Tuesday Night Bible Studies

On Tuesday nights, we have a Bible study here at the Bible school. Several church members come regularly, and it's a good time for fellowship. It's also a good thing to invite any of our students who are interested in the Bible to, as it is less of a major step than going to church. It is a smaller group, and in a familiar place.

Alfredo, one of the church members, is teaching a series on the ten commandments right now. Greg, one of the Avanti workers, is helping out, too. This past Tuesday night, Greg led a discussion on the commandment about keeping the Sabbath. We talked about why God thought a day of rest would be good for his people, and what the Jewish ideas of the Sabbath are. I don't think I posted about it, but a few weeks ago we all went to the Jewish temple on a Saturday morning and attended a service, to see what it is like. We were invited to stay for their Shabat meal afterwards, too. We all learned a lot about the Jewish way of seeing the world, and it gave us a new understanding of what it takes to try to keep the Law of Moses. I'll write a post about that experience soon.

The ten commandments have been an interesting study (well, for the group in general; they are becoming more and more interesting as I begin understanding more and more of the lesson!) because they are probably the most recognizable teaching of the Bible. Even people who know almost nothing about the Bible have heard of the ten commandments. However, most people don't really know what the commandments meant, or what they mean to us now in the Christian era. It is also good to discuss these fundamentals because we have such a diverse group of people and cultures and religions here in Florence. Many people have a Catholic background, but there are also Jews, Muslims, protestant Christians of many types, and a growing number of Buddhists. One woman who comes fairly regularly, who was baptized in the Romanian Orthodox church, found the teachings on graven images interesting. I don't know what point I'm trying to make exactly; I just wanted to share what we are studying here and a little bit of what goes on.

The picture in this post of is Via Armando Spadini, the street we live on. The Bible school is the second building on the right, in between the house with the red roof and the one with the scaffolding.