minary W orld Class Seminary - Bethel Seminary - Bethel University

Center for Biblical and Theological FoundationsSt. Paul • San Diego • Seminary of the East116TS794 (TS265) • Integrative Seminar.This course utilizes a case studiesapproach in integrating and applyingtheological truth to contemporaryissues in society and ministry. Typicalconcerns in pastoral care, Christianeducation, preaching, evangelism,and pastoral ministry are discussedfrom biblical, theological, and historicalperspectives. Students will tracetheological themes across Christiandoctrines and academic disciplines andwill write and defend a comprehensiveStatement of Faith. SemPM and InMinistryprograms in St. Paul and San Diego.Four hours.2. Contemporary TheologyTS605 (TS223) • Theology and ContemporaryCulture. This courseexplores the relation between evangelicaltheology and contemporaryculture. Special attention is placed onthe theological interpretation of “postmodernity”in its various expressionsin culture, including philosophy, art,cinema, literature, and music. Theseexpressions will be analyzed to developappropriate apologetic engagements ofpostmodern culture. Four hours.PH606 (PH241) • Apologetics. A considerationof the reasons for Christianfaith. This course proceeds in threephases, examining the possibility ofreligious knowledge, the viability oftheistic perspective, and the rationalefor the Christian worldview. The underlyingphilosophy of this course isthat apologetics is dialogical—that conversationsoffering a rationale for faith,whether with a believer or unbeliever,happen in a context of genuine relationship.(Cognate credit with TS606.)Four hours.TS610 (TS220) • American Christianity.A historical and theological evaluationof the distinctive characteristicsof American Christianity from thecolonial period to the present, includingrevivalism, the volunteer church,expansion movements, urbanization,theological controversies, and Americandenominationalism. (Cognatecredit with HS610.) Four hours.TS626 (TS224) • ChristologicalStudies Today. Beginning with thefoundational approach to a study of majorChristological passages, the coursewill trace the Christological formulasthrough their historical development,with major reference to the contemporarysynthesis of the doctrine as it isreflected in the writings of the leadingtheologians today. Major attention willbe given to determining the relationbetween the apostolic understanding ofChristology and its expression in 20thcenturyrelevance. Four hours.TS627 (TS231) • Current Issues in theDoctrine of Salvation. This seminarwill study both non-evangelical andevangelical trends and issues in soteriology.We will explore such mattersas the move toward pluralism amongcontemporary theologians, recentexpressions of universalism, annihilationism,the “second chance” offer afterdeath, recent modifications of liberationtheology, the “Lordship Salvation”controversy, and recent expressions ofArminianism. Four hours.TS661 (TS226) • C. S. Lewis. A studyof the life and writings of C. S. Lewis,with emphasis on his theological andapologetic thought. The contribution ofthis contemporary thinker as an interpreterof the Christian faith to the modernworld is outlined. Four hours.TS704 (TS239) • Movie Theology. Astructured workshop in theologicalevaluation of the heart and mind ofcontemporary culture as reflected insignificant motion pictures. Particularattention is paid to portrayals of the humancondition and to religious themes.The goal of the course is to cultivate theart of listening and watching perceptively,with a view to learning wheneverpossible, and to affirmation or criticismasappropriate. San Diego only. Fourhours.TS714 (TS237) • Nontraditional ReligiousMovements. A study of selectedreligious systems prominent in Westernculture today. This course will describeand react to Jehovah’s Witnesses,Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-DaySaints, the New Age movement, andother significant religious movementsthat challenge Christian thinking.Four hours.TS751 (TS230) • Seminar in ContemporaryTheology. An in-depth studyof a particular contemporary theologicalissue. Research topics to be chosenaccording to the interests of the class.Four hours.3. Philosophy ofReligion—Apologetics(St. Paul campus only)PH606 (PH241) • Apologetics. A considerationof the reasons for Christianfaith. This course proceeds in threephases, examining the possibility ofreligious knowledge, the viability oftheistic perspective, and the rationalefor the Christian worldview. The underlyingphilosophy of this course isthat apologetics is dialogical—that conversationsoffering a rationale for faith,whether with a believer or unbeliever,happen in a context of genuine relationship.(Cognate credit with TS606.)Four hours.PH621 (PH240) • Doctrine of God.This class discusses the justification forvarious conceptions of God and addressesimportant issues in contemporarytheological discussion. (Cognate creditwith TS621.) St. Paul only. Four hours.PH651 (PH245) • Critical Thinking.A learning plan for developing criticalthinking skills. This includes classiccritical thinking strategies along withbasic work in logic including informalfallacies and basic forms of inductiveand deductive logic. Prerequisite:PH606. InMinistry M.A.C.T. only. Fourhours.PH652 (PH246) • Logic and CriticalThinking. A survey of informal logic,including informal fallacies and strategiesof critical thinking, and of formallogic, embracing deductive syllogismsand some symbolic logic. The courseapplies these strategies to worldviewconcerns. Prerequisite: PH606. St. Paulonly. Four hours.PH654 (PH249) • Epistemology. Ananalysis of the sources, methods, andlimits of human knowing. This coursecovers classical views of knowledgeand interacts with contemporaryphilosophical discussions. It raises theproblem of knowledge in light of the