Making Bible Study Relevant in the Digital Age

As families from Panama City to Pensacola settle into the new school year, thousands of Panhandle residents will be focused on a different kind of education.

Jehovah's Witnesses are featuring a new interactive educational platform to help make Bible study more engaging and easier to understand: Enjoy Life Forever! — An Interactive Bible Course. This free publication, available in more than 700 languages on the Witnesses’ official website, jw.org, includes multimedia elements that encourage critical thinking and discussion between the student and instructor.

“I really like the way this publication helps me to teach,” said Kimberly Fagan. With the aid of various interactive components, she is able to draw out her student to express what she is “really feeling and thinking.”

Comments from those who conduct Bible studies in American Sign Language or foreign languages have also been positive. “The illustrations and videos in this publication make the Bible come to life in a way that appeals to the deaf and hard of hearing,” said Natalia Cintrón-Berrios, a volunteer minister in ASL. For Kateryna Artekha, who conducts a Bible study in Russian, the various videos and pictures have helped her student to “better understand lessons.” James Freeman studies with a person in Spanish and commented, “I like that there’s fewer paragraphs and more videos.” And regarding the Bible study she conducts with a woman in Tagalog (Philippines), Cristina Dela Cruz stated, “Because the format is very interactive…she is learning a lot.”

The digital version of Enjoy Life Forever! — An Interactive Bible Course contains quick-access links to scriptures and more than 200 videos. Printed copies are designed to be used with the app JW Library or jw.org to access the videos that make Bible study more approachable for everyone.

“Our approach is all about reaching people’s hearts by engaging their minds. This is how people learn,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have been publishing Bible study aids for more than a century. “Although we’ve always been about the printed page, we’ve adapted our methods to meet the needs of learners.”

Older learners have also benefited from this new format. Insoo Kang, who studies with a Korean man who is over 80 years old, stated, “Videos that highlight the main points have been a tremendous help.”

Carnegie Mellon University highlighted recent research findings on dynamic learning methods: “Engaging students through interactive activities, discussions, feedback and ... enhanced technologies resulted in improved academic performance compared to traditional lectures, lessons or readings.”

Also available on jw.org are self-paced online Bible study lessons that cover the subjects: the Bible and its Author, the Bible’s main characters and the Bible’s message of hope. All content on the website is free, without requiring registration or subscription.

For more information about how to get the most out of Bible reading and study, visit jw.org.