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Welcome to: Rivers of Living Waters: Great Biblical Themes and the Shaping of Lives of Faith As you arrive: Please help yourself to coffee and refreshments Please fill out an information card Please, if interested and able, sign up to bring refreshments In Preparation for Class: Consider the following quote: “You have loved us first, O God, alas! We speak of it in terms of history as if You have only loved us but a single time, rather than, that without ceasing, You have loved us first many times and every day and our whole life through.” Soren Kierkegaard Adult Discipleship Alpha: Seekers Plug-In: New Believers, New to Grace, and Folks Looking for and thinking about Discipleship Pillars: For Everyone: Biblical Themes; Spiritual Formation; Christian History; and Justice and Compassion Focused: For Everyone: Classes specific to certain topics: Scripture; Science: Current Events; and more! Audience-Specific: Targeted: Engaged, Newly-Wedded, Financial, Parenting, Deaf, Special Needs, and more! Table Discussion What do you think are or what do you consider to be the major themes in the Bible? Tentative Syllabus Sept. 16 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 Nov. 25 Dec. 2 Dec. 9 Dec. 16 Introduction: Revelation Calling and Covenant Worship Prayer Salvation Forgiveness Faith Righteousness Justice and Judgment Mercy Community The Kingdom of God Creation and Re-Creation Wrap-up How would you like this class to run? Lecture? Whole class discussions? Table discussions? Individual Bible Study? Other? Belief, Doctrine, and Theology • BELIEF: Assent or agreement by the mind to a proposition or truth claim. • DOCTRINE: A highly developed, relatively complex expression of a religious belief which has been affirmed formally as true by a community of believers. • THEOLOGY: Where doctrine is a PRODUCT; theology is a PROCESS: It’s the process of examining and constructing or reconstructing which leads to the creation or reconstruction of a particular doctrine. Why Biblical Theology • “Biblical theology investigates the themes presented in Scripture and defines their inter-relationships. Biblical theology is an attempt to get to the theological heart of the Bible.” Elmer Martens • Aims at a holistic synthesis, despite diversity of material in order to reach a “intelligible coherence of the whole.” “So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them.” Genesis 1:27 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4 “For Since the Creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and His divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 “In reading this, then, you will able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it is has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.” Ephesians 3:4-5 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.” Hebrews 1:3 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David and the Bright Morning Star. The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.’” Revelation 22:16-17 How Does God Reveal Himself? • • • • • • • • • Through us, created in His image In His creation By making the invisible visible With the Holy Spirit Through Jesus, His Son In His Word and by His Testimony Through personal revelation about Himself As propositional revelations about His truths Progressively over time For Table Discussion In the Bible, God reveals Himself from Genesis to Revelation through His words about Himself and about His Son, Jesus. In your life today, how do you see God continuing to reveal Himself to you personally, and how does His continued revelation of Himself affect how you live? The Wesleyan Quadrilateral • Scripture – God’s written revelation including the books of both the Old and New Testaments • Tradition – The key Creeds of the early Church and important teachings of the reformers • Reason – Including logic and the rule of non-contradiction • Experience – The shared religious experience of God’s people in communities of faith The Theology in the Story – Proof texts vs. Parables • “We need to get beyond bumper sticker theology.” Pastor Bryan – Theology develops in the narrative of how God has worked in history and with different communities over time • Ancient Israel • The time of Jesus and early Church • Post-Apostolic Church Fathers • The entire history of the Church Sources of Christian Theology • The Bible – But can there ever be such a thing as Sola Scriptura? • Especially with fallible readers and translators – How do we reconcile seemingly incompatible truth claims? • Tradition – Which traditions count as authoritative? – What happens when they don’t speak to the modern dilemmas of the Church? • Authority – The Pope, The Board of Elders, The Senior Pastor – Who holds those in authority accountable? Individual and Group Stories • How do our personal stories and experiences shape our understanding of theology? • How do our group identities shape our understandings? – As – As – As – As Americans New Englanders Suburban and Urban Dwellers Evangelicals