DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to provide a resource for Christian thought, life, and ministry by examining Christian beliefs about revelation, reason, and faith; the nature and authority of Scripture; the existence of God and the way we think about divine attributes; the Holy Trinity; creation and providence; human beings as the image of God; the fall and sin.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students completing this course will have examined the topics noted in the Description in light of classical and contemporary thought. (2) They will have reviewed different interpretations of Scripture and its application to these topics. (3) They will have been encouraged to develop a method for identifying and addressing theological questions and to think for themselves. (4) They will have completed assignments which stress the importance of precise writing, logical expression, and the value of preserving written records. (5) They will have been challenged by the cross-cultural component of the course which includes writing a book report on a book chosen from a list of non-western writers.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: Students are encouraged to think for themselves theologically on fundamental issues of Christian life and ministry as they affect their own tradition and other traditions.

COURSE FORMAT: The class meets twice weekly for two-hour sessions for lectures and discussion.

REQUIRED READING: Course Syllabus.

RECOMMENDED READING: There is no set textbook. Students are encouraged to read widely from a variety of primary and secondary texts. Selected works will be placed on reserve in McAlister Library. Further details of literature are given in the Course Syllabus. The following are recommended.

Brown, C. Christianity and Western Thought. Vol. 1: From the Ancient World to the Age of Enlightenment. InterVarsity Press, 1990.

_______. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 4 vols. Zondervan, 1986.

_______. "Trinity and Incarnation: In Search of Contemporary Orthodoxy." Ex Auditu 7 (1991): 83-100.

Clines, D. J. A. "Humanity as the Image of God in Man." In On the Way to the Postmodern. Sheffield Academic Press, 1998, 2:447-97.

Cooper, John W. Body, Soul and Life Everlasting. Eerdmans, 2000.

Ferguson, S. B. and Wright, D. F., eds. New Dictionary of Theology. InterVarsity Press, 1988.

Jewett, Paul K. with Marguerite Shuster. Who We Are: Our Dignity as Human. A Neo-Evangelical Theology. Eerdmans, 1996.

Lane, Anthony N.S., ed. The Unseen World: Christian Reflections on Angels, Demons and the Heavenly Realm. Baker, 1996.

Moreland, J. P. & S. B. Rae. Body & Soul: Human Nature & the Crisis in Ethics. InterVarsity, 2000.

Schaff, P. The Creeds of Christendom. 3 vols. 1877; reprint ed. Baker, 1983, and later reprints.

Swinburne, Richard. The Evolution of the Soul. Rev. ed. Clarendon Press, 1977.

_________. Providence and the Problem of Evil. Clarendon Press, 1998.

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