Studying the Good Book

Bible Institute of Hawaii teachers emphasize learning about Jesus not only as a religious figure, but as a man

Throughout its 36 years in the islands, the Bible Institute of Hawaii has been able to help those on a personal quest for truth as well as those who want to become better Christian leaders.

The institute's purpose "is to serve the church, not replace it," says Clive Cowell, recently appointed executive director and a teacher. "Our attitude is to be a handmaiden to the church."

"I need to know God personally, and better than I do now. ... It's an issue of life and death." Ada Lum / Author and Bible Institute of Hawaii instructor, on what students learn in class

As a teacher at the Bible Institute for a year, "I want to get people passionate about the Bible" and influence how they live, said Cowell, a member and former administrator of the Honolulu Christian Church in Manoa.

The Bible Institute offers training and in-depth study yearly to more than 1,000 students from all walks of life. A nonprofit, interdenominational, evangelical organization based in Nuuanu, it holds classes at various locations around Oahu and occasionally on the neighbor islands. It sometimes joins with others ministries in special events and offers an average of 12 courses per quarter. Their classes, at $35 to $50 per course, are taught by about a dozen adjunct faculty members.

Ada Lum, an author and teacher with the institute since 1984 and the only full-time faculty member, said the people who attend the classes realize "I need to know God personally, and better than I do now," and that ultimately, "it's an issue of life and death."

The desire for deeper knowledge continues even for people her age -- 82 -- and she always learns something new while researching topics for her classes. Surprised to see two elderly friends attending a class, she joked, "I thought you knew everything by now." Her friend answered that hearing a recent sermon had "whet (her) appetite" to know other parts of the Bible, Lum said.

Lum has been a member for the Kalihi Union Church for about 70 years. She doesn't believe, as do many of today's young people, in "church-hopping. A church is family; you're loyal to your family."

Both Cowell and Lum find excitement in teaching about the wisdom and goodness of Jesus Christ as a man, not just as an icon of Christianity.

When she read the Book of John, Chapter 14, at age 13, Jesus practically "jumped off the pages at me," she said.

She realized then, "Wow -- that my family is not my ultimate security. It made me want to know more about him, and wondered how come more people didn't listen ... to this fascinating person."

Cowell said, "I would much rather show people Christ the person and what he does," instead of focusing on a doctrine of rights and wrongs. "I don't want just enough Jesus for comfort. Jesus challenges us in our comfort. He came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable," he added.

For some, being a Christian is a bit like being on the TV show "Love Boat" (1977-86) -- having a fun-filled, carefree life "while there's a whole world dying out there. Christ wants us to act like we're in a lifeboat, not the Love Boat," said Cowell, 44, a four-time cancer survivor.

Lum said throughout her years of teaching, students have brought up the spiritual issues that have plagued mankind for all time, foremost of which boils down to: Why does a loving God allow the innocent to suffer?

"There is answer after answer in the Bible ... (but whatever the circumstances) God is there in the long run; God's will is visibly experienced," she said.