Master of Theology Course Curriculum 2013

January 7-11   CH 993L  History of the Reformed Doctrine of the Atonement

Purpose:

• To examine some of the major Reformed writers on the doctrine of the atonement through a close engagement with primary sources.

• To examine how the Reformed defended biblical teaching on the atonement against its critics, especially Socinians.

• To consider the internal developments and disagreements within the Reformed doctrine of the atonement.

• To enable students to reflect upon the Reformed doctrine of the atonement in its most sophisticated forms with a view to teaching it today.

• To foster an appreciation of the value of the Reformed doctrine of the atonement for the contemporary church.

Topics Include:

The atonement doctrine of selected major authors from among Faustus Socinus, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Edwards Jr, Andrew Fuller, John McLeod Campbell, Hugh Martin, Charles Hodge, A. A. Hodge, and Robert L. Dabney. It works through this material highlighting the challenges that keep recurring and the continuity and points of divergence in answers provided to them.

Garry Williams

April 15 - 19  CH 773L Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Purpose:

• Study the theology and ethics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Use Bonhoeffer as a model for the task of historical theology
• Evaluate Bonhoeffer’s legacy for church life and discipleship today

Topics covered include:

• an overview of Bonhoeffer’s life and times
• an overview of his theology and ethics
• a look at his legacy, his heirs, and his interpreters
• Special attention will be given to Bonhoeffer’s time in London, a pivotal moment in the development of his thought.  This focus also offers a model for doing historical-theological work by  looking at his context and using his letters and unpublished material to shed light on his published works and the development of his thought.

Steve Nichols

July 1-5   ST 740L  The Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love

Purpose:

• To acquaint students with the exegetical, historical, and theological dimensions of the three theological virtues in Scripture and tradition
• To instruct students in the integration of biblical and systematic theological labors with questions in ethics and apologetics
• To model theological inquiry by exploring the problem of evil and suffering as illuminated in Scripture and tradition by the theological virtues
• To introduce and interact with contemporary voices in theological exegesis and ethics from the perspective of catholic, confessional Reformed theology

Topics include:

• the theological exegesis of the places in Scripture where the virtues triad is thought to occur, including the question of its origins; the virtues in the work of Augustine, Aquinas, Lombard, modern theology, and in contemporary virtue theorists and ethicists such as Stanley Hauerwas, Alisdaire MacIntyre, and Oliver O’Donovan; the relationship between the theological virtues and the problem of evil and suffering in Reformed theology; and the forms the theological virtues take in Church and Christian life.

Mark Garcia

August 26-30 ST953L Topics in the Doctrine of Salvation

Purpose:

• This course is designed to deepen understanding of the application of salvation applied to the church by the triune God in Christ, both in its central focus and comprehensive scope.

Topics covered include:

• Both the distinction and relation between the historia salutis and ordo salutis, the relation between common and saving grace, the covenantal context for the nature, benefits and pattern of union with Christ, historical approaches to the doctrine of salvation, contemporary issues in the doctrine of salvation, the relation between regeneration, faith and union with Christ, the definitive character of sanctification, the eschatology of justification, and a comparison and contrast between Lutheran and Reformed views of union with Christ in relation to justification. Special attention will be given from an exegetical perspective to the redemptive-historical character and systematic theological implications of reformed soteriology.

Lane Tipton

September 2-6  CH 830L - The Doctrine of the Church in Reformed Theology

Purpose: To familiarize the student with the theological foundations, principles and practices of ecclesiology in the Reformed tradition through historical theology as well as exegetical and systematic contributions.

Topics include:

• Resources to answer the ancient and modern challenges of sacramental, ecumenical, consumeristic and post-modern views of the church, and to defend—thoughtfully and winsomely—the conviction that the church visible is “the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ” and the “pillar and foundation of the truth.”

Craig Troxel