About this site
This site exists primarily to support a local Bible study by providing structured lesson materials, charts, and reference documents in a clear and accessible format. Over time, it has also become a way to make those same materials available to anyone who wishes to study along independently. All content here is intended to encourage careful reading of Scripture, thoughtful engagement with historical context, and a steady, unhurried approach to biblical study.
The materials on this site are provided freely and without charge. They may be downloaded and used for personal study, group discussion, or teaching purposes. Where charts, diagrams, or graphical materials are included, they are shared with the understanding that they remain unmodified and retain their original attribution. This helps preserve clarity, accuracy, and proper context, while allowing the material to be shared responsibly.
About David Melvin
My approach to Scripture has been shaped by many years of sustained study in historical theology and cultural analysis, with particular attention to how the Bible has been understood, taught, and lived across centuries. I am drawn to the long memory of the Christian faith—how earlier believers wrestled with the text, endured pressure, and maintained fidelity in times of cultural stability as well as decline. That historical grounding has convinced me that careful, patient reading of Scripture is not a limitation, but a safeguard.
Over time, I have worked through the major interpretive frameworks that have influenced modern eschatology, including preterist, historicist, and idealist approaches. Each offers insights, but each also introduces constraints that, in my judgment, fail to account fully for the plain sense of the text. I have come to believe that a literal, dispensational, futurist, evangelical framework best preserves the integrity of Scripture, allowing prophecy to speak as prophecy, history as history, and doctrine as doctrine, without forcing the text into categories shaped by later assumptions.
In parallel with biblical study, I have developed a deep interest in the rise, maturation, and decline of civilizations. History demonstrates that societies follow recognizable patterns, often driven by moral, spiritual, and cultural forces rather than merely economic ones. These patterns are not abstract theories; they are visible realities, many of which appear to be unfolding again in our own time. This convergence of biblical theology and civilizational history has shaped both an ongoing writing project, From Dominion to Dust, and a series of long-form essays published on my Substack, Thresholds of History, where I explore historical patterns, cultural thresholds, and the lessons they offer for the present moment.
The same sensibility informs the lessons on this site: Scripture studied seriously, history taken honestly, and conclusions drawn with humility rather than haste. The purpose here is not to persuade through credentials or novelty, but to provide clear, structured Bible study that respects both the text and the reader. My hope is that these materials help others read Scripture more confidently, think more clearly about the times we live in, and remain anchored in truth when cultural currents grow unstable.
I also write periodically on Substack, exploring historical patterns and cultural thresholds in greater depth.