DESCRIPTION:

This is an introductory course on theology and anthropology, including revelation and Scripture, the triune God, creation, providence, the nature of humankind, the fall, and sin.

Understanding of the principal doctrines of the Christian faith is vital to the preaching and teaching ministry of the church, as well as informing Christian living. Knowledge of traditional central affirmations and contemporary options in understanding the doctrines of God and humankind is especially important in a day when scientific models challenge many traditional viewpoints regarding God's relationship to the created order and our identity as human beings.

The class will meet for two hours twice a week for ten weeks for lecture and discussion. The required reading is designed specifically to address issues that receive lesser attention in lectures.

Bouma-Prediger, Steven. For the Beauty of the Earth. Baker, 2001.

Brown, C. That You May Believe. Wipf & Stock, 1996.

Gutiérrez, Gustavo. The God of Life. Orbis, 1991; or Evans, J. We Have Been Believers: An African-American Systematic Theology. Fortress, 1992.

Jewett, Paul K. Selected Readings in Racial Prejudice (photocopied material).

Van Till, Howard J., et. al., Portraits of Creation: Biblical and Scientific Perspectives on the World's Formation. Eerdmans, 1990 (published on demand).

Wink, Walter. The Powers that Be: Theology for a New Millennium. Doubleday, 1999; or Naming the Powers. Augsburg Fortress, 1984; or Unmasking the Powers. Augsburg Fortress, 1993.

Choose one, if desired (sections relevant to Theology 1):

Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. New ed. Eerdmans, 1996.

Grenz, Stanley. Theology for the Community of God. Eerdmans, 2000.

Oden, Thomas. The Living God. HarperCollins, 1992.

Augustine. The City of God. Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Davis, Stephen, ed. The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity. Oxford University Press, 2002.

Helm, Paul. The Providence of God. InterVarsity Press, 1994.

Hick, John. Evil and the God of Love. St. Martin's Press, 1997 (out of print, on reserve).

Jewett, Paul K. God, Creation, and Revelation. Eerdmans, 1991 (books on demand or Wipf & Stock, 2000).

__________. Who We Are: Our Dignity as Human. Eerdmans, 1996 (books on demand).

LaCugna, Catherine. God for Us: The Trinity and the Christian Life. HarperCollins, 1993.

Shuster, Marguerite. The Fall and Sin: What We Have Become as Sinners. Eerdmans, 2004.

Many additional titles will be on reserve.

1,500 pages of reading, selected from required reading and titles in the recommended or reserve lists, which represent many points of view. Midterm and final examinations. Optional extra credit paper.