Outline Studies in the New Testament for Bible Teachers. Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Wherever a fact can be learned by searching out a Scripture reference the fact is not stated, but the reference is given. Every text referred to should be searched out, as these texts contain the essential facts of this book. Whoever would use these studies rightly must pursue them with the Bible close at hand, and must consult his Bible more frequently than this text-book.
There are a million and a half Sunday school teachers who should be acquainted with the story of Christ and his church: and there are several millions of young people in our Sunday schools who may be teachers before many years and need the same knowledge. This book has been prepared in the hope that these teachers and young people may find it a help to know Him who is the head of the church; and to understand the church, which is the pillar and ground of truth.
Jesse L. Hurlbut.
January 3, 1906.
HINTS TO STUDENTS
Those who desire merely to read this book, or to look it over, will not find it interesting. Those who already know how to study will not need these hints, and can use the book in their own way. But there are many who desire to study these subjects carefully and yet do not know precisely how to do the work. For these students, earnest but untrained, these hints are given.
1. These studies should be pursued with the Bible close at hand, so that every Scripture reference may be at once searched out and read.
2. Begin each lesson by a general view; reading it through carefully, and memorizing the leading divisions of the outline, which are indicated by the Roman numerals I, II, III, etc. This will give the general plan of the lesson.
3. Now take up Part I of the lesson in detail; notice and memorize its subdivisions, indicated by 1, 2, 3, etc., and search out all the Scripture references cited in it. If practicable, write out on a sheet of paper the reference (not the language of the text in full), and what each reference shows. Thus with references in the Second Study, page 19, Section I, Origin, 1. Semitic. (Gen. 12. 1-3) God's call and promise to Abram. (Gen. 17. 1-8) The call repeated; name changed to Abraham. (James 2. 23) The Friend of God. (Gen. 18. 19: "He will command his children," etc.)
In this manner write out all the facts ascertained from all the references in the section.
4. It would be a good plan to write out in full, as a connected statement, all the facts in the section.
5. In like manner study out and write out all the facts obtained by a study of the lesson and the text cited in it. This will greatly aid the memory in holding fast to the information gained.
6. Having done this, look at the blackboard outline at the end of the study and see if you can read the outline of the lesson by the aid of the catch-words and indications which it affords. Study the lesson until you can read it with the blackboard outline, and then recall it without the outline.
7. Now take up the questions for review. Read them over, one by one, and see if you can answer them. To many of them the answer is not given in the text-book, but it will be found in the Scripture references when searched out. Do not cease your study until every question can be answered from memory.
8. Frequently review the lessons already learned. Before beginning the third study review the first and second; before the fourth, review the first, second and third; and at the completion of the course review them all. The knowledge gained by this thorough study will more than compensate for the time and trouble which it requires.
HINTS TO TEACHERS
Classes may be organized on various plans and out of varied materials for the study of these lessons.
1. A teachers' class, composed of teachers and also of senior scholars in the Sunday school, may be formed to study the life of Christ, which is one of the most important subjects in the Bible. This may meet on an evening, or an afternoon, and devote all the session to the study of the lesson and to discussions upon it.
2. In many places a teachers' meeting is held for the study of the International Lesson as a preparation for the Sunday school class. A part of the time might be taken at this meeting for the study of these subjects. In that case it would be well to follow the division into lessons, as given on pages 11, 12.
3. A normal class may be organized among the brightest scholars in the Sunday school, who should be trained to become teachers. This normal class may meet on an afternoon, or an evening, or may take the lesson period in the Sunday school session.
4. These studies may be pursued by the young people's society of the church, or by a class formed under its auspices, meeting at such time and place as shall be found most convenient.
There are two methods in which these lessons may be taught: One is the lecture method, by which the instructor gives the lesson to the class in the form of a lecture, placing the outline upon the blackboard as he proceeds, calling upon the students to read the texts cited, and frequently reviewing the outline in a concert drill. By this method the students may or may not have the books, as they and the instructor prefer. While it is not necessary to supply the class with the text-book, it will be a good plan to do so. Some lecturers prefer to have the books closed while the lecture is being given; but others desire to have the students use the outline in the book as a syllabus, enabling them to follow the subject more closely.
The other method, simpler and easier, is to let the student have a copy of the book, to expect the lesson to be prepared by the class, and to have it recited, either individually or in concert. Let each student gain all the information that he can upon the subjects of the lesson; let each bring his knowledge to the possession of all; let all talk freely, and all will be the gainers.
It would be a good plan to have papers read from time to time upon the subjects suggested by the course and parallel with it.
Some teachers and classes may regard the contents of this book as too extensive and may prefer a shorter course. The aim of the author has been to include in the course only those subjects that are essential to an understanding of the New Testament, and the entire series of lessons is recommended; but if a shorter course be deemed absolutely necessary, two plans are suggested:
1. There are three subjects which under necessity might be omitted: Second Study, The People of Palestine; Third Study, General View of the Life of Christ; Twelfth Study, The Synagogue. This will leave fifteen studies, or twenty-two lessons.
2. Another plan might be undertaken: to take up as a course the studies on the life of Christ, or even omitting, as above, the second and third studies, making eight; and to leave the eight studies in the early church—a most interesting and valuable subject—to a later period.
THE COURSE DIVIDED INTO LESSONS
For the convenience of teachers and classes, the eighteen studies of this course are divided into twenty-five lessons, as follows:
| Lesson | 1. | The Land of Palestine. First Study. |
| " | 2. | The People of Palestine. Second Study. |
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