March 29, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

Today I taught the third session in a four lesson series on the Pentateuch for Purpose Institute, a Bible training program endorsed by the United Pentecostal Church International.

I have taught many times for Purpose Institute on three different campuses, but this was the first time I have incorporated any videos produced by the BibleProject.

If you are not familiar with BibleProject, I recommend you check out this free resource. [bibleproject.com] In the simplest of terms, I would describe the project’s program as providing professionally produced videos on every book of the Bible in addition to topical Bible studies.

My interest in this was kindled when I read an article in Christianity Today describing the project, identifying the scholars involved, and tracing their academic backgrounds.

When I discovered that those who founded BibleProject were once students of John H. Sailhamer and Ray Lubeck of Western Seminary, I knew I wanted to investigate what they were doing. Sailhamer and Lubeck were two of my favorite professors when I was studying for the Th.M. at Western. One of the BibleProject developers was enrolled in Lubeck’s course on the TaNaK at the same time as I was. I remember an intriguing paper he presented in class on what we commonly call the Minor Prophets.

I studied the Torah and Psalms under Sailhamer, whose reputation was that of a world class Old Testament scholar. The insights I gained transformed my perspectives on these Scriptures, leading to my first commentary on Psalms. The second volume is now with the publisher, and I am at work on the third volume.

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