Upcoming online courses from the Wesley Ministry Network
The Wesley Ministry Network is a new experiment in theological education. The purpose of the Network is to strengthen the ministries of the local church and to enable Wesley Theological Seminary to become a church-centered seminary. Churches thrive when they are connected to a strong seminary, and seminaries are strong when they are affiliated with vital congregations.
The Wesley Ministry Network works to build the church through a variety of activities. Our current focus is on meeting the need for high-quality adult educational materials that make accessible to laypeople the broad mainstream of Christian theology. It is our vision to be a leading resource for the education of the whole church in the whole world. To this end, we are striving to bring the teaching of the world's best theologians to your local church.
We are very pleased to be partnering with the Wesley Ministry Network to bring the great courses they provide into an online setting. You may read about the wonderful work of the Wesley Ministry Network on their website: www.wesleyministrynetwork.com. These courses are not dated because they are offered as part of our Congregational Partners program. To learn more about this program, please click here.
Serious Answers to Hard Questions
How do you reconcile the presence of evil in the world with belief in a loving God? How should Christians relate to other religions? Does the "Christ of Faith" bear any resemblance to the "Jesus of History"?
Ten Christian and Jewish theologians – world experts in their fields and persons of faith – each address a single perplexing issue. These ten issues are obstacles to faith for many both in and outside of the church. Each week a short scriptural study and personal reflection questions will help participants begin to think about the topic. Video presentations by the noted scholars will provide further material for discussion. This course will encourage energetic discussion and sustained reflection by both believers and seekers.
Lessons Include:
1. Evil -- R. Kendall Soulen, Wesley Theological Seminary
2. Religion and Science -- John Polkinghorne, Cambridge University
3. Other Religions -- Sathianathan Clarke, Wesley Theological Seminary
4. Evangelism and Tolerance --Scott Jones, Bishop; formerly Perkins School of Theology
5. The God of the Old Testament -- Amy-Jill Levine, Vanderbilt Divinity School
6. Jesus and Christianity -- Richard B. Hays, Duke Divinity School
7. Resurrection -- N. T. Wright, Bishop; formerly Oxford University
8. The Gnostic Gospels -- Ben Witherington, Asbury Theological Seminary
9. The Sins of the Church --Douglas M. Strong, Wesley Theological Seminary
10. Forgiveness -- L. Gregory Jones, Duke Divinity School
2.2 CEUs are available.
Religion and Science: Pathways to Truth
Must we reject belief in God to accept the findings of science?
Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, hosts this ground-breaking series in which several leading scientists, theologians, and philosophers explore the contrasts and similarities between religion and science. This group of experts considers if and how religion and science might coexist and even complement one another in the 21st century.
Lessons include:
1. Introduction -- Francis S. Collins, Director, The Human Genome Project
2. Friends or Foes? The Story of a Complex Relationship -- David Wilkinson, St. John's College, Durham
3. Truth in Science and Theology -- Philip Clayton, Claremont School of Theology
4. God and Nature -- Keith Ward, Oxford University
5. Creation and Evolution -- Darrel Falk, Point Loma Nazarene University
6. What Does It Mean to Be Human? -- Warren Brown, Fuller Theological Seminary
7. The God of Hope and the End of the World -- John Polkinghorne, Cambridge University
8. Genetic Science and the Frontiers of Ethics -- Ted Peters, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminar
2.0 CEUs are available.
Women Speak of God
This course is not just for women! The workshop is about how Christians in different cultures, different time periods and different social locations have told their faith stories. Amy Oden, professor of the History of Christianity and Dean of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, presents video lectures on six Christian women who wrote about their faith. The workshop explores how we, as members of the Christian family, tell our "family stories." It also helps us to examine our own faith and to articulate our own experiences of God.
Lessons Include:
Perpetua: Rebellious Daughter (2nd century Carthage)
Macrina: Scientist and Pastor (4th century Asia Minor)
Juana Inez de la Cruz: Intellectual in the Kitchen (17th century Mexico)
Susanna Wesley: First Theologian of the Methodists (18th century England)
Jarena Lee: Preaching Pioneer (19th century United States)
Georgia Harkness: Theologian for the People (20th century United States)
1.5 CEUs are available.
Simply Christian
What is the core of Christian faith? Is it reasonable for modern people? In ten inspiring lessons, the well-known biblical scholar and Anglican bishop N. T. Wright offers a fresh presentation of the timeless truths of Christianity. Lessons expand on the themes of Wright’s acclaimed book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense and are appropriate for established believers and seekers alike. Participants will also need a copy of the book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense.
