Hi everyone,
The Spring semester of
Trinitarian Online Theological School starts up on Feb. 2.
One of the classes offered is a 12 week class on The Shack. This is more expansive than the 9 week course that was tested out last year. For those who participated in the 9 week course, you might remember that we only went through about 4 weeks of the class, since this was the pilot test of the course before officially offering the class. So, much of the content of this 12 week course will be new.
This will be a class, so if you sign up, you will be expected to participate, and also to write your thoughts down (i.e., a "paper" but don't think of it like you are back in school!").
Here is the course description:
Course Objective:This class will look at the book "The Shack" by William P. Young to examine literary concepts such as allegory and metaphor, along with the central themes of God's love, the Trinity, and the living of the Christian life. We will examine parallels with the Christian faith demonstrated throughout the story and characters of the book covering topics such as repentance, faith, the wrath of God, the exchanged life, and the practical truth of the Trinitarian God. The course will also look into some of the controversies surrounding the contents of the book and deal with these. This is a 12 week course, starting on February 2, 2009.
I have talked to Paul Young about the course, and I am hoping to have him join us for a chat session or conference call near the end of the semester. Paul is extremely busy these days, though ... so that is not firmly established yet.
What do you have to do to sign up? First go here:
http://www.covenant-love.org/tots/Click on the course title: A Journey Through "The Shack"
From there, you will need to register (on the right). Registration fees can be paid through PayPal.
This will start up on February 2nd! Many of you won't be used to this Moodle site, but don't worry. I will walk you through how to use this during the first week.
I am also offering what I call a "foundation" class on
The Life (Salvation) which will be a 12 week look into our salvation in Jesus Christ. Many of the issues that people have debated in
The Shack in regard to salvation issues (judgment, wrath, faith, works, and so on) will be discussed in greater length in this course. A particularly fun topic will be the discussion of how the Western church became obsessed with the idea of "satisfaction" and how that has shaped and warped our understanding of salvation. Revel in the truth that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit passionately pursued you. Included in this course is a study of Wayne Jacobson's "He Loves Me" book.
As with
The Shack study, I'm hoping to include Wayne in a chat/conference call with students at the end of the semester.
Future classes will study covenant (based on "The Lost Secret of the New Covenant" by Malcolm Smith), Life with the Trinity (based on "The Great Dance" by Baxter Kruger), Bible studies, and much, much more!
Blessings,
Brandon
