Syllabus for The Apostles' Creed
Course description
There are many denominations, divisions and theological disputes in the modern church, but despite these types of disunity, there is a common core of belief that all faithful Christians have affirmed throughout history. For almost two millennia, this core of belief has been summarized in the Apostles' Creed. This course explains the history and use of the Apostles' Creed, as well as the details and significance of each of its articles of faith. It is based on the lecture series, The Apostles' Creed, produced by Third Millennium Ministries and hosted by Dr. Van Gayton with contributions from a variety of professors.
Goals and Objectives
GOALS
In this course, we would like to accomplish the following:
1. We hope you will learn the important factors of the history of the Apostles' Creed and that you will learn the meaning of each of the doctrines expressed in the Apostles' Creed.
2. We hope you become convinced of the value of the Apostles' Creed and its significance for the modern church, and that you believe the doctrines expressed in it.
3. We hope that you will apply the teachings of the course to your own heart and life, trusting God as your Father, trusting in Jesus as your Savior, trusting in the Holy Spirit as your Guide, living by grace, and participating in the Church.
OBJECTIVES
When you have done the following, it will show that the goals are met:
1. Obtain satisfactory grades on the automatically graded elements of the course, demonstrating that you can: a) identify key information about the history of the Apostles' Creed, and b) identify the meaning of the doctrines expressed in the Apostles' Creed.
2. Complete the study guides, questionnaires and other assignments of the course, expressing your attitude regarding the Apostles' Creed and its doctrines, describing your relationship with God the Father, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit, and showing that you are living by grace and participating in the Church.
Thematic Outline of the Course
1. The Articles of Faith
2. God the Father
3. Jesus Christ
4. The Holy Spirit
5. The Church
6. Salvation
Explanation of Assignments
The Multimedia Lessons
1. Study the lessons, watching the video, listening to the audio, or reading the text.
2. Complete the study guides for each lesson. These study guides will prepare you for the online quizzes and help you apply the teachings of the lesson to your own life. (For those students associated with a particular institution wishing to track the completion of the completion of the Study Guides, a drop box has been provided at the end of the course.)
3. Take the online quizzes on each section of the lessons. The quizzes may be taken as many times as you want, but you must wait five days between each attempt, and the official grade will be from the first attempt.
4. Optional: We recommend that you look through the glossaries and use the learning games to become familiar with special names and technical terms used in the lessons.
5. Take the cumulative test for each complete lesson. You may take the test again as many times as you want for review, but you must wait five days between each attempt, and the official grade is from the first attempt.
6. When you have finished all the lessons on the multimedia lectures, take the final exam on the lectures.
Other Activities
1. Complete the supplementary lessons for each lesson. These lessons give you additional background information and provide other learning aids related to the lessons. You may repeat these lessons as many times as you want, and the official grade will be the highest score out of all the attempts.
2. Complete the questionnaires for the lessons to help assimilate the teachings and apply them to your own life. These are not quizzes. The answers are more subjective. The grade is for completing the assignment.
3. There is a final lesson based on additional readings. These are optional readings designed to supplement the main lesson materials. The student should do the reading, complete the study guides, and take the corresponding quizzes and cumulative test based on the reading. These are graded as extra credit. (For those students associated with a particular institution wishing to track the completion of the Reading Study Guides, a drop box has been provided at the end of the course.)
We recommend that you work on these reading assignments and quizzes during the entire course, instead of waiting until you finish all the lessons based on the video lectures. For each lesson, do the percentage of the work on them that corresponds to the number of lessons in the course.
Optional Activities
Some institutions may require you to do one or more of the following optional assignments. If so, read the instructions in lesson 1 and follow the specific guidelines given in the instructions for each lesson.
1. The Written project
2. Essay Questions
3. Journal Questions
4. Optional Additional Reading
Grades
The final grade will be calculated as follows:
1) The quizzes on the lectures are each worth 10 points.
2) Each cumulative test is worth 30 points.
3) Each supplementary lesson is worth 10 points.
4) Each questionnaire is worth 10 points.
5) The final exam on the lectures is worth 100 points.
6) Each quiz on the reading assignments is worth 10 points (extra credit).
7) The cumulative test on the additional reading is worth 30 points (extra credit).
The final grade of the course will be calculated by adding the corresponding percentages of all assignments and tests, making a total of 100% possible.
A total course score above 70% is considered passing.
Greek and Hebrew
Some lessons in our courses make reference to words in Greek or Hebrew. If you have not studied these languages, you might want to at least become familiar with the alphabets.
