Instructors: Ruben Zograbyan,  The Pastoral Team, and Guest Lecturers

COURSE OVERVIEW

The truth is that every reader of the Bible interprets it; the only question is whether or not you will be any good at it. This course is both an introduction and an equipping time so that students might accurately handle the Word of Truth. This class is designed to help students examine and, if needed, alter the “lens” through which one interprets & experiences Scripture to lead the student on a discovery and articulation of basic theological foundations of the Christian faith. As well as give the student an introductory overview of the development of these theological principles within the context of Church history.

The course will help the student to:

• acquire a set of skills and ideas in both the spirit and mind that causes students to develop a coherent interpretive method that is consistent with Scripture’s self-understanding.
• appreciate the ongoing revelatory nature of God speaking through His Word and to His people.
• understand the interpretive method of fellow believers.

We will learn and assess the interpretive process of the evangelical church and how it functions within our community; one that deeply values the Bible and is within the evangelical tradition and God’s ongoing communication with his church.

COURSE PURPOSE

• To know and love God more because of and through His Word. In a sense, all Bible study ought to be devotional and should move us to worship and devotion.
• To understand, enjoy & “accurately handle” both the simplicity and complexity of the “Word of Truth” as you study. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
• To be able to joyfully “feed” yourself and “feed” others the truth of the Bible.
• To hear and obey God better in the present, as He speaks.

COURSE FORMAT The course involves large amounts of reading, lectures, Q & A, in class assignments and completion of homework assignments prior to the lectures.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Attendance at sufficient number of lectures in keeping with LASSM attendance policies.
2. Completion of all required reading which includes the entire Grasping God’s Word text and 30 Days to Understanding the Bible.
3. Completion of assigned Bible reading (approximately 50% of the Bible) and submission of Bible Survey Questions on assigned reading.
4. Completion of ALL weekly Bible assignments in a satisfactory manner.

REQUIRED READING

• Anders, Max. 30 Days to Understanding the Bible. Updated & Revised. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004. • Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
• God. The Bible.
• Liardon, Roberts. God’s Generals: Why They Succeeded and Why Some Failed. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2003. SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOG RAPHIES
• Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
• Grenz, Stanley J. Theology for the Community of God. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994

SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• Fee, Gordon and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Third Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. / First Year 2
• Hayford, Jack. The Hayford Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study: Updated & Revised. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995

COURSE PRESUPPOSITIONS:

1. The Bible is primarily God’s book about Himself, not man’s book about God. In other words, the Bible is inspired (God breathed), authoritative and, as originally written, is without error.
2. Scripture is both timeless (eternal) and anchored in a particular time in human history. It is God’s ideas in human language – ancient languages most of us don’t speak which has been translated into the languages we do speak.
3. The Bible will never become irrelevant nor pass away, and we haven’t come close to grasping its total depth. Yet the Bible is NOT an “end” in itself. Its purpose is to lead us to know and worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

COURSE RELEVANCE:

The Bible is the primary, authoritative guide to the faith & practice of Christianity. All supernatural and natural experience must be measured by the Truth as revealed in God’s Word. God is still speaking but everything we now hear must be consistent with what He has spoken. We cannot lead properly, or in a healthy, holy manner in the Christian community if we don’t know how to understand the Word.

We are neither the only nor the most important part of the church. We are part of a larger body of Christ. Other believers need us to be biblically sound as we express the supernatural, experiential gospel we are called to. It is a false goal to attempt a balance between truth and power as if they were opposite each other. We want to be very truthful with the Bible and very powerful in the things of God. “Long” on study and experience. All motivated by love.

Though not based on reason, our faith is reasonable! We are commanded to give a reason for the hope that is in us. As we send you to influence the Mind Molders, no secular professor, atheist judge or hedonist entertainer ought to be able to shake you because of some “new” idea. As faith filled, supernatural, thinking believers, we want to send you into the world as innocent as doves but as shrewd as serpents (Mt. 10:16).

COURSE GOALS:

1. That students acquire the skills mentioned in the Course Overview.
2. That students would be informed, thoughtful exegetes and interpreters of the simple truth of the Bible, able to research and find answers for more difficult questions.
3. That students would develop the ability to come to accurate, mature conclusions about Biblical theology based on the Holy Spirit empowered skills that bridge historical/cultural/grammatical distance between the “then & there” of Scripture and the “here & now” of interpretation & application.
4. That students would become skilled at Inductive Bible Study (in the style presented by the instructor) so that when one finds oneself in the African bush and is asked to preach or even teach about Biblical interpretation and application one is able to do so with just the Bible and the Holy Spirit.
5. That students will memorize enough relevant material about geography, timelines, and OT/NT characters to have a basic working knowledge of the Bible on which to build.

GRADING/CREDITS Students who have achieved a satisfactory level of academic work and are not missing any assignments for the year; have attendance records that meet with our standards concerning absence, and have been otherwise in good standing with the school in regards to tuition and character will be considered to have “Passed”.

Instructor: Cheryl Allen, Ruben Zograbyan, The Pastoral Team, and Guest Lecturers

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course is designed as an introduction to Christ’s teaching of the Kingdom as it relates to the identity of individuals and the church at large. The core objective of the course is to convince students of the “royalty” they possess as children of the king and mobilize them into the holy, supernatural lifestyle that flows from this belief.

COURSE PURPOSE

COURSE FORMAT

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Attendance at sufficient number of lectures in keeping with LASSM attendance policies.
2. Completion of all required reading and a satisfactory report demonstrating meaningful interaction with the texts.

REQUIRED READING

• Frost, Jack. Experiencing the Fathers Embrace. Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2006.
• Vallotton, Kris. Basic Training for the Supernatural Ways of Royalty. Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2008.
• Farrlley, Dann. Kingdom Culture. Bethel Church, 2017.

SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• Vallotton, Kris. Developing a Supernatural Lifestyle: A Practical Guide to a Life of Signs, Wonders and Miracles. Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2007.
• Silk, Danny. Culture of Honor: Sustaining a Supernatural Environment. Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2009.

GRADING/CREDITS Students who have achieved a satisfactory level of academic work and are not missing any assignments for the year; have attendance records that meet with our standards concerning absence, and have been otherwise in good standing with the school in regards to tuition and character will be considered to have “Passed”.