Short Courses
Course Title: Apocalypse, Empire and Palestine
Course Description:
Apocalypse, Empire and Palestine is an important course that challenges the participant to read the Book of Revelation from a new perspective. As John in Revelation warns Christians to come out of the corruption and idolatry of the Roman Empire in his day, so Christians today are called to come out of and resist empire – those political structures that oppress the marginalized and compromise Christian life. Lecturer J. Nelson Kraybill, president emeritus of Anabaptist Biblical Seminary in his five thought provoking lectures asks questions such as, what does apocalyptic mean? Are you in bed with the beast? Will you worship empire or the Living God? How do we come out from empire? How will the nations be healed? Kraybill boldly brings these questions to bear on the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
This is an excellent course for adult study in local churches, as well as an addition to an academic program in peace studies, New Testament studies, and more.
Course Delivery:
This course is delivered on the educational platform, ItsLearning. The course is fully asynchronous; that is, participants can access the pre-recorded video lectures and readings at their own convenience.
Participants may take his course for credit by registering here, or as a self-guided audit course, by a short registration here.
The cost for taking this course for audit individually is $50.
The cost for taking this course for credit is $240 (for 1.5 credits).
The cost for group study for audit may be discussed with the BIPJ.
Course Title: The Stones Cry Out
Course Description:
The Stones Cry Out is an eight -part video series recorded at various sites in the Holy Land. The locations include the Herodium, Beersheba, Tel AlSultan (Jericho), Jaffa, Mt. Gerizim, En Gedi, Herod’s Palace (Jerusalem), and Caesarea. The series was filmed by the media department at Bethelhem Bible College during the twelve months immediately before the outbreak of the war in Gaza in 2023. Each episode, recorded on location, features peace and justice themes related to biblical narratives. The presenters for the series are Dr. Jack Sara, President of Bethlehem Bible College and Dr. Nelson Kraybill, President Emeritus of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary.
The Stones Cry Out is especially tailored to adult education learners in congregations, small groups, or other non-academic settings where a teacher guides participants in viewing the videos and discussing questions from the study guides or other themes brought by the teacher.
Another level of participation in the course is for Master’s level students who take a “deep dive” into relevant scripture passages, consult commentaries and other academic resources, and author substantial essays responding to questions in the study guides. Two graduate academic credits may be earned through the course. (This level of the course is under development and will be available for the spring semester of 2025.)
Course Delivery:
The BIPJ delivers the course on the educational platform, ItsLearning. The course is fully asynchronous; that is, participants can access the pre-recorded video lectures and readings at their own convenience.
Participants may register for this self-guided course through a short registration process here.
The tuition for an individual to take this course is $100 for audit (non-academic track), and $240 for academic credit (2 credits).
For those taking the course as part of a church program the base tuition is $150 for a group of twenty people or under. For groups larger than this we are happy to discuss with you an appropriate tuition level.
Stand-Alone Lectures
The Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice welcomes you to view our Stand-Alone Lectures. These lectures are independent of our courses and communicate the values of the BIPJ. To view the lectures, we invite you to fill out a simple registration form which gives you access to all the of the Lectures with no cost. You may find the registration here
Lecture 1 Title: The Two Joshuas of Jericho, by Nelson Kraybill, PhD.
Description: This innovative lecture compares Joshua’s command to destroy all of humanity in Jericho and Jesus’ (Joshua) redeeming of Zacchaeu
Lecture 2 Title: The Land, Abraham, and Blessing the Nations by Andrew F. Bush, M.A., Diplôme Eleve, DMin
Description: This lecture asks, what is the purpose of the land promise to Abraham and how does this promise relate to the the mandate that through Abraham and his descendants all nations will be blessed?.
Lecture 3 Title. Israel, Jesus, and Blessing the Nations, by Andrew F. Bush, M.A., Diplôme Eleve, DMin. Description: This lecture asks explores how although ancient Israel failed in its mission to bless the nations by making God’s name known through
living a just life, Jesus succeeded. Jesus took the initiative to bless the social outcast within Israeli society, and bless the Gentiles outside Israel
Lecture 4 Title: Academic Symposium – Normalization or Resistance: Palestinian Christian Responses to Oppression
Description: This is a more than three hour symposium which was conducted in April 2023. Speakers include: Muther Isaac, Nelson Kraybill, Mitri Raheb, and Salim Munayer.
Lecture 5 Title: Bethlehem Bible College And Gurukul Lutheran Theological College & Research Institute, Chennai, India
Indo-Palestinian Theological Conversations