Some pieces are missing from our study of the Bible.
Paraclete associate Regina Manley has spent a lifetime—and most recently seven years—searching for them.
She’s found some in the classroom. She’s taken classes in literacy and orality and most recently completed her doctorate in adult education at Boise State University. But some she’s discovered in the jungles of Ecuador and in communities as far flung as South Asia and Papua New Guinea.
The first missing piece? Stories.
About two-thirds of the world are reportedly oral learners. Unlike literate, book-reading learners, they prefer learning socially—through friends, TV, and audio books. So, what does that mean for Bible study? The Bible can be taught to them orally, though stories, Manley said. She’s developed StoryFire, an online course that trains people to teach and disciple others by telling of Bible stories and then discussing them.
She also collaborates with Spoken® Worldwide which also uses Bible stories as the core curriculum for pastors and leaders to teach in their culture.
“In a three-year period, the leaders study important passages of the whole Bible in their unwritten mother tongue,” she said. “The relevance is amazing.”
Solitary Bible study and pastors preaching from the pulpit have their place, especially on an intellectual level but often there is a disconnect between head and heart. Oral learning may be a bit slower, but it also more alive.
“Scripture comes alive when people experience a Bible storytelling dynamic,” she said. “It’s really interactive. It impacts a person more holistically—in the emotional, relational, practical sides of our personality.”
Training oral learners helped Manley discover another missing piece so that Bible study can lead to true discipleship. Community. Or as Manley calls it, “social learning.” And this piece is not just important for illiterate learners in small indigenous villages. It’s the missing link for modern, western people, too.
“It is difficult to move teachers and preachers to adapt to the importance of social learning,” she said. “Our western society is somewhat relationally stunted and we have become much more after two years of COVID. We really need to teach one another within the church how to be more connected, interdependent and supportive.”
Individuals learn within communities; they learn from each other. It is time to capitalize on these avenues of communication.
“What it means is a greater interactive, socially dynamic approach to this relationship with God, His word, and the Holy Spirit, both at the Bible school, and seminary levels,” she said. “People come out with a false idea that if they know more, they are more spiritual. That’s a grave error. It’s our growing passion for Christ and our greater ability to obey Him that brings spiritual growth.”
These are the pieces she hopes to bring to churches, seminaries, and the villages that taught her in the first place.
“What does it matter if our intellect is tickled if we’re not in community where there’s accountability for obeying Scripture?” she said. “Oral/social learning recognizes that God is speaking and every single person has a piece to contribute to the puzzle of what He is saying to our group—our community.”