Building Bridges: A Cross-disciplinary Experiment in Adult Education

Biblical texts and ancient Near Eastern pictorial images and material culture are separated by thousands of years from people living in the 21st century. This not only represents a temporal divide, but also a significant ideological (or worldview) divide. Following a brief introduction to important principles of adult-educational theory, this article describes an experiment of using ancient Near Eastern images and material culture to connect modern, often secular, people to the world of the Bible. It suggests that these images represent helpful means to initiate a truly cross-cultural conversation, linking 21st-century people (outside of academia) to the concerns and issues of those living in the biblical world.