How Do I Teach Bible?

Tammie Jacobs

As a veteran elementary teacher in public school, I taught students with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and health problems. I taught math groups as well as reading groups. Then, I found myself on the way to teach in a Christian school, and I was going to have to teach Bible in my classroom every day. I had no experience in teaching Bible. My college training never included a class on Bible-teaching methods. Sure, I had taught in Sunday school and vacation Bible school, but that did not mean I knew how to teach Bible. Here are some ideas that I have gathered over the years that may help anyone who is in the position I was.

Set goals.

Since there are no achievement tests for Bible and no facts students must master before going on to the next grade, you need to set your goals or objectives in Bible classes. These are two I always used:

1. Students will come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
2. Students will learn to live the Bible as well as to know the Bible.

Decide how you will meet your goals.

In most classes, Bible is taught as a factual course. Students hear Bible accounts and can recall facts and details about them. They can say or write their memory verses word perfect. They can give the correct answer to a question about Christianity. If they can memorize well, they will probably receive an A in Bible class—even if they do not live according to the Bible. Teachers diligently spend time emphasizing the order of the books of the Bible so that students can locate verses with lightning speed, but students do not always know which book of the Bible to look in to read about Noah building the ark or Moses receiving the Ten Commandments.

Students need to be taught how to use their Bibles as a guide for living.

They need to see how the Bible accounts apply to their personal lives. They may never be thrown into a lions’ den, but they may have to have the courage to stand up and say they are Christians—even in the face of death.

Whenever you teach Bible, keep yourself motivated and focused. Ask yourself frequently, am I preparing my students to live the Bible as well as to know the Bible?

Reprinted from Teacher to Teacher, September 1999.

Used with permission from BJU Press. For permission to reproduce this article, please write BJU Press.