FULL LIST OF DL ONLINE COURSES AND DESCRIPTIONS

Last Updated 07-2008 (all linked ECDs from 2007-08 academic year)

 

MISSIOLOGY (SIS)

 

MC502: Becoming a Missional Church. Introduces students to the wide range of issues and skills related to the complex interdisciplinary processes involved in creating and implementing an extensive philosophy of ministry and missional strategy for a local church from the pastor’s perspective. MIN8, GLBL. Van Engen

 

MC506: Leading a Missional Church. This course explores the identity and purpose of the church as well as the leadership required to lead the church into missional engagement with its context(s). The focus of the course is the intersection of the fields of theology, ecclesiology, missiology, and leadership. The course assists leaders in the development of a missional ecclesiology and a plan to lead their churches into greater redemptive engagement with the world.  MAGL Cohort Sequence Course: restricted enrollment, Hopkins

 

MC535: The Emerging Church in the 21st Century. Identifies key characteristics of modern and postmodern contexts, addressing the challenges each presents to the local church.  Bolger

 

MD535: Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Ministry. Focus on establishing a strong biblical foundation for Christian development. Discussions of social justice, planned change, the local church, and ethics. Bradshaw

 

ME500: Communicating and Serving Cross-culturally. Communication is at the heart of cross-cultural ministry. This course will examine the impact of lifestyle, interpersonal relationships, and social roles on the issues of cross-cultural communication. IMCC. Brewster

 

MH520: Dynamic Expansion of the People of God. Introduces students to a missiological reinterpretation of the history of the church worldwide, applying the insights which emerge to present strategies of mission. The course focuses on the dynamic of the church's expansion, rather than its theological and institutional development, and special attention is given to the means of renewal and structures of mission. Pierson

 

ML523: Mentoring. Conducts an in-depth study of relational empowerment and the nine basic mentor types: mentor discipler, spiritual guide, coach, counselor, teacher, sponsor, contemporary model, historical model and divine contact. MAGL Cohort Sequence Course: restricted enrollment, Audit only with permission of instructor. Clinton

 

ML524: Focused Lives. Examines ministry theory and philosophical concepts. Analysis of historical mentors and personal application of learned principles. Focus on developing a personal philosophy of ministry. Audit only with permission of instructor. J. Clinton

 

ML530: Lifelong Development. Gives a biblical basis for the study of leadership selection processes. Identifies patterns such as time lines, development phases, process items, idealized time line, convergence, gift mix, spheres of influence, spiritual authority, and leadership principles, all in the context of study of actual biblical, historical and present-day leaders. MAGL Cohort Sequence Course: restricted enrollment, Audit only with permission of instructor. Prerequisite: Three years of ministry experience. Clinton

 

ML534: Value-Based Leadership in the OT. Assesses various leadership perspectives in the Old Testament using several study methods. Focuses on cross-culturally applicable leadership principles. Audit only with permission of instructor. Clinton

 

ML536: Value Based Leadership in the NT. Examines New Testament perspectives on leadership elements and styles, philosophical models, mentoring, change dynamics, etc. Studies Peter, John, and Paul as leaders. Audit only with permission of instructor. Clinton

 

ML537: Leaders and Church in Culture. Focuses on the social context of leadership and the life of the church. Examines theoretical perspectives for the study of community, structure, and leadership applied to analysis of Old Testament texts on organization and leadership. Lingenfelter

 

ML540: Leadership Training Models. An overview of leadership development focusing on how to design and evaluate training models proven effective for leader development in mission and ministry. This course uses several techniques to analyze an actual field case. Freeman

 

ML549: Collaborative Approaches to Ministry.  This course deals with the subject of developing collaborative, inter-organizational approaches to Christian ministry.  It focuses on building a necessary background in the various factors directly affecting collaboration, as well as identifying and developing the collaborative capacity of the student’s own organization.  This class is case study based wherein the primary case study is the student’s own context of collaboration. Avery

 

ML581: Developing Your Learning Plan. A global context requires leaders who understand reality beyond their respective national borders; accordingly, the formation and development of leadership must be reconceived.  In this introductory course to the Master of Arts in Global Leadership, each (student) leader plays a significant role in their respective educational process as he or she develops a comprehensive learning plan for their entire degree program.  Beyond individual learning, each leader experiences the benefits of both joining a diverse Christian community and enlisting in a like-minded group of practitioners in an online learning environment. MAGL Cohort Sequence Course: restricted enrollment, Freeman

 

