2009 - 2010 Academic Catalog - Westminster Theological Seminary

{Course Descriptions}
Apologetics
AP 903 Cultural Analysis
Purpose:
• To develop proper tools for the study of culture
• To interact with various theologies of culture
• To understand the relation between Christian
faith and the public square
• To find culturally aware ways to do evangelism
Topics covered include an in-depth look at two cultures, American
and one other; H. Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture and his critics;
methodology for a biblical approach to understanding cultural
dynamics; demographics; and popular culture.
Spring semester. Mr. Edgar.
AP 923 The Apologetics of C. S. Lewis
Purpose:
• To become familiar with the theological and
apologetic writings of C. S. Lewis
• To understand Lewis in the context of his time
• To understand and critically evaluate the major features
of Lewis’s theology and apologetic strategies
Topics covered include the context of C. S. Lewis, Lewis’s idea of
pre-evangelism, his understanding of the key theological themes,
religious psychology, and literary imagination.
Spring semester. Mr. Park.
AP 931 Philosophy for Theologians
Purpose:
• To understand past and current discussions
in the philosophy of religion
• To develop a Reformed response to various
aspects of natural philosophy
• To critically analyze the traditional
approach to religious philosophy
Topics covered include theistic proofs, arguments from religious
experience, the problem of evil, miracles, the relationship of faith
and reason, religious pluralism, and other subjects that interface
with theology and philosophy. Seminar discussions.
Fall semester. Mr. Oliphint.
AP 963 Warrant and Christian Epistemology
Purpose:
• To understand the epistemology of Alvin Plantinga
• To critically evaluate and analyze Plantinga’s
epistemology as a Christian epistemology
• To develop principles for a Reformed epistemology
in light of current discussions
Seminar discussions will include foundationalism, coherentism,
and reliabilism, as well as proper function epistemology. Special
attention will be given to the development of a Reformed approach
to a theory of knowledge.
Spring semester. Mr. Oliphint.
AP 981 Theology of Science
Purpose:
• To develop a framework for understanding and
evaluating science within a biblically-based worldview,
utilizing resources from systematic theology,
presuppositional apologetics, and biblical theology
• To interpret Genesis 1-3, weigh rival views of its meaning and
implications, and consider its bearing on modern science
• To interact critically with modern approaches to the
relation of science and Christianity, and with treatments
of particular issues such as the age of the earth,
uniformitarianism, evolutionary theories, intelligent
design, the origin of man, and Noah’s flood
Topics covered include theology of creation and providence; the
word of God in providence; interpretation of Genesis 1-3; the relation
of general and special revelation; the bearing of presuppositional
apologetics on analysis of science; the influence of Christianity on
the rise of science; inductivist, instrumentalist, materialist, and
relativist influences on thinking within and about science.
Fall semester. (Not given in 2009-2010.) Mr. Poythress.
Courses listed for other majors which may be counted as major
courses for the Th.M. degree in Apologetics: OT 903, NT 931, NT
951, ST 701, ST 791, ST 803, ST 909, PTM 462.
2009–2010
121