TH008-512 - The Doctrine of God and the Person and Work of Christ

  • 2,784 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 12
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 5
    AQF level
  • Category foundational unit
    A
  • theologyUnit Discipline

Exclusions

Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code TH210.

Exclusions: TH001-612, TH001-712, TH001-812, TH002-612, TH002-712, TH002-812

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

Demonstrate Foundational knowledge and understanding of the doctrine of God and the person and work of Christ.

B. Be able to

1. Outline the doctrine of God and of the person and work of Christ

2. Comment on the issues arising from the doctrine of God and of the person and work of Christ.

3. Present Organised evidence-based perspectives on the doctrine of God and the person and work of Christ

C. Be in a position to

1. Relating perspectives and skills from ‘The Doctrine of God and the Person and Work of Christ’ to contemporary Christian living and ministry contexts

Content

Candidates need to study each topic in the light of major contemporary theological approaches, but not in precise detail, since this is a survey unit.  Candidates will not be required to answer detailed questions on particular sub-sections of any topic in the written examination.

  1. Our knowledge of God: the nature and sources of theology; general and special revelation; inspiration.
  2. The doctrine of God: divine being, names and attributes; the doctrine of the Trinity, its development from the New Testament period; trinitarian religion,
  3. The doctrines of creation and fall: alternative world-views; human nature; the image of God; theories of personal and social sin; providence; evil and suffering.
  4. The person of Christ: major titles; Christ’s deity and true humanity; major developments to Chalcedon and beyond.
  5. The work of Christ: New Testament metaphors; the three-fold office; theories of atonement; resurrection and ascension.

Set Readings

Prescribed: Students are encouraged to become familiar with the relevant sections of one of the following:

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013).

Frame, J., Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology (Phillipsburg NJ: P&R, 2006).

Grudem, W., Systematic Theology, (Downers Grove IL: IVP, 2007).

Kooi, C. van der & G. van der Brink, Christian Dogmatics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017).

McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. 6th ed. (Newark: Wiley, 2017).

Migliore, D., Faith with Understanding (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2nd ed. 2004).

 

Recommended:

Aulen, Gustaf., Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of the Atonement (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1931).

Ayres, Lewis., Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004).

Bloesch, D., A Theology of Word and Spirit (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2005).

Bloesch, D., God the Almighty (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2005).

Bloesch, D., Jesus Christ: Savior and Lord (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2005).

Cole, Graham A., God the Peacemaker: How Atonement Brings Shalom. New Studies in Biblical Theology (Nottingham: Apollos, 2009).

Edgar, B., The Message of the Trinity (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2004).

Erickson. M. J., God the Father Almighty (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006).

Highfield, R., Great Is the Lord: Theology for the Praise of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008).

Holmes, Stephen R., The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History, and Modernity (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012).

Johnson, A.J., Atonement: A Guide for the Perplexed (New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2015).

Kärkkäinen, V.-M., Christology: A Global Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003).

Kärkkäinen, V. M., The Doctrine of God: A Global Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004).

Kärkkäinen, V. M., Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002).

McKnight, Scot., A Community Called Atonement (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007).

Moreland, J.P., and William Lane Craig., Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (Downers Grove: IVP, 2017).

Marshall, H., Aspects of the Atonement: Cross and Resurrection in the Reconciliation of Humanity (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2008).

Meeks, W. A., Christ Is the Question (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).

Morris, L., The Lord from Heaven (Rev. ed., Leicester: IVP, 1995).

Oden, Thomas C. Life in the Spirit (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992).

Pugh, B. Atonement Theories: A Way through the Maze (Eugene: Cascade, 2014)

Schillebeeckx, E., Jesus (New York: Crossroad, 1990).

Stott, J., The Cross of Christ (Leicester UK, Downers Grove IL: IVP, 20th Anniversary edition, 2007).

Torrance, Thomas F., Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008).

Walton, J. H., The Lost World of Genesis One (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009).

Wright, N. T., Jesus and the Victory of God (London: SPCK, 1996).

———, The Day the Revolution Began (London: SPCK, 2016).

 

Classics:

Anselm, Proslogion.

Augustine, A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants.

———, A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints.

———, Confessions.

———, On the Trinity.

Cyril of Alexandria, Second Letter to Succensus.

———, The Third Letter of Cyril to Nestorius.

Gregory of Nazianzus, Five Theological Orations.

Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius.

Ireneaus, Against Heresies.

Justin Martyr, First Apology.

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