Theology

Prerequisites: None
Credits: 2 (two-semester class)

Course description: Biblical Foundations is our Freshman only class which is optional to first-year students' religion class.  With one semester focused on the Old Testament and a second semester in the New Testament.

Due to the condensed amount of time in each semester, the Old Testament will span over seven time periods chronologically, but the focus will concern the promised Savior as prophesied in Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent's head.  Whereas the New Testament will cover three time periods over the life of that promised seed, Jesus, who took on flesh to give his life for the ransom of many (Matt 20:28).  These time periods of Jesus cover from before His birth through His death on the cross.

Jesus said to the Jews, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39).  This alone gives the foundation of this class. It’s all about Jesus, from the Old Testament through the New Testament.

Both the Old and the New Testaments were given by God to teach us that we have salvation through faith in Christ Jesus and to guide us in a life of good works.

Prerequisites: Biblical Foundations
Credits: 2 (two-semester class)

Course description: This course is designed to assist the Christian student through an understanding and comprehension of Christian Doctrine as a whole. 

Examples of these may include, but are not limited to:

• God
• Original Sin
• Jesus Christ the Son of God
• Justification
• Salvation
• etc.  

We use the term “systematic” to show that each component as scripture teaches can and should be studied as its own individual topic as the wholeness of scripture teaches.  The system of Christian Doctrine which we teach is in line with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and our confessions.  At the teacher’s preference, the teacher may choose to study a book of the bible, parts or pieces, but the aim is to look at the fuller study of each doctrine, as it is built in a refined system of components and pieces to build the fullness of understanding through what the bible teaches.

Prerequisites: Biblical Foundations
Credit: 2 (two-semester class)

Course description: This course will assist students sort out the many different religious beliefs of people from various parts of the world. Upon learning of the inadequacies of other religions, it is hoped that our students will strengthen their personal commitment to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Included in this course will be a study of Martin Luther, Christian Doctrine, and other Christian denominations, major faith groups, and cults.

Prerequisites: None

Credits: 2

All of human history centers around the fulfillment of God’s promise of a male child, born of a human woman who would defeat the forces of evil and rescue us from our rebellion against God.  The years 4 BCE-33 CE are pivotal in the history of the world.  In fact, our calendars try to center on the date of Jesus’ birth.  The goal of the course is that we receive what God promised – forgiveness and to be brought into the kingdom of heaven through hearing, reading, and studying the words of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension and the writings of the other eye-witnesses.  Apart from Jesus, it is impossible to truly know who God is.  Our goal is to know Jesus in his word and find a firm foundation for our trust in God and grow in our practice of life as God’s child  -- to live and mature in God’s love and in love for one another.

The course will read through one of the four gospel accounts in its entirety and include elements from the other for the 1^st semester.  Second semester will include what the eyewitnesses said and did in response to having been with Jesus.  We will read through the books of Acts, Romans, and one other of the New Testament writings.  

Emphasis is also placed on Christian Doctrine and Biblical interpretation. In conjunction with the New Testament course, issues that face youth today will be studied and discussed on a regular basis. All issues will be taught from a Christian perspective.