How to Teach a Better Bible Class: Teach HOW to Think, Not WHAT to Think by Josh Hardin

There are two problems with a straight lecture class. One of them is that students tune out the drone of a lecture. The other problem is that lectures do not teach students how to think. Lots of information can be imparted with a lecture. Some classes and topics call for lecture because a lot of facts must be taught. Chemistry comes to mind, so do History and Grammar. Bible class is different, however, because students do not need to learn just facts about the Bible, but how to make it the main part of their lives.

A Bible class should teach students how to think like a Christian, not just what a Christian thinks. That goes for any topic covered in the class. Facts are great. Especially for playing Bible trivia games or if someone is on Jeopardy! But Christians need to understand how those facts apply to their lives. A teacher can tell students, “Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t dance, etc,” for an hour, but then the student leaves class and goes out on his own. Sooner or later they will be in a situation that is not exactly like the one talked about in class. If they have not been taught HOW to apply biblical principles and reason out the problem, they will not be able to make the right decision. Teachers cannot make every decision for their students, so they have to teach students to make proper decisions in real time.

Paul talks about thinking like a Christian and making God-like decisions in Romans 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Notice that there is a pattern both for the world and for God’s way of thinking. If students learn just facts about the Bible or answers someone else tells them, they do not learn God’s pattern. In fact, they only learn how to put Bible facts into the pattern of the world. Instead, Christians should transform their minds, renew them to think like God so they can put things from the world into God’s pattern. When a Christian knows how to think and view things the way God views them, he can test, he can prove, he can reason out what God wants him to do.

That is difficult to do in a lecture class because the students do not have to follow the reasoning to the conclusion. They only have to hear the final answer. It is much easier to teach the thinking process in a discussion-style class. In that setting, a teacher can better understand what the students think about the topic; consequently, the teacher can not only give them the right answer but can also guide them to the proper pattern of thought. In this way, the teacher can show students the process of how to reach the truth rather than simply handing them conclusions.

Next week’s article will cover how to conduct a discussion-style class.