Advent Wednesday Bible Study - Week I

Our weekly BIble Study topic this Advent is John the Baptist. We will be looking at this mysterious cornerstone of our faith tradition through his appearance in all four of our canonical Gospels, and in Jewish Antiquities by early Jewish writer Flavius Josephus (37-100 c.e.) Here is the schedule for our journey:

Week I (11/30) - John the Baptizer in Josephus and the Gospel According to Mark
Week II (12/7) - John the Baptizer in the Gospel According to Luke
Week III (12/14) - John the Baptizer in the Gospel According to Matthew
Week IV (12/21) - John the Baptizer in the Gospel According to John

No Bible Study the Week After Christmas

Week V (1/4) - John the Baptizer and the baptism of Jesus

Methodology

Each week we will carefully read through every attestation of John the Baptizer in the source that is appointed for that week. And we will build a portrait of this mysterious character, Gospel by Gospel, looking for the answers to the questions:

Who was John the Baptizer?
Why was he so important?
What does he have to do with Jesus and the identity of our Saviour?
What does he have to do with us and our faith?

We will try to read several version of the texts from different translations of the Bible. This is always a good way to both probe the text for deeper meaning, and a great reminder that our holy scripture is the word of God through human eyes.

So join us. Read the texts. Offer your comments. Pass this blog along to anyone whom you think might enjoy it.

Tune in each week, at your convenience, to follow our journey to the heart of John the Baptizer.