ABOUT THE EZRA PROJECT

To most Christians, Ezra is simply the name of an Old Testament book.  But the man who stands behind that holds a crucial place in God's plan for His people.  When the remnant of the nation of Israel returned from their long exile in Babylon, Ezra partnered with Nehemiah to set the spiritual direction for the Jews.

"To the Book!" was his cry.  He aimed to transform their lives by turning their attention to God's Word.  He was so successful that many have seen him as the first of the scribes, those lovers of the Law who gave themselves to teaching it.  Today we might call him the "Father of Bible Scholars."

The man riveted himself to a single purpose:  "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:10).

The 21st century needs a fresh generation of men and women like Ezra, people who will adopt the same purpose:
    1.  to study the Word of God 
    2.  to practice it themselves, and
    3.  to teach it to others.

The Ezra Project exists to promote that ideal in our day by producing and distributing materials that will help people study the Bible for themselves in the original languages -- not merely to accumulate knowledge, but to allow it to shape their minds and change their behavior.

The Bible is powerful, and if we let it do its work, it will transform people throughout the world!

The Ezra Project has begun with the goal of enabling Christians to learn how to study the Greek New Testament for themselves.  Will the Hebrew Old Testament come next?  If God makes it possible, we would love to broaden to include that goal.

Who Is John Bechtle?

Naturally, you will want to know something about the source of the information on this Web site:  Does this guy know what he's talking about? 

Dr. John Bechtle first learned Greek as a Bible college student back in 1967-8.  His teacher studied Greek under D. Edmond Hiebert, author of numerous reference works, and Hiebert got his start in Greek under A. T. Robertson, the leading Greek scholar of the early 20th century.  At least we are working in a proud lineage!

Dr. Bechtle majored in New Testament at Talbot Seminary, then completed a Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary.  His doctoral program focused on New Testament Greek, with an emphasis on educational psychology and its application to the learning of ancient languages.  As part of the program, he wrote a self-teaching textbook for beginning Greek, Greek Behind the Prof's Back.

He served as a professor and administrator at Arizona College of the Bible from 1972 to 1997, teaching Greek, Bible, and other related subjects.  He has also taught Greek and church history as an adjunct instructor for extensions of Talbot Seminary, Pacific Christian College graduate school, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, and Phoenix Seminary. 

John also spent over a year as an instructor of the Old Testament Walk Thru the Bible Seminar, as well as producing a daily Bible study radio program for the college.

Dr. Bechtle has been involved in writing projects, both scholarly and popular.  He did the research for the verse-by-verse commentary on Proverbs in the Holman Old Testament Commentary series edited by Dr. Max Anders.  He also participated in the Complete Biblical Library project, contributing Greek and Hebrew word studies and writing the commentary on 1 John-Jude.

For the last few years, he has served as Director of the Telos Institute International, a college-level distance learning program serving home school families.  He also serves as elder, teaches adult Sunday School, and participates in the music ministry of his local church in Indianapolis, Indiana.

info@ezraproject.com