MP520: Transforming Contemporary Culture. Explores what a missionary encounter with modern/postmodern culture would entail. A missiological approach will be used to analyze the culture of modernity/postmodernity in terms of its controlling plausibility structures as a starting point for missionary response. MIN8. MAGL Cohort Sequence Course: restricted enrollment, Shenk

 

MP537: Internet Evangelism and Cybermission. The Internet is the place the world finds its information and does its private enquiry and thinking. As such, it has become a powerful communication medium for evangelism and missions with one billion people online - including an estimated 400 million “religion surfers” who regularly seek religious information. What are the most practical and effective methods for Internet evangelism and cybermissions? What online strategies are appropriate for different groups such as postmodern Westerners, Hindus, Chinese Communists, Buddhists, and Muslims?  This is not a computer skills course.  The focus is online evangelistic strategy and mission. Edmiston

  

MR520: Popular Religious Beliefs and Practices. A study of the religious perspective in human experience, and its bearing on the advocacy of the acceptance or rejection of the Gospel. Christian evangelism in relation to religious belief and practice. Shaw

 

MR543: Christian Witness in the Hindu World. This course seeks to provide an overview of 1) the Hindu World, 2) Hinduism's globalization, 3) its relationship to Christianity in the Indian Sub-continent, 4) Christian evangelization attempts in the past, 5) various contextual questions arising, and 6) proposals for finding a new way forward. Exposure to the Hindu missionary effort and to indigenous religious communication methodologies is encouraged with a view to finding contextual approaches for articulating the Christian message in the Hindu/South Asian context. Hedlund

 

MR550: Introduction to Islam. An overview of Muslim faith and practice, with special attention to comparisons with Christianity, varieties of expression, and their implication for Christian witness. MIN8, GLBL. Woodberry

 

MR557: Women in Islam. An examination of the identity and role of women in historic and contemporary Islam as revealed by the Qur’an and Hadith and throughout society, covering various cultural contexts. Reisacher

 

MT520: Biblical Foundations of Mission. Review of perspectives in both Old and New Testaments on the mission of the people of God touching the nations, under the rubric of the Kingdom of God. ISCC. Van Engen

 

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  THEOLOGY (SOT)

CF560: Adult Formation and Discipleship. A biblical focus on ministering to adults, with a survey of adult psychological and developmental theories, goals in adult formation, developing adult learning designs, and discipleship models of adult enablement. Recommended background: CF500. M.Div. core: MIN4. Gorman.

 

CH500:  Early Church History. Early Church History is a survey of the dynamic period in the life of the Church from 100 to 590 AD. It covers how the Church wrestled with doctrinal and philosophical issues, which are of ongoing significance and importance. It introduces the key personalities and the major events that helped shape the Church. It establishes these developments, people, and events as the spiritual heritage of all Christians. M.Div. core: CHA. Feldmeth 

 

CH503:  Medieval and Reformation Theology. A survey of doctrinal development in the West emphasizing the Augustinian heritage both of the medieval scholastics and of the Reformers, from the fifth to the 16th century. M.Div. core: CHB. J. Thompson

 

CN568: Theological and Pastoral Perspectives on the Contemporary Family. This course examines perceptions of the family within the Christian tradition, and their relationship to wider cultural concerns in a variety of historical and contemporary settings. Drane & Drane

 

ET501: Christian Ethics. This basic introduction to ethics aims to develop a systematic way of thinking about Christian morality, bringing biblically based convictions to bear on important moral problems. M.Div. core: ETH. Stassen

 

ET520: Biblical and Practical Peacemaking.  This course addresses the topic of Christian peacemaking through an examination of both theological rationales and practical techniques. Differing Christian ethical approaches to peace and war will be discussed, as well as strategies for nonviolence in the context of contemporary culture and its challenges. Stassen.

 

EV500: The Art of Evangelism. A foundational course which explores evangelism from a biblical, theological, historical, and practical vantage point as it seeks to equip students for creative and effective outreach in a variety of settings. M.Div. core: MIN3, M.A. MINF. Peace

 

NE518:  Romans (English Text).  A study, based on the English text, of Paul’s exposition of the gospel to the church at Rome, giving special attention to selected passages and themes and to issues facing the apostle. Erickson

 

NE534: Ephesians (English Text).  A study of the epistle, based on the English text, with consideration given to the central issues of the authorship, teaching and significance of the document. Erickson

 

NS500: New Testament I: Gospels.  An introduction to the literature of the four Gospels, including attention to the background, critical issues, and theological motifs. M.Div. core: NT1. Erickson

 

