Course Description
AP 500. Introduction to Apologetics (3 credits)
Presentation of Christian apologetics. Topics include biblical foundations, developing a world and life view, presuppositionalism, the point of contact, argument and persuasion, the conflict with contemporary culture, and the history of apologetics.
AP 501. The Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til (3 credits)
A study, in lecture and discussion, of the background, the argument, and the impact of the presuppositional apologetics of Cornelius Van Til, with some attention to his critics.
AP 503. Music and Christian Aesthetics (3 credits)
Exegetical and philosophical considerations for an understanding of the place of music in the life of the Christian. Particular attention will be directed to the problems of music in the modern church.
AP 504. Soren Kierkegaard (3 credits)
A critical survey of the development and structure of Kierkegaard’s thought in the context of his life experiences. An analysis of several of his major works, including his Philosophical Fragments, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, and The Concept of Dread, with special reference to his critique of orthodoxy. Recent developments in Kierkegaard study.
AP 605. American Culture and Apologetics (3 credits)
Studies in the historical and social background for the beliefs and ideals of North America today. Emphasis will be on civic and religious themes that have shaped its culture. Subjects include church demographics, the New Christian Right, American public philosophy, and popular theologies.
AP 606. Theodicy (3 credits)
A comparative study of various approaches to the problem of suffering. Particular attention will be given to the arguments set forth beginning at the Enlightenment. An attempt will be made at formulating a Reformed view.
ET 500. Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking (3 credits)
By exploring the process of logical and critical thinking, this course seeks to help students develop skills to critically analyze arguments of others and to writing essays on the firm basis of accurate and logical argumentations. It also attempts to help students develop skills to write academic papers on the topics of their own fields more confidently and more professionally. Though this is primarily a lecture course, students will be given opportunities to present their term paper proposals for feedback so that they may be able to improve their papers by applying critical thinking and writing skills that they will have learned by that time.
ET 501. Christian Ethics (3 credits)
This course examines the nature and principles of Christian ethics and the application of these principles to current social issues. Emphasis is given to the study of Biblical morality.
ET 502. New Testament Ethics (3 credits)
This course examines appropriate Christian ethical conduct based upon the text of the New Testament. Of particular interest will be Christian behavior toward others within and outside of the Church and appropriate ethical conduct by ministers and professional Christian members.
ET 503. Old Testament Ethics (3 credits)
This course examines appropriate Christian ethical conduct based upon the text of the Old Testament. Of particular interest will be Christian behavior toward others within and outside of the Church and appropriate ethical conduct by ministers and professional Christian members.
ET 504. Ten Commandments (3 credits)
Taking its cue from Biblical notion of the covenant of Old Testament. The course probes and develops the ethical dimensions of life in Christ for the late 20th century for Christ’s Church members.
ET 505. Law and Grace (3 credits)
The reformed tradition has always embraced a positive role for the law within the Christian life, yet the relationship between law and divine grace has not always been clearly understood or articulated. This course examines the law-grace connection by considering biblical themes and the use of the covenants as organizing principle in Reformed confections and theological reflections.
ET 506. The Sermon on the Mount (3 credits)
This course examines the history of study on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and the implications of the Sermon for Christian living today. Lectures and student presentations.
ET 606. The Encounter of Christianity with Secular Science (3 credits)
A review of the history of modern evidences, leading to its crisis and its rehabilitation in presuppositional apologetics. An analysis of the nature of scientific method from the secular and the Christian standpoints, and an intensive critical confrontation with the claim to neutrality of such sciences as history, sociology, psychology, and biology.
ET 607. Christian Ethics and Modern Moral Issues (3 credits)
This course will explore various contemporary moral issues from a distinctively Christian ethical perspective. Moral problems in political, economic, social, medical, cultural, and environmental areas of modern life will be examined in a way that helps the students to develop critical evaluations of such problems and to formulate a more adequate Christian understanding of them. Though this is primarily a lecture course, each student will be given an opportunity to present a case study on a specific ethical issue of their choice to facilitate the discussion of the moral problem that each week’s lecture will focus on. (Previous number ET 707)
ET 608. History of Christian Theological Ethics (3 credits)
A survey of the history of Christian ethics by examining major thinkers, movements, and issues from the early church to the present. Selected texts from the major thinkers of Christian ethics are read and their relevance to contemporary Christian ethics is considered. (Previous number ET 708)
ET 609. Reformed Christian Worldview (3 credits)
An exploration of the Reformed Christian view of the world and human life based on the biblical theme of Creation Fall Redemption. The essential principles of this view and their applications to various aspects of human life are discussed. (Previous number OT 709)