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Old Testament Basics

The Old Testament is essential to understanding God’s complete story and how we fit into it. You’ll come away from this course with a greater understanding of it's importance in our lives today.

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The Old Testament is essential to understanding God’s complete story and how we fit into it. The Bible is a unique book with many unforgettable characters, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jonah, Samson and David. While these stories took place centuries ago, they are still significant today and teach useful lessons about God and His interactions with us.

Dr. Sid Buzzell will guide you through the Old Testament, referencing different types of literature and how each section reflects on the wider story. You’ll come away from this course with a greater understanding of both the Old Testament and its importance in our lives today.

  1. Describe what the Old Testament teaches us about God’s character.
  2. Understand why the Old Testament books are placed in the order that they are and identify the categories of books contained within the Old Testament.
  3. Explain the characteristics of each of the categories of books in the Old Testament.
  4. Identify the four eras (or periods) into which the Old Testament is divided.
  5. Understand the general narrative flow and major events in Old Testament history.
  6. Describe the important people in the Old Testament and their contribution to Old Testament history.
  7. Gain a deeper understanding of the authors of the Old Testament books, their purpose, and the context in which they were writing.
  8. Know the characteristics of Hebrew poetry and gain a deeper understanding of wisdom literature.
  9. Understand the context of the Prophets and summarize their collective eternal message.
  • Overall a good experience for me and encouraged me to continue to study the Old Testament in more detail. Thank you.

    — John, United States (US)
  • Very informative and educative course

    — Abraham, United States (US)
  • I learned a great deal about the Old Testament!

    — Emily, United States (US)
  • Great overview of the Old Testament. It really nailed down the key points of each type of literature.

    — Stacy, United States (US)
  • Eye-opening and easy to understand.

    — Jessica, Malaysia
  • Enjoyed this course!

    — Rachelle, United States (US)
  • Must learn biblical knowledge and basic fundamentals of the Scripture

    — Esosa, United States (US)
  • This was an amazing beginning of the Old Testament. I am so looking forward to going further into this.

    — Kevin, United States (US)
  • Lectures and commentaries were very helpful. I have learned a lot. So blessed for the opportunity I had to take this course. Cant wait to start NT Basics.

    — Luis, Honduras
  • The professor was phenomenal. I thoroughly enjoyed this course that helped with my understanding of the Old Testament.

    — Yolonda, United States (US)
  • Dr. Buzzell explained the Old Testament in a way that I never realized before. God's creation and love is not in a timeline but in His way for us to communicate with Him. My eyes open when time, color (narrative), poetry & wisdom and prophetic books were in order they were in according to the timeframe of the stories. God is Great.

    — John, United States (US)
  • Good course!!

    — Steven, United States (US)
  • This course, while introductory, is yet very accurate, succinct and clear in its presentation of the Old Testament, which, to many Christians, is less understood than the New Testament. I'd strongly recommend it.  

    — Weng Yuen, Singapore
  • This was a very interesting course. I learned many things about the Old Testament that I did not know.

    — Janea, United States (US)
  • Great course full of information I never thought of or knew I didn't know  

    — Edward, United States (US)
  • A wonderful compact set of studies that truly have whetted my appetite for more.

    — Johann, United States (US)
  • Dr Buzzell provided a good scholarly way of ordering and making sense of the OT, the books in the types, chronology, and how they are to be read, as well as why the OT must not remain a 'closed book' but rather be seen as opening all towards Jesus.

    — Matthew, United States (US)
  • Enjoyed learning a more in-depth lesson on the Old Testament.

    — Niki, United States (US)
  • Thoroughly enjoyed this course. It provides a very useful and informative grid through which to piece together the various aspects of the Old Testament.

    — michael, United Kingdom (UK)
  • The lectures were really educative.

    — Samuel, Nigeria
  • This course opened my understanding of the messages of the prophets, their place and time, and the circumstances in which they lived.

    — Cheryl, United States (US)
  • This course helped me better understand the Old Testament, and it gave me a better way to study it. Thank you!

