Although the Old Testament makes up the first 70% of the Christian Bible, it is often neglected in corporate teaching and personal study. The temporal distance, cultural differences, unfamiliar content, and difficult topics create obstacles to hearing this portion of Scripture as God’s Word for us as Christians. The aim of this class is to provide you with the resources to overcome these obstacles by fostering familiarity with the content and the setting of the Old Testament as well as by providing an interpretive framework that reveals the main theological contributions of the Old Testament to Christian thought and practice.
An overview of the Old Testament, tracing its teaching with respect to biblical content and theological framework.
- Teacher: Cooper Smith
In his classic book The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer explains, “What comes into our minds when we
think about God is the most important thing about us. . . . For this reason, the gravest question before
the Church is always God himself, and the portentous fact about any man is not what he may at a given
time say or do but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.” This course offers an
opportunity to broaden and deepen your understanding of the God whom we love and worship.
To this end, we will explore Christian teaching regarding the nature and attributes of God, the persons of
the Trinity, the inspiration and authority of Scripture, and the person and work of the Holy Spirit. You
will better understand how one God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You will
gain greater confidence in Scripture as the inspired, truthful, authoritative, sufficient and powerful Word
of God. You will discover how the Holy Spirit enables you to grow in conformity to the image of Christ
and empowers God’s people to bear witness about Christ to the ends of the earth. We will examine these
doctrines as they are taught in Scripture and confessed by the church so that we may better live to the
glory of the triune God (2 IBS credits – Theology and Apologetics).
- Teacher: Bradley Anderson
- Teacher: Christy Thornton
Old Testament Survey - This course will explore the message of Old Testament books and how their messages work together to form a revelation that points to Christ. At the end of this course, you will have a number of tools to help you apply the Old Testament to Christian living today.
Course Instructors:
- Professor: Dr. Mark Futato
Required Materials:
- Old Testament Today, 2nd Edition: A Journey from Ancient Context to Contemporary Relevance - by John H. Walton & Andrew E. Hill
- (also available electronically as a Nook Book here)
- Teacher: Bradley Anderson
- Teacher: Nathan Liu
- Teacher: Deb Riedy
Old Testament Survey - This course will explore the message of Old Testament books and how their messages work together to form a revelation that points to Christ. At the end of this course, you will have a number of tools to help you apply the Old Testament to Christian living today.
Course Instructors:
- Professor: Dr. Mark Futato
Required Materials:
- Old Testament Today, 2nd Edition: A Journey from Ancient Context to Contemporary Relevance - by John H. Walton & Andrew E. Hill
- (also available electronically as a Nook Book here)
- Teacher: Bradley Anderson
- Teacher: Nathan Liu
- Teacher: Deb Riedy
This class introduces the doctrine of the Bible (Can we trust it? How do we view it? How does it function in our lives?), the doctrine of God (Who is God? How do we relate to him? How does he relate to us?), and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Who is the Spirit? What does he do? How does he relate to us?). Students will learn more about God but also find their hearts moved to worship this God.
- Teacher: Bradley Anderson
- Teacher: Deb Riedy