- 5 stars: 4 (67%)
- 4 stars: 1 (17%)
- 3 stars: 1 (17%)
- 2 stars: 0 (0%)
- 1 star: 0 (0%)
I actually started reading/learning the Book of Hebrews from a non-demoninational church, but frankly the presenter was just so boring it didnt capture my attention. Both Jeff and Dr. Swafford are always engaging and Dr Swafford explained the Book of Hebrews that has given me a new apprectiation for the Catholic faith. This book makes me not only want to completely surrender myself to Jesus, but makes me want to become a prayer warrior. It was very inspirational and look forward to all of the other studies.
While I chose the study of Hebrews because Jeff Cavins, Andrew Swafford carried the lessons with incredible passion and wisdom. His teaching about how we now can live a life of sainthood and salvation through the body and blood of Christ is very convincing and inspiring which gift I hope and pray will inspire and enable me through Jesus to put God above all in my life. I believe his work will help motivate me in my "late-in-life" calling over the last 3-4 years (now 62) to "Unite the Children of Abraham," and more importantly, help those especially blessed, gain and build their faith and trust in God above all else. I am among those of us exceptionally blessed American "Baby Boomers" perhaps most at risk, understanding that a camel will have an easier time getting through the "eye of the needle" than many in my cohort could have in entering the Kingdom of God. I also understand that with God, all things are possible, and Andrew Swafford helped reinforce my faith and trust in God and pursue his calling with vigor.
Different from Other Studies
Our parish audience includes Catholics with different levels of Old Testament Biblical knowledge. It would be helpful if the study did not format it for a university setting. Jeff Cavins annd Edward Sri have speaking styles more accessible to Catholic audiences and is less academic. Furthermore, this study, unlike other Ascension sessions, did not include visuals and art supplementing the material so was simply lectures and Bible citations at a fast speed. Bible study leaders had to supplement the material and catechists had to re-explain what Ascension usually singularly provided. The workbook was unnecessarily complicated. Ascension publishes Bible text - inclusion of excerpts in questions would have focus on deeper spiritual reading for the study rather than constantly flipping through the Bible, Especially with Hebrews, imagery from Jerusalem and the Old Testament would have improved the study and understanding of content. The content matched Ascension’s quality of Bible Studies but style of speaker, video, and text the was far inferior.
I admit, I have been doing bible studies for over 10 years continuously (mostly Ascension) but this study was the hardest. One almost has to be a theologian to understand much of the content. Still, it "raised the bar" of study for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it and would appreciate more from Andrew and Jeff.
This is such a great study and my learnings about the mass and especially about the Eucharist are profound! I could never have understood it as much as I did here on my own. Thank you Dr. Andrew Swafford and Jeff Cavins!
I appreciate the buttons to slow down the speed on Dr. Swafford's talks and turn on closed captions. He gives so much information very fast that at first I could not keep up with my hearing issues and my brain processing it all. The variable speed just one speed slower made a huge difference for understanding and comprehension. I actually went back and found points I had missed on the regular speed!