Bible Studies For College Students

[brianthephysicist]

Hey guys, our CCM is looking at starting up a Bible study. We don't have access to a priest and we're not certain that our chaplain will be physically able to meet with us for it, so it looks like it will be a student endeavor. One of our members is confident enough in her knowledge of the Bible that she has offered to lead us, but she's not sure what direction she wants to take it.

We aren't sure where we want to set our focus (other than simply on Jesus ), like to go for values, aspects of living out a faith life, explaining Jesus' parables, historical overview, Biblical basis for our Mass, the life of a particular person in the Bible (David, Moses, Ezekial, etc.), and so on. What do you guys think works well for college students? (also, a valid concern is that probably only 50% will be there every single week.)

I am more than happy for any advice anyone has to offer, along with any suggestions, either for general topics or for specific programs.

Thanks so much, pham

Edited August 13, 2012 by brianthephysicist

[LaPetiteSoeur]

My university has a program, headed by a retired priest and part-time professor. We use the Six weeks of the Bible series from Loyola Press. It's a nice setting, with the scripture printed inside, reflections, questions, context/history, etc.

Six Weeks with the Bible has several different books. THere are "theme books" (Jesus the Healer, Living for a Just Society, Parables, Being Disciples, etc). There are also Ones for the Old Testament (four covering Genesis, Exodus, JOb, the psalms, proverbs, Ruth, Jonah, Micah/Hoesa, etc). And of course there is a series for the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, other writings of Paul, and Revelations.)

If you order them in bulk there is a discount.

I really liked this program; It's written specifically for Catholics, which is helpful, and Loyola is a good publishing company (in my experience).

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

[Gemma_Kateri]

My college bible study was completely student run, and it worked well. I was a leader for 2 years and we did it many different ways. Some semesters we would just pick a book of the bible to delve into. There are many great bible studies out there - Lifeteen has some great stuff from Mark Hart.

Other times we would just pick random themes and discuss bible passages related to it. It's good to ask the group what they are interested in.

I just started going to a young adult bible study and we focus on the readings for the upcoming Sunday. We use a lectio divina format in which we read the passage multiple times and prayerfully discuss.

[eascoastgirl]

I went to college on a campus that had FOCUS, and I would definitely endorse it wholeheartedly.

This year they will be adding a new "campus" - the digital campus - to reach out to students just like you.

[i]The Digital Campus is an initiative of FOCUS that uses the internet to reach out to college students on non-FOCUS campuses. Our main goal is to connect these students to resources on FOCUS Equip and coach them via video conferencing so that they can evangelize, lead Bible studies, and disciple others on their campus. [/i]

You can check out their website http://www.focusequip.org/, or email them at digitalcampus(at)f0cus.0rg.

[BG45]

I've heard from a person I chat with in Jersey that the [url="http://www.biblestudyforcatholics.com"]Great Adventure Bible Study [/url]is pretty good.

[Lisa]

If you are looking for a program, the Campus Renew program is quite good. It focuses on the gospel readings for the upcoming week. In reality, it's less of a bible study and more of a gospel-based faith sharing group.

For our campus bible study, we just selected a book of the bible (John, Tobit, Romans, etc.) for the semester and went through it a chapter or two each week. We used the Navarre bible commentary for a few years, and really liked that. It supplemented our discussions with deeper theology and words from the Church fathers, JPII, etc.

[MissyP89]

It might be a good idea to start basic, with the Gospel of Luke. It gives the clearest picture of the entirety of Jesus' life since it has the infancy narratives.

You can do more than one study ... it's probably best to save something more intense and detailed for the future. Choosing just one book will give you a good sense of what your group will be ready for.

[Basilisa Marie]

I'd start with a gospel, Luke is fun but Mark is the shortest, to get a feel for the group. You could also keep switching things up - I really like all your ideas for "themes." One month could be focused on four different Old Testament figures, another on Paul's letters, another on Genesis/Exodus, another on the gospels, etc. But that would really depend on how deep you want to get into each text, and how much experience everyone in the group has with the Bible.

[Groo the Wanderer]

www.catholicboard.com

online bible study, podcastable

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Genesis to Jesus from Scott Hahn's St. Paul Center was great back when I was in college. It's a journey through the covenants of scripture, giving a coherent overview of salvation history. It was easy to understand too, check it out:
[url="http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online/genesis_to_jesus_a_journey_through_scripture/"]http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online/genesis_to_jesus_a_journey_through_scripture/[/url]

[tinytherese]

The Ignatius Study Bible series is good. They don't have much for studying Old Testament books though, but they're getting there.

[Amppax]

[quote name='thedude' timestamp='1344899009' post='2467178']
Genesis to Jesus from Scott Hahn's St. Paul Center was great back when I was in college. It's a journey through the covenants of scripture, giving a coherent overview of salvation history. It was easy to understand too, check it out:
[url="http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online/genesis_to_jesus_a_journey_through_scripture/"]http://www.salvation...ough_scripture/[/url]
[/quote]

I second this. Anything from the St. Paul Center really. That being said, I'm biased.