David is the hero of the Hebrew Bible: the great warrior, the great poet, the king against whom all others are measured, the “man after God’s own heart.”

From Goliath to the Psalms, David’s name and story have inspired generations, and continue to be deeply embedded in modern culture. Even his failings are held up as proof of his humanity: after all, what is a hero without a tragic flaw (or two)?

But how much of this story is true? What can we know about David, and how, at a distance of three thousand years, can we know it?

Questions about why God does what God does have baffled readers of the Bible since forever, especially when it comes to the book of Genesis. But what if we’ve been asking the wrong questions? What if Genesis isn’t giving us unchanging information about what God is actually doing or thinking, but instead doing something completely different?

In this class, Pete Enns will guide us through why Genesis was actually written—and how understanding the “why” will help us to ask better questions of the text.

For many Christians, the Bible has long been treated as a moral instruction manual—offering clear, timeless, universal rules for right and wrong. But what happens when the text doesn’t behave like a rule book? When it contradicts itself, feels outdated, or refuses to give us the clarity we crave?

Shaped by Suffering: How Trauma Impacts the Bible and Its Readers with Alexiana Fry explores how trauma-informed interpretation reshapes our understanding of Scripture, from the wounds of war and exile to the grief we carry as modern readers. This class offers tools for reading the Bible with greater empathy, honesty, and awareness.

Curious about who really wrote the Bible? This class with Dr. Aaron Higashi probably won’t give a final answer—but it will give you the tools to understand how scholars approach the question. If you want to think more deeply and critically about biblical authorship, this is the class for you.

Digging Up Dirt on Joshua: Historical Conquest or Fan Fiction?. Is the book of Joshua an accurate historical rundown, a tall theological tale, or something in between? Join archaeologist and Hebrew Bible scholar Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott as she digs into how Joshua fits into the big-picture Bible narrative and tackle big ethical and theological questions about divine warfare, land possession, and how these texts have been used—and misused—in modern times.

Blood and Belief: Exploring the Biblical Texts of Terror. The Bible features both explicit and subtle depictions of violence, join scholars Caroline Blyth and Emily Colgan as they examine how these “texts of terror” reveal enduring lessons that help us understand and confront contemporary violence in its various forms.

A Manger Misunderstanding: Exploring Luke’s Narrative of Jesus’s Birth. Pete Enns dives into the 1st-century Jewish world of Jesus’s birth, unraveling the surprising depth and meaning often lost in popular depictions of the nativity story.

In this one-night class, Dr. Brandon W. Hawk will define what “apocrypha” are and why they matter for understanding the Bible as well as the histories of Judaism and Christianity.

Go To Hell?: Alternatives to Eternal Damnation. Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles teaches on the history, language, and “meaning” of hell, what the Bible says about hell, the implications of hell on God’s character and morality, and how the concept of hell intertwines with the desire for justice.

For some readers, the idea that the Bible is composed of varied, distinct, and even contradictory voices is not only controversial but incompatible with taking the Bible seriously. However, in this class Dr. Pete Enns argues that multivocality is a central component of the Biblical text. The multiplicity of voices, even those that are in direct opposition to one another, is by design. This multivocality is at the heart of the Bible. Join Dr. Enns as he examines why the Bible has multiple voices as well as how these voices shape how we understand and view the text.

For some readers, the idea that the Bible is composed of varied, distinct, and even contradictory voices is not only controversial but incompatible with taking the Bible seriously. However, in this class Dr. Pete Enns argues that multivocality is a central component of the Biblical text. The multiplicity of voices, even those that are in direct opposition to one another, is by design. This multivocality is at the heart of the Bible. Join Dr. Enns as he examines why the Bible has multiple voices as well as how these voices shape how we understand and view the text.

For those who have embraced the idea that the Bible in its original form is perfect and unchanging, the answer to the questions of how and why the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible arose is simple: it came directly from God to humanity. Any errors and discrepancies are the result of careless transcribers. However, as Dr. Peter Enns explores in this class, the historical evidence demonstrates the answers to these questions are, in fact, much more complicated. Join Dr. Peter Enns as he examines the convoluted, lengthy, and messy origin of the Old Testament.

What Does God Know? Omniscience is one of God’s most iconic attributes and an attribute many Jewish people, Christians, and Muslims believe in. Yet when we look at several of the stories in the opening chapters of Genesis, God does not appear to be omniscient! God appears to make simple mistakes, needs to change plans, is unable to foresee easily predictable situations, and regrets choices after making them. What are people in general, and people of faith in particular, supposed to do with biblical stories like these? The answer to that question will affect not only our beliefs about God’s knowledge, but about every single thing we believe about God.

This class will introduce participants to the Christian eschatological position of universal salvation, which teaches that all persons will eventually be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Key figures in the Christian tradition (e.g., Origen of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac of Nineveh, Julian of Norwich, etc.) who have held the universalist hope will be surveyed, in preparation for a systematic analysis of the key theological factors motivating an affirmation of universal salvation (e.g., biblical evidence, the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, the revelation of God as self-giving, omnipotent love in Jesus Christ, etc.). Taught by Roberto de La Noval.

Earthquakes. Falling stars. A blood red moon. The final judgment. The last days. These are just some of the things people associate with Revelation, the book that closes the Christian Bible. Because Revelation claims to disclose “things that must happen soon,” many Christians read it as a catalog of predictions or a blueprint for the “last days.” As result, some Christians use the book’s images and proclamations to control, dominate, instill fear, and even make a profit. In this class, Dr. Lynn R. Huber will define what an “apocalypse” is and why the author of Revelation might have chosen this language found in the last book of the Christian Bible.

A one–night class surveying the Bible’s diverse and sometimes questionable sexual ethics and where we go from here with Dr. Anna Sieges-Beal.

Based on Enn’s The Evolution of Adam, this six-part video series will help those who want to reconcile the teachings of the Bible with science and evolution.

A class with Pete Enns on how to read the book of Exodus like an adult.

Join archaeologist and Biblical scholar Cynthia Shafer-Elliott in a four week journey through everyday life in the ancient world, and why it matters for how we read our Bible.