The CLP Bible Curriculum (formerly called Studying God's Word) was designed to provide elementary age kids with a solid foundation of Bible knowledge and basic doctrine. Written from a Reformed/Presbyterian perspective, the books seldom dwell on denominational distinctives. Reviews among users are mixed, but the general consensus is that while the books provide good information and content they are visually somewhat drab and unengaging. Over the last few years, CLP has updated their curriculum and changed out both the younger grades and older grades with entirely new books. As of winter 2023, the middle grades are finally getting an update. 

Books A-C have been replaced with the Bible Treasures series: Volume 1: Genesis to Ruth; Volume 2: 1 Samuel to Malachi, and Volume 3: New Testament. Books D-F will be replaced by early 2024 with the titles God's Plan for His People, Preparing God's People, and The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom. Books G and H have been replaced by the three book series called for 7th-9th grade called Journey Through the Bible 1-3.

How Do These Work?

Based on a 36-week school year, the Bible Treasures books for K-2 offer four Bible lessons and one review lesson per week, giving young students a fairly comprehensive and chronological overview of Bible stories. Designed to be read to the student(s), the lessons each include a Bible story (generally about a half page of smallish text, with occasional b/w or color pictures), and follow each story with Bible questions, thought questions, a memory verse, and catechism questions from the First Catechism from Great Commission Publications. The story questions can be easily answered in one or two words and kids may write their answers in the space provided, or you may have them answer orally. The review lessons at the end of each week measure if students have memorized their catechism questions and memory verse, and offer a fun activity. An answer key for the Bible questions is provided in the back of each book, but the thought questions are offered simply to help generate discussion.

God's Plan for His People, Preparing God's People, and The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom (now recommended at grades 3-5 instead of 4-6) are the most like the original Studying God's Word series, replacing books D-F. Studying God's Word D was originally a survey of the life of Christ, while E and F were a combined two year Old Testament survey. The new editions retain this purpose, and much of the original material, but have been revised in some fairly substantial ways. First, each level has three books instead of two: a quiz book has been added to the text and answer key. The texts have much better illustrations, though they are still sparse and black & white. And instead of the four-page weekly lesson format with assigned scripture, text, questions, and supplemental exercises, the lessons are broken up by day and the assignments are much more clearly laid out. So, the assignments look something like this:

• Day 1, read the lesson and answer the multiple choice review questions
• Day 2, read the Bible passage and answer those questions. The former KJV-based questions have been redesigned to allow any Bible translation.
• Day 3, fun activity and thought questions
• Day 4, review past lessons, or perhaps research the background of a book, or do additional Bible reading and more review questions.
• Day 5, review the week and take the quiz.

Journey Through the Bible 1-3, for grades 7-9, again go back to the OT for two years and revisit the NT in the final volume. Instead of the three book format you've grown accustomed to, these levels have four books: a main text, student exercises book, quiz book and answer key. The main text is not consumable, and includes all the reading, insets, background charts and occasional maps and diagrams. While the covers look engaging, there are no illustrations inside. The student exercise book is 160 days worth of questions based on either Bible reading or text lessons, with blanks to record answers. Quizzes and answer keys are self-explanatory.

Our Honest Opinion:

CLP's Studying God's Word books have been around a long time, and look it. They needed an update, and the new versions are mostly an improvement. But there remain a few issues. First, a new drawback: unless CLP brings back replacements for the original G & H books, which offered a two-year New Testament overview, this series will stay lop-sidedly OT focused. Second, the writing wasn't edited much and remains choppy and stilted at times. Third, the absence of any direct instruction concerning how to use commentaries, concordances or outside materials makes it difficult for the child to do outside research, though this could be addressed in later grades. Finally, the books don't focus on application, and content is limited strictly to what the Bible says; commentary is limited.

There are also distinct advantages, which easily balance the drawbacks. Lessons are easy to read and understand, and Scripture reading is assigned every week. They provide a variety of activities, from cutting and pasting, crossword and logic puzzles, to simple Greek translation. CLP has endeavored to keep their prices very low, so most of the books have a simple design and are in black and white. The teacher's guides are also inexpensive, offering brief introductions to each lesson and answer keys; quizzes are also available for grades 4 and up. For those who want their kids to be largely self-sufficient in their studies, Studying God's Word is a good series.

CLP doesn't really offer a cohesive course of study for high school students, recommending a variety of options, such as Bible courses from CSI (OT: Kingdom of God & NT: Ministry of Christ) or books they have published or reprinted on the Bible & doctrine (Stalker's Life of Christ, Berkhof's Manual of Christian Doctrine, or Talbot's and Crampton's Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism, and Arminianism. You are free to use any of these if you desire. We'd also recommend the Hays & Duvall text Grasping God's Word.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman (updated by Eli Evans)
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.