BIBLE STUDIES & COMMENTARY

2020 UPDATE: Links have been updated. Some of these studies now require you to create a free account to access them. 

The following Bible studies are available for free, and are suitable for studying by yourself or with a group of friends or family. Highly portable, courses in mp3 format are a great way to study the Bible while working out, travelling on the bus, passing time in a waiting room, or as company while doing household chores.

OVERVIEWS

Bible
Lessons: ---   •   Host: Catholic News Agency   •   Format: Text (online)
Includes Church documents on the topic of the Bible; an introduction to the Bible, such as versions-, divisions-, and original languages of Scripture, etc.; maps; statistics and general information; and summaries of each of the Old and New Testament books.

Inside The Bible (Enter title to search)
Episodes: 13   •   Host: Fr. Kenneth Baker   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
This series examines and summarizes all of the 73 books of the Bible.

God's Covenant Plan (formerly Genesis to Jesus)
Lessons: 12   •   Host: St. Paul Center  •   Format: Text (online)
This 'big picture' survey course examines what the Bible is, where it comes from, what its purpose is, what story it has to tell, and how the Bible is supposed to be read.

Covenant Love: Introducing the Biblical Worldview
Lessons: 6   •   Host: St. Paul Center   •   Format: Text (online)
This course looks at God's covenant plan, the "master concept that unlocks the Bible."

Lessons: 29   •   Host: Agape Bible Study  •   Format: Text (online)
This course is "an in-depth overview of the entire Bible" as well as an introduction to tools and concepts "crucial for biblical interpretation."

SPECIFIC BOOKS
   
Agape Bible Study
Twenty-two courses on the Old and New Testament biblical books are offered in text format online. Handouts are provided.

Adventures in Exodus (Enter title to search.)
Episodes: 10   •   Host: Dr. Tim Gray   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
Renowned Bible scholar Tim Gray, Ph.D., examines the biblical book of Exodus.

The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom (Enter title to search.)
Episodes: 13   •   Host: Dr. Tim Gray   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
Professor Grey and students analyze this 'teaching Gospel', examining its theological richness and its meaning in light of the Old Testament.

Lessons: 10   •   Speakers: Drs. Scott Hahn, Brant Pitre, John Bergsma   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
The theological richness of this Gospel, including the theme of the Kingdom, is unpacked. Handouts are provided.

Reading the Old Testament in the New: The Gospel of Matthew
Lessons: 6   •   Host: St. Paul Center   •   Format: Text (online)
This course takes a comprehensive look at how the New Testament writers read the Old Testament in light of the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, with a special focus on the Gospel of Matthew.

Lessons: 5   •   Speaker: Dr. Scott Hahn   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
This Gospel's hidden themes are revealed and unpacked.

John: The Sacramental Gospel
Lessons: 6   •   Host: Dr. Scott Hahn   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
Some of the vast richness of what has been called the Mystical Gospel is unpacked.

Romans: The Gospel According to St. Paul
Lectures: 9   •   Speakers: Drs. Scott Hahn, John Bergsma, Brant Pitre   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
This lecture series walks you "chapter by chapter through the biblical book that most scholars consider Paul's greatest theological masterpiece. Along the way, you'll come to a deeper understanding of the Church's teachings on justification, faith and works, spiritual fatherhood, the rule of Israel in salvation history, baptism, the dignity of the body, the life of charity" and much more.

BY THEME

Agape Bible Study
Eight thematic studies are offered including courses on the Advent of the Messiah, the Beatitudes, the Didache, How to Study the Books of the Old Testament Prophets, Lenten and Easter, Sermon on the Mount, the Eight Last Things, and more. Handouts are provided.

Liturgical Year Bible Study
Lessons: ---   •   Host: ---   •   Format: Text (pdf download)
A study following the Bible readings throughout the Church's three-year liturgical cycle. (2014‒2015 = Cycle B, 2015‒2016 = Cycle C)

Lessons: 6   •   Host: St. Paul Center  •   Format: Text (online)
This thematic survey course explores the question of whether Jesus is the Messiah.
Lessons: 9   •   Speakers: Drs. Scott Hahn, Brant Pitre, John Bergsma   •   Format: Audio (online or mp3)
This course "examines the Church in the Pauline and Johannine writings and in the Synoptic Gospels." "[S]ome of the vast riches of the Church found in the New Testament" are unpacked and explored.

Lessons: 6   •   Host: ---   •   Format: Text (online)
"[W]e explore the intimate and inseparable relationship between the Bible and the Mass. Following an overview of the Eucharist in the New Testament, we look at the deep roots of the Mass in the biblical history of sacrifice---a history that culminates with the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist."
     
Lessons: 6   •   Host: St. Paul Center  •   Format: Text (online)
This course explores why Mary is so important to Catholic faith and devotion and the biblical basis for this.

Lessons: 6   •   Speakers: Dr. Scott Hahn, Kimberly Hahn   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
This course helps unpack "the connections between the Church's sacraments and the relationships we live everyday"—marriage, family, friendships—and "demonstrates how the sacraments are essential to loving people as God wants us to love them."

Feasts of Faith
Lessons: 8   •   Speakers: Drs. Scott Hahn, Brant Pitre, Michael Baraber   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
This study traces "the evolution and fulfillment of the ancient Jewish Holy Days, exploring the many ways the life and liturgy of the Catholic Church are connected to" that of the ancient Israelites. You'll also come to "understand more clearly the Jewish roots and daily practices" of Catholicism.

Lessons from the Early Church: Listening to the Fathers Today
Topics: 5   •   Speakers: Mike Aquilina, Carl Sommer, Rod Bennett   •   Format: Audio (online and mp3)
"Our individual identities are shaped by and linked to our parents and the stories of our families. As a Church, our identity is linked to and shaped by our fathers and mothers in the faith, the earliest Christians. What do those early Christians have to say that is of relevance to the contemporary Church? How is our understanding of liturgy shaped by what Jesus' followers in the first centuries believed and practiced?

COMMENTARIES

(Fr.) Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859 ed.
This commentary by Bible scholar Fr. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849) follows the Douay-Rheims biblical text. Minor modifications, enumerated on the site, have been made in transcription for this Web edition to facilitate the understanding of the modern reader. Accessible for reading online, free downloads in various formats are also available.


Page last updated: 2020.05.24

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