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.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Understanding of the principal doctrines of the Christian faith is vital to the church's preaching & teaching ministry, as well as informing Christian living. Knowledge of traditional central affirmations & contemporary options is especially important today when scientific models bring challenges regarding God's relationship to the created order and our identity as human beings.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will become familiar with the basic doctrinal loci relating to revelation, the doctrine of God, and theological anthropology, that they might know the classic components of these loci, see how they are related to other aspects of Christian doctrine, and better understand what they believe and why. Students will have explored a variety of theological options through diverse reading choices, and they will be exposed to theologians from differing cultural backgrounds, in order that they might appreciate how their own and others' cultural location and theological orientation affect theological formulations. Students will also be able to apply what they have learned to common problems one encounters in ministry settings and in Christian living.

COURSE FORMAT: 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.

REQUIRED READING: Choose at least one:

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

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

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.

AND AT LEAST ONE: Gutiérrez, G. The God of Life. Orbis, 1991; or Evans, J. We Have Been Believers: An African-American Systematic Theology. Fortress, 1992; or Kitamori, K. Theology of the Pain of God. Wipf and Stock, 2005; or Kapolyo, J., The Human Condition. IVP, 2005.

Choose one, if desired ( sections relevant to Theology 1 only. Note: none of these is required.):

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.

Placher, William C., ed. Essentials of Christian Theology. Westminster John Knox, 2003.

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

Davis, S., ed. The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity. Oxford U.P., 2002.

Hick, John. Evil and the God of Love. Macmillan, 2007.

Jacobs, Alan. Original Sin: A Cultural History. HarperOne, 2008.

Jewett, P. 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.

Tiessen, Terrance. Providence and Prayer: How Does God Work in the World? InterVarsity Press, 2000.