Lifeway Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, produces a wonderful quarterly magazine with articles on archaeology and historical backgrounds designed to supplement a Sunday School teacher's preparation. Every issue of Biblical Illustrator has around 20 or so articles tied to subjects in the Bible study curriculum in addition to at least one general article and one book review. The articles are intelligent without being too technical for the average teacher. And although they are not necessarily written with the student in mind, the magazine would be appropriate for the person in your Sunday School class who has a strong interest in history. The articles are usually written by experts in the field and are illustrated with pictures of archaeological finds, pictures from biblically-related sites, and ancient artwork

In the title I call Biblical Illustrator a hidden gem because I don't know how many Baptist Sunday School teachers are familiar with it. In fact, I think I'm the only person at my church who uses it. In the church I grew up in, Biblical Illustrator was standard fare among our teachers, but I haven't seen it used as widely in the churches of which I've been a part since coming to Kentucky.

Below is a listing of the contents from the current Fall issue of Biblical Illustrator. One thing you'll notice is that a number of different portions of the Bible are covered. Lifeway produces a variety of curriculums, and Biblical Illustrator provides background articles for three of them. If you've visited this blog in the last week or so, you'll know that the class I teach just started a study on the book of Hebrews. You'll note below that there are quite a few articles to aid my preparation, but I certainly don't mind having the other articles as well. I usually find myself reading the whole issue in addition to the articles from back issues available on the optional CDROM that I'll describe further down below.

Article Title	Author	Related Text
Daily Life in Biblical Times by Oded Borowski	McLemore, James D.	Book Review
The Veil	Bergen, Martha S.	Hebrews 6; 9-10
From Slaves to Soldiers	Harris, John L.	Joshua
What's for Supper? The First-Century Diet	Gritz, Sharon	Hebrews 5:11-6:12
"Better" in Hebrews	Booth, Steve	Hebrews
First-Century Gymnasiums and Exercise	Simmons, Billy E.	Timothy 4:6-16
Agricultural Metaphors in the New Testament	McCoy, Glenn	Hebrews 5:11-6:12
Why Are 1 and 2 Timothy So Different?	Weathers, Robert A.	1 and 2 Timothy
Who Were the "Officers"?	Jenkins, David L.	Joshua 1:1-15; 24:1-31
The Aim and Message of Hebrews	Smith, Argile A.	Hebrews
The Jordan River	Register, Dean	Hebrews 5:11-6:12
Life for the Babylonian Exiles	Hall, Kevin	Isaiah 40-55
Moses in the Book of Hebrews	Jackson, Paul N.	Hebrews
Genealogies, Myths, and Old Wives' Tales	Chambers, Andy	1 Timothy 1; 4; 2 Timothy 4
Seated at the Right Hand	Stewart, Don H.	Hebrews 8:1-9:28
Ai	Caldwell, Daniel P.	Joshua 7:1-25
In the Days of Ahaz	Newell, James	Isaiah 7:1-9:7
Seizing Property	Young, R. Garland	Hebrews 10:19-39
Ephesus Through Timothy's Eyes	Gregg, D. Larry, Sr.	1 and 2 Timothy
Ancient Weights and Anchors	Roark, C. Mack	Hebrews 6:13-7:28; 12:1-29
ArtiFACTS: Biblical Archaeology: Why Does It Really Matter Anyway?	Drinkard, Joel F., Jr.	General Article

But wait...there's even more. Not too long ago, someone at Lifeway had the great idea to make each issue available on CDROM. Now, if you get Biblical Illustrator Plus, you not only get every article in the print magazine in PDF form but also between sixty and seventy articles from back issues! Each time I get a new copy of Biblical Illustrator Plus, it's like a mini-Christmas for me. Although the CDROM comes with an interface that will run on either a Macintosh or Windows system, that's generally not the way I use it. I move all the articles to my hard drive sorted into folders named after books of the Bible. In merely a year's time, that gives me access to hundreds of articles that I can use not only in Sunday School but other teaching venues as well.

If you teach Sunday School in a Baptist church, this is a must-have resource. However, even if you aren't Baptist, you might find great value in Biblical Illustrator. Subscriptions per year cost $20.55 for the print copy and $34.55 for the CDROM. If you teach in your church, you may be able to ask your minister of education to order this resource for you.

For further information:
• Biblical Illustrator (Print)
• Biblical Illustrator Plus (CDROM)
• Complete Article Index (1974-2006)

Tags: Biblical Illustrator