Ephesians 4:14 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming."

The Bible exhorts us not to be spiritual infants and not to be influenced by wrong teachings. It is therefore important for a Christian to know and understand what we believe in. This course will concentrate on teachings and doctrines derived from the Bible, the orthodox faith that the Church has held onto for two thousand years. Bible verses are drawn from different books of the Bible to bring light to the same topics. These teachings will help us answer many questions that we may have in Bible studies and help us to refute wrong teachings and not to be trapped by them.

    Term 1 (April to June, 2002)

1. Bible: authority, inspiration, origin, accuracy (4 lessons)
    "All scriptures are inspired by God." (2Ti 3:16) But the verse refers only to OT. How do we prove that NT is inspired?

2. God: existence, nature and attributes, trinity, creation (4 lessons)
    God is changeless and cannot repent (Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17; 1Sa 15:29).
    How can we explain the verse about God's repentance (Jnh 3:10, KJV)?

3. Man: image of God, original sin (2 lessons)
    How did the sin of Adam pass onto us (Ro 5:12,18)?

4. Christ: prophesies about Christ, incarnation, death and resurrection (3 lessons)
    Jesus Christ is God but at the same time is also God's only begotten son (Heb 1:4-5; 1Jn 4:9). What is the meaning of "son"?

    Term 2 (September to November, 2002)

5. Holy Spirit: work, spiritual gifts (2 lessons)
    What is sin against the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:31-32)? Why and how is it not forgivable?

6. Salvation: faith, predestination, justification, sanctification (3 lessons)
    How does the Bible say about "once saved, always saved" (Php 1:6; cf. Jn 15:6)?

7. Church: characteristics, governance, creeds, sacraments (3 lessons)
    Are the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper really the flesh and blood of Christ (1Co 10:16-17)?
    Is the sacrament merely symbolic?

8. Last Things: life after death, end time, second coming, millennium, tribulation, rapture (4 lessons)
    Where and what is heaven? Where do people go after death (Lk 23:42-43)?

9. Conclusion: summary of essential doctrines (1 lesson)
 

1. Main References

• Berkhof, Louis (1933): Manual of Christian doctrine.
• Berkhof, Louis (1938): Summary of Christian doctrine.
• Berkhof, Louis (1941): Systematic theology.
• Bloesch, Donald G. (1978): Essentials of evangelical theology. 2 vols.
• Boettner, Loraine (1947): Studies in theology.
• Buswell, James Oliver (1962): A systematic theology of the Christian religion.
• Carter, Charles W., R. Duane Thompson, Charles R. Wilson, eds. (1983): A contemporary Wesleyan theology -- Biblical, systematic, & practical. 2 vols.
• Chia, Yu-Ming (1979): Systematic theology. 3 vols. (Chinese)
• Dabney, R.L. (1972): Lectures in systematic theology.
• Davis, John Jefferson (1984): Handbook of basic Bible texts: every key passage for the study of doctrine & theology.
• Erickson, Millard J. (1985): Christian theology.
• Evans, William (1974): The great doctrines of the Bible.
• Hodge, A.A. (1972): Outlines of theology.
• House, H. Wayne (1992): Charts of Christian theology & doctrine.
• Johnson, Alan F., Robert E. Webber (1989): What Christians believe: a Biblical and historical summary.
• Lane, Tony, Hilary Osborne, ed. (1986): John Calvin: The institutes of Christian religion.
• Lightner, Robert P (1995): Handbook of evangelical theology.
• Oden, Thomas C. (1989): The Living God, The Word of Life, Life in the Spirit. Systematic Theology in 3 vols.
• Packer, James I. (1993): Concise theology.
• Strong, Augustus Hopkins, tr. Wayne Y. Siao (1963): Systematic theology. (Chinese translation)
• Williamson, G.I. (1964): The Westminster Confession of Faith.

2. Supplementary References

• A general introduction to the Bible (Geisler and Nix)
• A predestination primer
• Angels elect and evil (Dickason)
• Encyclopedia of biblical difficulties (Archer)
• Evangelical essentials: a liberal-evangelical dialogue (Edwards and Stott)
• Fundamentals of evangelical theology (Davis)
• Four views on hell
• From the pinnacle of the temple (Fatah)
• Jesus Christ our Lord (Walvoord)
• NIV: the making of a contemporary translation
• Pre-wrath rapture of the church
• The Holy Spirit
• The rapture
• Theology of word and spirit (Bloesch)