ST-5103 Systematic Theology I

Learn what theology is and how to do it well, and study the God of the gospel, Father, Son and Holy Spirit: what he is like and how he creates, reveals himself and works out his plan.

The course follows Michael Bird's Evangelical Theology, which puts the gospel at the centre of every doctrine, read beside chapters of three other systematic theologies. You begin with what the gospel is and where theology gets its knowledge. Then you study the doctrine of God and learn to weigh the church's debates fairly.

What you will study

• What theology is, why the church needs it, and what must be said first
• What the gospel is, and why an evangelical theology starts from it
• The sources of theology: Scripture, tradition, nature and experience
• The Trinity in the Bible, in the early church and in Christian worship
• What God is like: his attributes, his glory, holiness and love
• Creation and new creation, and God's revelation in nature, Scripture and Jesus Christ
• God's purpose and plan, and how to teach all this in the church

Course materials

• Evangelical Theology (Michael F. Bird), a textbook you obtain
• Christian Theology (Millard J. Erickson), a textbook you obtain
• Christian Theology: An Introduction (Alister E. McGrath), a textbook you obtain
• Essentials of Evangelical Theology (Donald G. Bloesch), a textbook you obtain
• The Bible