The New Christian Bible Study Project is an online clearinghouse for people who are interested in the Bible, not just in its powerful literal sense, but also in its inner, spiritual sense.
The idea that the Bible has an inner meaning is an old one. Jesus knew it, and referred to it. He frequently showed that the Old Testament contained deeper meanings than were first apparent. For example, Jesus told His disciples that the Old Testament contained many prophecies about His own life that they had not understood. "Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27)
"He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures." (Luke 24:45)
For many centuries before Jesus's time, Jewish theologians were studying the Old Testament, and developing "commentary" on it -- exploring its inner meaning. The "Oral Torah" dates back perhaps as far back as the time of Moses, though it wasn't written down in a form called the Mishnah until the second century of the Christian Era. In the Christian church, commentary dates back almost to the time of Christ, and has continued to the present day.
The theological underpinnings of this site are based on Emanuel Swedenborg's religious works from the 1700's. Although Swedenborg himself isn't well-known today, the influence of his theological works has been both wide and deep.
Among other things, Swedenborg published detailed expositions of the Book of Genesis, the Book of Exodus, and the Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse. He also outlined the inner meanings of the Psalms, and the Prophets, and cited other scripture passages extensively.
Swedenborg wrote in Latin, but his books have been translated into many languages, and we hope to bring together many of them here for worldwide readers. So far, in our main database, we have most of the existing English translations, the original Latin versions, and some translations in Portuguese, French, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Czech, Chinese, Korean, and other languages.
We have also gathered Bible translations in most of the major languages, so that Bible readers have a comfortable, easy-to-use place to read and study the Word of God, and to readily cross-link to explanatory content.
One of the key pieces of our project is that we're also adding plain-language explanations of Bible stories, verses, and words that are designed for modern readers. We're adding videos, too, and artwork that helps illustrate concepts.
This project is being carried forward by the New Christian Bible Study Corp., a registered non-profit 501(c)3 organization that was set up for this purpose. We hope that this site will be useful to you in your spiritual journey.
For a more detailed look at where we've been and where we're going, take a look at our project plan page.
