But not short on faith . . .
During the past few years, Hollywood has paid a lot of attention to the Bible. Whether in blockbuster films or television series, faith and Scripture have been front and center. There’s an undeniable connection between the general public’s fascination with Christianity and movie studios banking on multiple seasons of airtime or guaranteed opening-day box office success.
What sounds like a boon for the church is instead causing anxiety with many educators and pastors. They worry that people will take their understanding of Scripture and theology from the big screen, and dramatization that is loosely based on biblical accounts will be taken for fact. Literature offers a similar threat. Consider the countless best-selling novels about historical biblical characters or events, from Genesis to Revelation. When you add novels about conspiracy theories where the real “truth” has been deliberately kept from the faithful, you too might worry about what your congregation believes.
Most Christians aren’t short on faith but are short
on a good grounding in the study of Scripture and an understanding of theology and Church history. When thorough study of the context and content of Scripture is undertaken, and once the story of how specific theologies developed is known, fiction is easy to spot.
Short of those offered at seminaries, there are few good introductory courses on theology. The "Kerygma" Program offers a four-part study of eight key theological questions common to all Christian denominations and can bring a first-year seminary experience home to your congregation. Although Reformed in perspective, Kerygma: The Bible and Theology faithfully explores these major Christian doctrines by examining the key Old and New Testament texts that have played central roles in the development
of theological statements of belief. Each study can be undertaken as a stand-alone series of six to seven sessions focusing on two theological questions, or as a single course of twenty-six sessions if all eight questions are studied. Theological questions are paired in books:
- Resource Book 1 (#1-882236-18-1) The Trinity: Who Is God? and Christology: Who Is Jesus Christ?
- Resource Book 2 (#1-882236-20-3) Ecclesiology: What Is the Church? and Anthropology: Who Is Humanity?
- Resource Book 3 (#1-882236-26-2) Soteriology: How Are We Saved? and Authority: Where Is Authority?
- Resource Book 4 (#1-882236-30-0) Sacraments: What Are the Sacraments? and Eschatology: What Is the Kingdom?
- Leader’s Guides sold separately. See page 40 for item numbers.
"Kerygma": The Bible and Theology invites a congregational study of denominational statements of belief alongside the coursework to encourage a fuller understanding of what we confess and why.
A word of caution: Not only will participants in this study have a greater base of biblical and historical knowledge to draw from when reading bestsellers or watching blockbusters, many often get bitten by the “theology bug” and end up in seminary! Don’t say you weren’t warned. |