    — Delanesha, United States (US)
  • Ever thing about this study was great. I really felt the love of God and the patience He has with us.  

    — Sharon, United States (US)
  • Enjoyed the course and learned some new information

    — Kevin, United States (US)
  • This course helps me to grow deeper in my spiritual life. Praise God!  

    — Paul, United States (US)
  • Enlightening  

    — Gwen, United States (US)
  • This course was such a blessing to me, helping me to better understand the Old Testament and the treasure within it. It was interesting, insightful, and the text reading from Ray Stedman was thorough yet not over my head for understanding. It really gave me much food for thought and further study. Thank you so very much for the offering.  

    — Susan, United States (US)
  • Really broke down the timeline, culture, and topics of the prophets! Helped me grasp where and when their teaching occurred.

    — Marcia, United States (US)
  • Very enlightening

    — Gwen, United States (US)
  • I found the course very instructive on multiple levels. It has deepened my understanding of the Old Testament and sharpened my appetite for biblical studies.

    — Vincent, United States (US)
  • Very interesting, I learned a lot.

    — Carole, United States (US)
  • I enjoyed the content and the design of the course. I felt like I learned a lot.

    — Catherine, United States (US)
  • The course was very relevant to today.

    — Stephen, United States (US)
  • It really helped me to get a clearer picture of where the different books of the Old Testament fit into the whole historical story and to understand more about the different types of literature, when and why they were written. Am looking forward to studying the Old Testament further. Thank you.

    — Kathryn, United Kingdom (UK)
  • This is a great course for anyone seeking a solid foundation of the Old Testament.

    — Maurice, United States (US)
  • I learned a lot of information that helped me gain a better understanding of the Old Testament.

    — Kristy, United States (US)
  • Great overview of the Old Testament!

    — Karrie, United States (US)
  • Great course, I learned a lot!

    — Lydia, United States (US)
  • This course was intense, but satisfying. I took a while to complete it, as I didn't want to rush through its contents and reading assignments. I also wanted to ensure that I had a good understanding of what was read.

    — Sharalyn, United States (US)
  • You opened my heart to the Old Testament, I now have a better understanding of it, and how it leads us to Jesus.

    — Mark, United States (US)
  • I really enjoyed the visuals, and graphic organizers. It helped me to have a better understanding.

    — Evelyn, United States (US)
  • I learned a lot and feel this gave me a great foundation for deeper OT studies.

    — Roger, United States (US)
  • Enjoyed the dept of the lessons and the application to today’s life.

    — Ronald, United States (US)
  • Being new to learning the old testament I have found this course extremely helpful, it has explained things in a way that I could understand. I am very impressed with this course.

    — Christine, United Kingdom (UK)
  • I learned a lot from this course and would recommend others to take this for a beginning look into the Old Testament.

    — Tonya, United States (US)
  • I thought the course was great. The readings from Ray Stedman's book were good but it was really a lot of reading.

    — Gary, United States (US)
  • This is a great course, it takes hard to understand events and puts them in a format that that makes them easier to understand.

    — Ronald, United States (US)
  • Really a great way of viewing the Old Testament from a more organized and structured perspective, while continually reinforcing the message of a loving God pursuing, nurturing, disciplining, and ultimately redeeming his people in spite of their ups and downs and serial unfaithfulness.

    — John, United States (US)
  • Beautiful and excellent course. Ray Steadman's readings are awesome and Professor Sid Buzzel makes a good complement of the teaching.

    — Omar, Mexico
  • The best part of the course for me was learning about the Prophetic Books. Now I know how to approach reading them, to whom the prophets were speaking, and the cultural background. I now have a better understanding of them.

    — Lisa, Trinidad and Tobago

Course Content

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Basic Level
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Course Details

  • 10 Lessons
  • 41 Activities
  • 11 Assessments
  • 15 Min Average
  • 8 Hrs Minimum
  • 7.42 CEUs
  • Course Award

Course Resources

Videos Audios Transcripts Listening Guides Discussion Questions
Lecturer

Sid Buzzell, PhD