Course Syllabus
THE EPISTLE OF JAMES
Course description
The Epistle of James is an intensely practical book for readers in every age. James' original audience had professed faith in Christ, but many were not living lives that reflected their beliefs. To address this disparity, James dealt with real-world issues that still speak to us today. This course looks at the background, structure and content of the Epistle of James and explores the wisdom and practical instruction in James that remain relevant for modern readers. It is based on the lecture series, The Epistle of James, produced by Third Millennium Ministries and hosted by Dr. Paul Gardner with contributions from a variety of professors.
Navigating Through the Course
Most of the navigation procedures are intuitive and easy to follow. The general flow of the course is simple and linear, completing the activities from top to bottom, and there are instructions and buttons to guide you.
You can see your completion progress by looking at the check boxes on the right of each activity, and you can look at your grades by clicking on the link in the margin.
You can always go back to the home page of the course by scrolling to the top of the page and clicking on the title of the course in the "bread crumb" menu.
Resources
All materials needed for this course are available online within the structure of this course.
1. The presentations are available through the links offered in each lesson, as well as the tests.
2. The study guides and other materials are available in the folder called "Resources to Download for the Course."
3. The texts for required additional reading are available in PDF documents.
Goals and Objectives
GOALS
In this course, we would like to accomplish the following:
1. We hope the student will learn key information about the background, structure and content of the Epistle of James, and that he will understand the theme of wisdom in the Epistle of James and its relationship to practical living.
2. We hope the student will grow in his desire to gain wisdom for practical living, as described in the Epistle of James.
3. We hope the student will begin to apply the teachings of the course to his own life, living his life marked more consistently by wisdom.
OBJECTIVES
When you have done the following, it will show that the goals are met:
1. Obtain satisfactory grades on the tests, demonstrating that you can: a) identify key information about the background, structure and content for James, and b) identify the meaning of the two paths of wisdom expressed in James.
2. Answer the application questions in the study guides and complete the questionnaires of the lessons, in which you show how you have applied the teachings of the course to your own life, living a life marked more consistently by wisdom.
Thematic Outline of the Course
1) Introduction to James
2) Two Paths of Wisdom
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 Epistle of James
Dr. Jimmy Agan is Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of Homiletics at Covenant Theological Seminary.
Dr. David Chapman is Associate Professor of New Testament and Archaeology at Covenant Theological Seminary.
Dr. Brandon D. Crowe is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary.
Dr. Daniel Doriani is Vice President of Strategic Academic Initiatives and Professor of Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary.
Dr. Jeffrey A. Gibbs is Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary.
Dr. Thomas L. Keene is Part-Time Lecturer at Westminster Theological Seminary and is Associate Pastor of Family Minstries at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Conshohocken, PA.
Dr. Michael Kennison is Minister of Congregational Care at Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, MO.
Rev. David I.M. Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary.
Dr. Dan McCartney is Professor of New Testament interpretation at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Gregory R. Perry is Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of City Ministry Initiative at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. J. Scott Redd is Campus President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and Assistant Professor of Old Testament.
Rev. Dr. Michael Walker is Theologian-in-residence at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas.
Rev. Dr. Peter Walker is Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry.
Dr. Larry J. Waters is Professor of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Rev. Dr. Thurman Williams is Associate Pastor at Grace and Peace Fellowship in St. Louis.