For the Greek alphabet, see:
https://www.billmounce.com/greekalphabet/greek-alphabet
For the Hebrew alphabet, see:
http://hebrew.billmounce.com/BasicsBiblicalHebrew-01.pdf
List of Contributors to The Apostles' Creed
Dr. David Baer is President and CEO of Overseas Council.
Dr. Frank Barker is Pastor Emeritus at Briarwood Presbyterian Church and is a founder of Birmingham Theological Seminary in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. David R. Bauer is Dean of the School of Biblical Interpretation and the Ralph Waldo Beeson Professor of Inductive Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Rev. Ivan Bespalov is Pastor of Church of the Holy Trinity, a Presbyterian church in Kiev, Ukraine.
Dr. Steve Blakemore is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Dr. Knox Chamblin (1935-2012) served as Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary.
Dr. Stephen Chan is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University in Washington State.
Dr. Paul Chang is Pastor of Monmouth Chinese Christian Church in Middleton, New Jersey.
Dr. Peter Chow is President of China Evangelical Seminary in Taiwan.
Dr. Saul Cruz is a psychologist and he and his wife, Pilar Cruz-Ramos are co-directors of Armonia Ministries in Mexico City.
Dr. Daniel Doriani is Vice President of Strategic Academic Initiatives and Professor of Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary.
Dr. Stephen Douglass serves as the president and chairman of the board of Cru and Campus Crusade for Christ International.
Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III is the Chancellor and John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.
Rev. Daniel Fajfr is President of the Church of the Brethren, Czech Republic.
Dr. John M. Frame is Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.
Dr. Matt Friedeman is Professor of Evangelism and Discipleship at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Dr. David Garner is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Van B. Gayton has been a Bible teacher and Principal at private Christian schools and a Professor of Apologetics, as well as a guest lecturer at various institutions around the United States.
Rev. Michael J. Glodo is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary's Orlando Campus.
Dr. Steve Harper is the founding Vice President of the Florida Dunnam Campus of Asbury Theological Seminary.
Dr. Dennis E. Johnson is Academic Dean and Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary California.
Dr. Keith Johnson serves as the Director of Theological Education for the U.S campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ and is a guest professor of Systematic Theology for Reformed Theological Seminary.
Dr. Jeff Jue is Associate Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary.
Dr. Riad Kassis is Regional Director for Overseas Council, an international training ministry for Christian leaders.
Dr. Peter Kuzmic is the Eva B. and Paul E. Toms Distinguished Professor of World Missions and European Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the co-founder and director of Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia.
Dr. Samuel Ling is an historian, theologian, and missiologist devoted to exploring significant issues affecting the Chinese church and China ministries.
Dr. Rob Lister is Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at the Talbot School of Theology.
Dr. Jeffery Lowman is Senior Pastor at Evangel Church PCA, in Alabaster, Alabama, and Professor of Homiletics and Systematic Theology at Birmingham Theological Seminary in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. Rebecca Luman is Assistant Professor of Formation and Instruction and serves as the Online Curriculum Coordinator at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Rev. Jim Maples is Director of the Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership program at Birmingham Theological Seminary in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. John McKinley is Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University.
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Thomas J. Nettles is Professor of Historical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. John Oswalt is the Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Dr. J. I. Packer is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and preaches and lectures widely in Great Britain and America.
Dr. Jonathan Pennington is Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Robert Plummer is Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr. is President of Third Millennium Ministries and Adjunct Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary's Orlando Campus.
Mr. Emad Sami serves at Veritas College as the Regional Director of Middle East & North Africa.
Dr. Thomas Schreiner is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Associate Dean of Scripture and Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Glen Scorgie is Professor of Theology at Bethel Seminary's San Diego Campus.
Dr. Mark Strauss is Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary's San Diego Campus.
Dr. Frank Thielman is the Presbyterian Professor of Divinity in New Testament at Beeson Divinity School.
Dr. K. Erik Thoennes is Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University.
Dr. Derek W.H. Thomas is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary's Atlanta Campus.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong is the founder of the Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International and the Reformed Institute for Christianity and the 21st Century.
Dr. Carl R. Trueman is Professor of Historical Theology and Church History and the Paul Woolley Chair of History at Westminster Theological Seminary.
Dr. Bill Ury is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Rev. Dr. Simon Vibert is the former Vicar of St. Luke's Church, Wimbledon Park, UK, and is presently the Vice Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and Director of the School of Preaching.
Rev. Dr. Peter Walker is Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry.
Dr. Willie Wells is Pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fairfield, Alabama and a professor at Birmingham Theological Seminary in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. Stephen Wellum is Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Donald Whitney is Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality and the Senior Associate Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Rev. Valery Zadorozhny is a pastoral assistant at Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church in Odessa, Ukraine.