Description
President Jimmy Carter’s personally annotated Sunday School Teaching Guide from Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. From his teachings in September-December of 2006.
Octavo, 128pp. Illustrated pamphlet, bound at spine with staples. Light soiling to outer edge of text block. Curvature at the spine due to the publication process. This copy is signed by President Jimmy Carter on the cover. It includes copious notes from his Sunday School lectures, including references to Ayatollah Khomeini, notes on sex and fertility in the Bible, and a comment that “We forget awesome status of Jesus.” Provenance: From a member of the Maranatha Baptist Church community, with close ties to the church and the Carter Family of Plains, GA.
Former President Jimmy Carter began teaching Sunday School in Plains, GA, after returning home from the Navy. His father, Earl Carter, had done the same when Carter was a child. While in Washington, President Carter would teach Sunday School a few times per year at the Washington First Baptist Church, without informing the public. After his time in the White House, he returned to Plains and joined the Maranatha Baptist Church. While there are only 30 active members of his church, his Sunday School teachings draw visitors from around the world. He begins each service asking where the congregation has traveled from, then recounts his recent travels, which are referenced in this pamphlet. He has used this general lesson guide from Smyth & Helwys Publishing since 1991. Of the Sunday School lectures, Carter says: “…it is a pleasure for me to study the suggested Scripture, consider how best to present the lesson, read some commentaries, and try to connect the Bible subject with current events… I have also discovered during these years of teaching that it is better for me to avoid preaching or lecturing and to assume that we are all exploring the meaning of the text on an equal basis.”
