About The Word Bible Courses
Who runs The Word Online Bible Courses?
The Word Online Bible Courses is owned and administrated by Ethan R. Longhenry. Ethan currently serves as the evangelist for the church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio. More information about Ethan can also be found at his website. Ethan is assisted by many Christians who help create the courses, provide feedback on existing courses, and also help grade the courses. Many thanks go to Ben Hastings for providing space for the website.
The Word Online Bible Courses are not the work of any local church or any parachurch organization or institution. It represents a collaborative effort by many Christians to help promote greater study and understanding of the Bible and Jesus Christ.
What is the purpose/philosophy behind The Word Online Bible Courses?
The Word Online Bible Courses exists to assist people in learning more about the Bible and about Christianity in structured, self-directed courses and lessons.
Our first priority is to assist people who have not yet learned about the Bible and Jesus Christ to learn the message of the Gospel so as to give them the opportunity to believe and obey Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 1:16).
We also desire to assist Christians in growing and developing in their faith (2 Peter 3:18). We feel that there is a lack of graduated material to assist Christians in their personal study that would facilitate such growth and development. Therefore, we use a system similar to a college or a university, with classes at various levels. We are not a college or a university and have no intention to become one. We use the system because it is clear and understandable.
We are not trying to put anyone down, but we also recognize that people need different levels of information to consider when at different levels of growth in the faith. That is why the material gradually gets more complex and more developed. We hope that The Word Online Bible Courses will be a continual benefit to Christians throughout their walk with God.
Various Matters
What system does The Word Online Bible Courses use?
We are currently using Moodle, an open source educational system. Moodle is designed primarily for educational systems and environments. It serves our purposes as well as can be expected.
What is "BCE" and "CE"?
"BCE" stands for "Before the Common Era," and "CE" stands for "Common Era." These are used as alternatives for "BC" (Before Christ) and "AD" (Anno Domini, or "the Year of our Lord"). Therefore, 1000 BCE is the same as 1000 BC, and 1000 CE is the same as 1000 AD.
While some believe that using the "common era" designation is a stand against Christianity, we are not using the designations for that purpose. Instead, the designation is used for the following reasons:
- - "BC/AD" is inaccurate. Jesus was likely born in 5 or 4 BCE, and He was most likely crucified and resurrected in 30 CE.
- - It did not begin in the first century; the "catholic" church began using it around 525 CE.
- - Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus indicate that we should use a system that begins with His birth, or any system that involves Him at all. The Bible identifies time by the rulers of the day (cf. Luke 3:1).
- - Furthermore, to be truly accurate, it would need to start when the Kingdom began in 30 CE, versus the year He was born (cf. Matthew 28:18).
If you have any further questions about this, please contact Ethan.
Permissions
The Word Online Bible Courses are presented free online for anyone who seeks to learn more about the Bible. We encourage everyone to let their friends know about The Word Online Bible Courses, and we appreciate links and references to the website.
The material presented in The Word Online Bible Courses remains the possession of the authors of the material and The Word Online Bible Courses, and cannot be used without express written permission by the author and/or the owner of The Word Online Bible Courses.
Questions? Concerns?
Please contact us here!
Thanks again for your interest, and have a good day!