influence Western civilization.

*Forum of Christian Leaders has their webinars and other talks available for FREE online. This link is for those that are specifically related to apologetics.

*Online Classes by Bruce Gore. Note pull down menu at left of Bruce Gore's page where you will find the various classes available. Includes  "Studies in the Historical Context of the Bible" and many more.

*A list of 250+ Online Seminary Classes, Courses, Programs, and Book Recommendations at Anchored in Christ

*Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism by James Snapp. FREE series of lectures with FREE downloads of resources in comments at YouTube.

RELATED PAGES ON MY BLOG

*AVALANCHE OF AUDIO FOR APOLOGETICS AND AUDIO (lots of FREE audio)
*LEARNING NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: RESOURCES (includes FREE courses)


STILL LOOKING?....
Check out the 1,150 free online courses organized by topic at Open Culture. You can find the section for "Religion" here.....Classics Courses (Ancient History & Philosophy) here.....140 free university Philosophy Courses here (or go straight to Oxford's Introductory Philosophy Courses). Of course, be aware that these classes will often be taught from the perspective of a worldview that is antagonistic to Christianity--so be prepared to think critically, ask questions, and seek help from seasoned apologists (perhaps in one of these online groups).

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