Course Descriptions
NEW: We Believe in the Church (THE512 – 3 credit hours)
This course is a deep dive into the Biblical doctrine of ecclesiology (the doctrine of the Church) in scripture. We will explore the foundational aspects of the Church throughout the Old and New Testaments, the relationship of the Church to the Kingdom and the Covenants, the government of the Church, the marks of the Church, the offices of the Church, the means of grace, and the sacraments of the Church (baptism and the Lord’s supper). Gaining a solid understanding of ecclesiology is crucial to Christian life and ministry. This course requires graduate-level readings, spiritual formation activities, faculty tutorials, and engagement with a local mentor to understand and apply the theology of the church to Christian witness and service.
The Gospels (BIB505 – 3 credit hours)
The four gospels are key books of the Bible, since they narrate the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, Jonathan Pennington has described the Gospels as ‘a canon within the canon,’ the climax of the Bible’s redemptive drama. Each evangelist offers a unique perspective with some shared and some unique communicative aims for describing the life of Christ to their original audience(s). This course examines those aims and explains the historical background, literary structure, main contents, and major themes of each gospel. Integrating the lecture series, The Gospels, produced by Third Millennium Ministries and hosted by Dr. Pete Alwinson, this course requires graduate level readings, spiritual formation activities, faculty tutorials, and engagement with a local mentor to study the life of Jesus and his proclamation and practices of the reign of God. These are demonstrated in four unique perspectives. Students will consider how Jesus himself used parables and symbolic actions not only to reveal his identity as Christ, the Son of God, but also to train his followers how to participate as citizens in the kingdom of God.
Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament (BIB501 – 2 credit hours)
This course gives a brief survey of the Old Testament, examining the themes of kingdom, covenants, and canon. Students learn that the Old Testament is not a random amalgam of episodes, genealogies and prophetic tidbits. Instead, it is unified around the central theme of the kingdom of God which was administered through covenants and applied to life through the Old Testament as a “canon,” or rule of life in covenant with Israel’s God. This course, based on the lecture series, Kingdom, Covenant, & Canon of the Old Testament, produced by Third Millennium Ministries and presented by Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr., requires graduate level readings, spiritual formation activities, faculty tutorials, and engagement with a local mentor to understand and apply the covenantal structure and patterns of the Old Testament canon to life and ministry in the new covenant.
Discipleship Practicum: Worship (MIS501 – 1 credit hour)
This practicum explores the scriptural elements of Christian worship, the history of its theological development, and its practice in a variety of cultural contexts. While the ministry of Word and Sacrament lies at its core, corporate worship reenacts the Gospel in other ways as well, including confession of sin and assurance of pardon, and our offer of ourselves, our gifts, both spiritual and material, and our praises and prayers back to God. This course uses graduate level readings, discussion forums, faculty tutorials, mentor meetings, and ministry activities to provide you with opportunities to worship God in different contexts and to reflect on practices of worship through the lens of Scripture, theology, and the history of the Christian mission where you serve.