NS501: New Testament 2: Acts to Revelation.  An introduction to the literature of Acts through Revelation, including attention to the background, critical issues, and theological motifs.  M Div. core: NT2.  Erickson

 

OT501: Pentateuch.  The contents and theology of the first five books of the Old Testament. Primary attention will be given to literary nature and structure and theological message. Theories of origin and genetic development will also be covered. M.Div. core: OTA. Goldingay

 

OT502: Hebrew Prophets.  The course studies the contents of the Former Prophets (Joshua to Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi), their possible historical backgrounds, different approaches to their interpretation, and their significance for us today. M.Div. core: OTB. Goldingay

 

OT504: Writings.  A study of the books of Hagiographa with special attention to the nature of Hebrew poetry, the literary structure and importance for biblical theology of the wisdom writings. Exegesis of representative passages. M.Div. core: OTC. Goldingay

 

PH504: Christian Worldview and Contemporary Challenges. An introduction to basic themes in a Christian perspective on reality, with a focus on the differences between Christian thought and such contemporary movements as secular humanism, the New Age cults, and recent "post-modern" philosophical perspectives. Explores the proper contours of a biblically grounded world-and-life view. M.Div. core: PHIL. Mouw

 

ST501:  Systematic Theology I: Theology and Anthropology.  The doctrines of revelation and Scripture. The doctrines of God, God’s attributes, and God’s trinitarian mode of existence. The doctrines of creation and providence. The origin and nature of humankind; the doctrines of the fall and sin.  M.Div. core: STB. Karkkainen

 

ST502:  Systematic Theology II: Christology And Soteriology.  The doctrine of divine election, the covenant of grace, the person and work of Christ the Mediator. The doctrines of divine calling, regeneration, repentance, faith, justification, adoption and sanctification.  M.Div. core: STB. Karkkainen

 

ST503:  Systematic Theology III: Ecclesiology and Eschatology.  The doctrine of the church, its nature and authority. The worship of the church, the sacraments and prayer. The doctrine of last things, death and resurrection, the final judgment, heaven and hell.  M.Div. core: STC. Karkkainen

 

ST511: Orientation to Theological Studies.  This course is designed as an introduction to theological research tools for incoming students. Research methods along with scholarly presentations will be discussed in an attempt to assist students as they appropriate and develop their own theological insights and resources.  Erickson

 

ST523: Theological Challenges of Religious Plurality. Religious pluralism is currently, as it was also in the beginning of Christianity, the most predominant challenge to Christian theology and mission. After a survey of various approaches to pluralism, this course analyzes and critically dialogues with the views regarding pluralism of John Hick, and attempts to offer a viable Evangelical theology of pluralism. M.A.: GLBL. Karkkainen

 

TC509: Theology and Pop Culture.   This course will engage students in a two-way dialogue between pop culture and theology, with particular emphasis upon music, movies, TV, art, fashion, and sports. Students will develop a biblical, theological and historical understanding of these art forms and a critical understanding of the advertising, consumerism and celebrity that drives pop culture.  Detweiler

 

TC521: Theology and Contemporary Literature. This course will explore (1) contemporary attitudes toward the "spiritual" found in selected American novels and (2) the means of theological dialogue with these works. While debunking or listening, symbolizing or secularizing, arguing or affirming, current American fiction is often found interacting with the religious currents that pervade our culture. As such, it invites dialogue from a theological perspective. Johnston

 

TC530: Theology and Film.  Preparation for ministry too often assumes students possess skills in cultural analysis and interaction. This course will help students to see Western "culture" by providing a critical and theological framework for viewing cinema. While such cultural engagement is not sufficient for effective ministry, it is supportive of, if not necessary for, all aspects of ministry. Johnston

 

YF503: Youth Outreach and Evangelism.  This course explores the biblical mandate to "go and make disciples" as it relates to the adolescent subculture. Students will learn how to articulate and pass on to others the biblical and theological view of evangelism and outreach. Through readings, lecture, projects, and discussion, students will learn how to design an incarnational as well as relational ministry program which takes seriously Christian care and evangelism with unbelieving students. Issues covered are: the content and message of the Gospel as it relates to an age-specific population, contemporary models of youth evangelism, and the partnership and networking of local parishes and the parachurch. M.Div.core: MIN3. Clark

 

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 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY (SOP)

FS 529 Ministry Issues in Human Sexuality. This course focuses on sexuality issues relevant to persons in Christian ministry by considering the spiritual, psychological, sociological, and physiological aspects of human sexuality. Balswick/Balswick

 

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