Lessons include multiple streaming video segments. Students will be assigned daily readings, reflection questions and activities, and are expected to contribute regularly to online discussion forums with the instructor and other participants.
Lessons include:
1. Introduction to Simply Christian
2. Justice & Spirituality
3. Relationships & Beauty
4. God
5. Israel
6. Jesus
7. The Holy Spirit
8. Worship & Prayer
9. Scripture
10. Church & New Creation
2.2 CEUs are available.
Journey Through the Psalms
This workshop is based on the widely-used book Journey through the Psalms, and features video lessons by its author, Dr. Denise Dombkowski Hopkins, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary. Through the course of eight weekly sessions, the workshop provides a vehicle to bring the Psalms to life for prayer and worship in the local church and helps participants learn to approach God with the honesty and emotional intensity of the ancient psalmists.
Lessons Include:
Praying the Psalms
The Synagogue, the Church, and the Psalms
Your Hallelujahs Don't Have to Be Hollow Anymore
You Get What You Deserve, Don't You?
Complaining in Faith to God
Life in the Meanwhile
The Lord Reigns. Enthronement Psalms
1.5 CEUs are available.
Devotion to Jesus: The Divinity of Christ in Earliest Christianity
Dr. Larry Hurtado contends that worship of Jesus was a very early, widespread and radical practice for 1st century believers. A renowned professor at Edinburgh College, Hurtado is an expert in Christian origins. In this course, Hurtado utterly refutes those skeptical scholars that propose that belief in the divinity of Jesus grew incrementally over time. The more plausible explanation is that Jesus believed he had a unique relationship with God and that he was God’s decisive agent in human history.
Lessons Include:
1. Introduction to Jesus Devotion
2. Roman and Jewish Backgrounds
3. Jesus in the Letters of Paul
4. Jesus in Jewish Christianity
5. Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels
6. Jesus in the Gospel of John
7. The Costs and Consequences of Jesus Devotion
8. How Did It Happen? Why Does It Matter Today?
2.0 CEUs are available.
A Life Worthy of the Gospel
How do Christians think and act faithfully in a complex and often ambiguous world? What models from Scripture and Church history might help us to live "lives worthy of the Gospel" in the 21st century? This eloquent, challenging and inspiring six-week introduction to Christian ethics avoids pat answers and simplistic lists of do's and don’t's . The course includes weekly video lectures by Dr. Sondra Wheeler, professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Dr. Wheeler focuses on the formation of Christian character, citing helpful examples both from Scripture and from Church history. She concludes with a test case: the issue of money and consumption. What would Paul, Augustine, Luther and Wesley say to modern Christians about their use of resources?
Lessons Include:
1. Introduction: A Christian Way of Living?
Four Models for Christian Ethics:
2. Scripture: The Story that Forms Us
3. Augustine: Ordering Our Loves
4. Luther: The Spirit of Christian Life
5. Wesley: Transforming Grace
6. Conclusion: Learning from Our Traditions -- A Test Case
1.5 CEUs are available.
In God’s Time: The Bible and the Future
Enormous confusion exists today concerning the Bible's teaching about the future. The In God's Time course offers an alternative to sensationalist perspectives about the future, an alternative that is at once faithful and sane, readable and scholarly. The course is based on the acclaimed book of the same title by Dr. Craig C. Hill and features video lectures as well as online discussions, weekly letters, and more. In God's Time encourages Christians both to take seriously and to think sensibly about the hope of God's ultimate victory. It is a relatively advanced course that will appeal most to people who have a background in biblical studies, such as completion of the first year of the Disciple Bible Study course.
This course will involve reading and discussion on the book "In God’s Time" by Craig C. Hill. Participants will need their own copy of the book which may be ordered from your local bookstore or try Amazon.com. (include link).
Lessons Include:
1. Are We There Yet?
2. The History of the Future
3. The Covenant Future
4. Apocalypse Then
5. Between the Testaments
6. Daniel
7. Revelation
8. Jesus and the Things to Come
9. The Once and Future Kingdom
10. Conclusion: Hope Unseen
2.2 CEUs are available.