Spring School: Weeks 1&2

Paul Helm
Teaching Fellow, Regent College. Emeritus Professor, University of London. BA, MA (Oxford).

Among Paul’s books are Calvin and the Calvinists, Eternal God, The Providence of God, Faith and Understanding, Faith with Reason and John Calvin’s Ideas.

A Failure of Nerve? Contemporary Evangelicalism and Theological Method

Recent years have seen a rash of proposals on “theological method.” This development has been prompted both by new analyses of contemporary culture and a critical re-evaluation of standard evangelical theology. Using both theological and philosophical resources and by a careful study of three of these proposals—those of John Franke, Stanley Grenz and Kevin Vanhoozer—it is argued that there have been misreadings of the historical evangelical position and a mistaken evaluation of our contemporary cultural situation. These misreadings have prompted an overreaction that suggests a collective failure of nerve regarding the historic method of doing evangelical theology.

THEO 581: May 12-23, 1:15-3:45 pm
2 or 3 graduate credit hours

Download the course information sheet
in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format (142 kb)

Robert Derrenbacker, Jr.
Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies, Regent College. BA (Wheaton), MATS (Gordon- Conwell), PhD (University of Toronto).

In addition to writing a number of articles, essays and reviews, Bob has written two monographs. An ordained Anglican priest, he brings to Regent valuable pastoral and teaching experience.

From DeMille to Mel: The Portrayal of Jesus in Film

In this course, we will explore together the character of Jesus in modern filmmaking. In viewing a number of Jesus-films and numerous film clips, we will pay particular attention to the faithfulness of various Jesus-films to the historical record found in the New Testament Gospels, looking at the ways in which modern biblical scholarship may (or may not) influence contemporary cinema. As well, we will address what these films tell us about Jesus, what they tell us about the people who made these films, and what role Jesus-films may play in shaping us as viewers.

BIBL/INDS 513: May 12-23, 8:30-11:00 am
2 or 3 graduate credit hours

Tony Cummins
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Director of the MA in Biblical Studies at Trinity Western University. BA (Wilfrid Laurier), MA (Ottawa), MA (McGill), DPhil (Oxford).

Tony’s areas of expertise include New Testament, Religion and Culture and Theology and Culture.

New Testament Foundations

This course is an introduction to the context, content and interpretation of the New Testament. A representative range of New Testament writings are read with respect to their life settings and literary forms, and especially in terms of what they teach and envisage concerning God, gospel, church and creation. Accompanying this is an appreciation of the New Testament in relation to the Old Testament as together comprising the church’s Scripture, and critical reflection upon its application to our complex world. In this way the course provides a basis for more advanced study in Christian Scripture, theology and contemporary culture.

BIBL 502: May 12-23, 8:30-11:00 am
2 or 3 graduate credit hours

Note: The 3 credit course is required for DipCS,
MCS and MDiv programs.