Student Bible Study

Biweekly on Tuesday we meet with a group of students and starters for our Biblestudy. We usually start at 6:30pm with a meal, followed by the study, which takes untill around 9.00pm. The studies are prepared by either a guest speaker, or one of the participants.

The aim of these meetings is to grow in our individual and shared faith and love in Christ, but also to meet each other and experience proper Dutch gezelligheid (hard to translate; something like sociability or conviviality, but even better).

After the study there is therefore a possibility to stay and discuss the study, your own life as a student, your favourite cup of tea, the latest football match, or anything else that dominates your thoughts.

If you want to know more about the next Bible study, please feel free to contact Dorien van den Berge.


Bible Study in the second half of 2022 and start of 2023

DateStudy subject
6 SeptemberWelcome to Utrecht
13 SeptemberNames of God
27 SeptemberNames of God
11 OctoberNames of God
25 OctoberNames of God
8 NovemberNames of God
22 NovemberProphecies in the Messiah
6 DecemberProphecies in the Messiah
20 DecemberProphecies in the Messiah
3 January 2023 Names of God
17 JanuaryNames of God
31 JanuaryNames of God

In the first half of 2022 we studied acts


Icon of the Ladder of Diving Ascent, St Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, 12th century
Icon of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, 12th century

The Bible Studies in the first half of 2019 were about the seven deadly sins. We had the following sessions:

  • 29 January 2019: Bible Study: Introduction to the vices
  • 12 February 2019: Bible Study: Pride
  • 26 February 2019: Bible Study: Vainglory
  • 5 March 2019: Pancake Tuesday – Short introduction on fasting
  • 19 March 2019: Dejection
  • 9 April 2019: Bible Study: Wrath
  • 23 April 2019: Bible Study: The Resurrection of Jesus
  • 21 May 2019: Bible Study: Sloth
  • 4 June 2019: Lecture about the existence of religious violence
  • 11 June 2019: Bible Study: Greed
  • 18 June 2019: BBQ and Gluttony
  • 25 June 2019: Concluding Activity (BBQ)
  • 2 July 2019: Lust

 

 

 

The Advent 2018 Bible Studies were based on the book ‘Advent for Everyone, a Journey through Matthew’ by the Anglican theologian N.T. Wright. We had the following four sessions:

  • Tuesday 27 November – Advent: A Time to Watch
  • Tuesday 4 December – Advent: A Time to Repent
  • Tuesday 11 December – Advent: A Time to Heal
  • Tuesday 18 December – Advent: A Time to Love

The 2017-2018 Student Bible Studies were about these topics:
In the 2017-2018 season the theme of our Bible Studies was ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5-7) These are some of the most famous works spoken by our Saviour Jesus Christ and we studied several topics from this sermon in our bible studies. It led us to a great variety in discussions about the sort of things this moral law commends us to as well as how we are to understand and apply this in our lives.

  • 21 November 2017: ‘Jesus saw the crowds, went up on a mountainside and began to teach them’
  • 5 December 2017: Sinterklaas and ‘Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’
  • 19 December 2017: The Kingdom of Heaven and Christmas
  • 9 January 2018: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’
  • 23 January 2018: ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth’
  • 6 February 2018: ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’
  • 13 February 2018: Pancake Tuesday
  • 20 February 2018: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy’
  • 6 March 2018: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God’
  • 20 March 2018: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’
  • 3 April 2018: ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’, ‘Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven’
  • 17 April 2018: ‘You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world’
  • 1 May 2018: The Law of Jesus and the Law of Moses
  • 15 May 2018: Loyalty and marriage
  • 29 May 2018: Loving your enemies
  • 12 June 2018: Giving
  • 26 June 2018: Concluding activity (BBQ)

The 2016-2017 Student Bible Studies were about these topics:
In the 2016-2017 season, we decided that our theme would be ‘The Nicene Creed’, a summary of the Christian faith that over the course of the centuries so often is expressed by Christians all over the world. We used this to go through the basic principles of the Christian faith and it led us to very interesting discussions about theoligical themes as well as about what these statements mean for our personal faith.

  • 6 December – Credo (I believe)
  • 10 January – God the Father
  • 24 January – God the Almighty
  • 7 February – Creator of Heaven and Earth, all things visible
  • 28 February – Pancake Tuesday and Lent Preparation
  • 14 March – We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God
  • 28 March – Creator of Heaven and Earth, all things invisible
  • 11 April – He came down from heaven for our salvation, He suffered death and was buried
  • 25 April – He rose again on the third day
  • 9 May – He ascended into heaven
  • 23 May – He will come again to judge the living and the dead
  • 6 June – And his kingdom will have no end
  • 27 June – Concluding activity

The 2015-2016 Student Bible Studies were about these topics:

We continued on discussing the sacraments which centred around questions like what are sacraments, what is the biblical basis, how did the church deal with sacraments and what can or do they mean for us. After an introduction we discussed the sacraments in eight separate sessions.

  • 8 February – Introduction into the sacraments
  • 12 April – Holy Baptism
  • 19 April – Holy Communion
  • 3 May – Confirmation
  • 17 May – Anointing of the sick
  • 31 May – Marriage
  • 14 June – Confession and Absolution
  • 28 June – Ordination

The theme of the Student Bible studies (2014-2015) has been the ‘virtues’.  During the studies from October to December 2014 we discussed the theological virtues (faith, hope, love) and in January-March 2015 we looked at the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, courage, temperance).  In the remainder of this season we began looking at the ‘vices’, as opposed to the virtues.  The idea is that a better understanding of these virtues and vices will help us both in making daily decisions and (foremost) in the forming of our character.  We also used the opportunity to reflect further on these subjects with the sermon on the Saturday night Prayer and Praise services (links for the sermons are found below).

The 2014-2015 Student Bible Studies were about these topics:

If you would like to read a little background on how the virtues relate to the soul, you can click here.