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| About the Simeon Course |
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| What is the Simeon Course on Biblical Exposition? Why would I take this Course? How does the Course work? Who is the Course for? Who’s involved with it? Where can I take the Course? Can I take it for credit? When does it start? How much does the Course cost? How can I get involved? |
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| What is the Simeon Course on Biblical Exposition? The Simeon Course is an online training course for people who want to get better at studying and teaching God’s Word. It’s an online course in the sense that it involves watching instructional videos, interacting with others over the content, and integrating what you are learning into your own work—all by means of the Internet. It’s a training course in the sense that its aim is to help people not just learn the Bible better, but be able to preach and teach from the Bible better. We think the course is unique for three reasons: |
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| Quality of Instruction We have been working hard to get the best people we know on each subject we cover. Some of the instructors are well known and deservedly so. Others are relatively unknown (at least in the United States of America). The only question that has guided our selection process has been: “who will deliver the highest quality content on this subject?” As a result, our course features instruction from preachers and teachers like D.A. Carson, John Woodhouse, David Jackman, Graeme Goldsworthy, David Helm, Barry Webb, Kent Hughes and many others. Adaptability to Any Context This course can be done by anyone anywhere. All that is needed is an Internet connection. You can take classes in this course as an individual in a self-guided study track or as part of a group working together. Even if your church already has an internship program, the content of this course can be made available as supplementary material. Practicality of Content There are certain skills necessary for both studying and teaching the Bible. Our singular task is to assist you in acquiring these skills in as simple and straight-forward way as possible. Some of the skills are simple to obtain and others are more difficult. All of them are fundamental to preaching and teaching—the kind of skills to which you will return over and over again. |
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| Why would I take this Course? There are a lot of ways of getting training in the English-speaking world. Maybe your church has a training program. Maybe you are thinking of applying to seminary or some other kind of Bible program. Maybe you have your eye on a correspondence course that tackles an interesting topic or two. Our course is a little different. It’s about access and emphasis. Maybe you have no formal training and no means getting it. Our course gives you access to world-class instruction at a seminary level. And we have carefully selected this instruction to be the most critical for handling God’s Word well. But maybe you’ve been to seminary and you’re thinking: “this course is only going to cover things I already know.” Keep reading. We think that you’ll find that this course has a different emphasis than most seminaries and other training programs. It’s all about preaching. How does the Course work? There are courses. The first-year course is Biblical Exposition Through Literary Genre. The rationale for this class is that each kind of literature found in the Bible requires unique strategies for both understanding and teaching from within that genre. In other words, you would employ different techniques when teaching poetry rather than teaching epistles or apocalyptic literature. We are also in the process of developing and testing a second-year curriculum on the relationships between preaching and Biblical and systematic theologies. For each course, there are two tracks: the individual track and the group track. There are also a few different formats for the group track. More information can be found on the Course Formats page, but briefly: |
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| Individual This is the self-guided study track. It is for individuals who want to take the course at their own pace and on their own schedule. Homework is optional and the primary means for interacting over the content is through the Message Boards. Group (group format) This track is for groups of people who have a common bond (e.g. in the same church internship program or missionaries from the same church or a group of friends). Groups on this format will follow the Course syllabus and complete the assignments. The primary means of interaction will be group meetings either in person or via video-conferencing. Students taking the course in this format have the option of taking the course for graduate credit. Group (ad hoc group format) This track is functionally the same as the group format, but consists of individuals who enrolled with the intention of being put into a group. Groups on this format will follow the Course syllabus and complete the assignments. The primary means of interaction will be group meetings either in person or via video-conferencing. Students taking the course in this format have the option of taking the course for graduate credit. Corporate License (open license format) This format is for churches and other organizations that already have training programs and want to incorporate our content into their programs (e.g. church-planting courses or a church-based internship scheme). The open license grants comes with two major advantages: 1) access to our course materials to be used however you like and 2) access to our course director and coordinators to consult and advise on your program and how best to make use of the course materials. |
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| More information can be found on the Tracks/Formats page. Who is the Course for? It’s for anyone. From senior pastors to Sunday school teachers, from missionaries to seminary students, the course is for anyone interested in getting better at handling God’s Word. Whether you have no formal education, have been retired for many years, or are anywhere in between, it might be for you. Who’s involved with it? The Simeon Course on Biblical Exposition is an initiative of the Charles Simeon Trust. But in order to elevate the quality of this course to be among the best in the world, we have partnered with seasoned pastors and experienced professors. Already involved in providing the instruction for the first-year course are D.A. Carson, John Woodhouse, David Jackman, Barry Webb, David Helm, Kent Hughes and a few others. The second-year course will feature Graeme Goldsworthy, Phillip Jensen and many more preachers and teachers. You can find more information about who is involved on the Course Instructors page. Where can I take the Course? You can take it from anywhere in the world. From your office to your living room, all you will need is a reasonably high-speed Internet connection and enough bandwidth to download the videos each week. Can I take it for credit? Yes. We have a relationship with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School to offer our course for graduate credit. When does it start? The answer to this question depends on the track. The first groups will be given access to the first unit of the first-year curriculum in conjunction with the public launch of the course on September 24, 2009 (the 250th birthday of Charles Simeon). Each unit of the first-year curriculum will be rolled out as the year progresses. New groups can start the course whenever they are ready to get started. Individuals who want to participate in ad hoc groups will be coordinated by the course director (contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Individuals and open license holders can begin whenever they want. How much does the Course cost? The answer to this question also depends on the track. Check out the tuition schedule for more information. Can I take this course for credit? Yes you can. Through a partnership with the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, we are able to offer the course to some students for graduate credit. More information about this partnership and the requirements for students wanting credit can be found on the accreditation page. How can I get involved? First, you will want to make a decision about which track you want to take. After that, the easiest way to get involved is to complete the online Enrollment Application. Of course, if you have any questions, you will definitely want to get in touch with us first. You can contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on the telephone at 773-752-9876. |
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