EFM

Year 1 Chapter 1

The Old Testament

Summary:

This chapter provides a framework for the coming study by scanning the highlights of Israel’s history from its beginnings until just before the birth of Jesus. Then it discusses the writing, organization, and canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Year 2 Chapter 1

Listening to the Gospel

Summary:

The first lesson for Year Two is an introduction to the heart of the New Testament, the Gospels. This is done through the shortest of the Four Gospels, the Gospel According to Mark.

Year 3 Chapter 1

The First One Thousand Eight Hundred Years:

The Agenda Develops

Summary:

Welcome to the first lessons of EFM Year Three. This is a summery lesson to introduce the subject of Church History. The Bible is the basis of the study for the first two years of EFM. Now sources for the story of God’s interaction with the people of God become more diffused and scattered over nearly 2000 years of history. They finally merge with our own story, our personal biographies, for we are the continuation of the Church. This lesson introduces the subject matter of Church History through the beginning of the modern era, roughly 1800 CE. The next two centuries and our own are the subject matter of EFM Year Four.

Year 4 Chapter 1

Revolution in Philosophy

Summary:

The first two chapters of Year Four are complex because they delve deeply into a revolution that originates in philosophy. The way we approach “how we think” changed and helped foster the rise of science, a new emphasis on history, and a new perspective on the universe that is still evolving. This chapter introduces the movement of philosophy from the modified medieval deductive approach of Descartes through the beginnings of the new inductive approach that would usher in the scientific method. The chapter introduces the work of Francis Bacon and the rise of science based on observations and analyses that produce general hypothesis. The chapter then introduces the methods proposed by Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz. It concludes with the gauntlet thrown down by the skepticism of David Hume.