Do I really know God?

Have you ever wondered if you really know God? Have you ever stopped to think, "Is this just my parent's faith? Or am I just accepting what my church has taught me without wondering what I think is true?" Can we simply live a life based on other's study of the Bible and God? Is it important for me to think about my own methods of coming to conclusions about who God is for my own walk with God? How do I know which method to use? How do I allow both general and specific revelation inform my beliefs about God? Our class will be addressing these questions as we dive into the process of how we come to right beliefs and conclusions about God and how these beliefs inform our behaviors.

We will be taking 3 Classes this Semester. Here is our first class:

Theology 1: Introduction- Revelation & Nature of God

We will be studying the nature, method, and rationale of Christian Theology. Revelation, both general and special, inspiration, canonicity and illumination of Scripture. The doctrine of God, including His existence, attributes and Trinitarian nature.

Books

         

1. To Know and Love God by David K. Clark
2. Christian Theology by Millard Erickson
3. Surrender to Love by David Benner
4. Selected readings from articles on Blackboard


Week 1 Class Highlights

In the study of theology it is important to practice both intellectual humility, being able to admit our limitations and interdependence, and intellectual courage, being able to stand up, to proclaim, to maintain the conviction of the truth of our beliefs. How we study a topic is as important as the subject of study. Our approach and our response forms us just as much as the text. Theological study must move into my personal situation, it must become a part of my experience. To do this, we exercise the discipline of Spiritual Theology, a branch of theology that takes human and christian experience more broadly as data for studying theology, with the Bible being the highest authority. So our lives become the petri dish and our faith the experiment in the laboratory of God's world. 

Week 1 Assignment, due Sept. 16

1. Process Paper, 2-3 pages discussing:
-Why is it important to come to theological conclusions in a careful, rigorous, and sound way?
-Give 1 example of how a theological conclusion either positively or negatively impacted your Christian life?

2. Reading: Erickson p.3-44; Clark p.33-57