Course Catalog

REL423E The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (3 credits) 9485

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores the concept of spirit and concentrates on the study of the Old and New Testaments to gain the biblical teachings on the Holy Spirit. It studies the person of the Spirit and emphasizes His work in the church and in individual believers today.

LEARNING RESULTS
The learner will be able to:

The Holy Spirit is crucial to understanding the content and responsibilities of the Christian life. His work is essential to salvation and the work of the church. Even though many varying interpretations of the Spirit’s work abound, the Bible is clear on the fundamental understandings of His person and work. The ability to distinguish biblical from nonbiblical teachings is necessary for Christians, as is the ability to reflect upon circumstances and apply the Bible’s truths of the Spirit to everyday life. As a result of the successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Gain a basic understanding of the concept of spirit in the Bible and an appreciation of the efforts of translators to treat the concept appropriately.
2. Discover the wide variety of biblical texts that imply the action of the Spirit in every facet of faith and life.
3. Construct a foundational framework for a theology of the Spirit through study of His work in creation, the prophets, and the nation of Israel.
4. Relate the Holy Spirit’s work in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
5. State the significance of the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.
6. Explain how the Spirit works in salvation and sanctification.
7. Distinguish between baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit.
8. Explain spiritual gifts from a biblical perspective in their continuing validity for the work of the church.
9. Distinguish between biblical and non-biblical expressions of the activity of the Spirit.
10. Reflect in a biblically informed manner upon the person and work of the Holy Spirit and apply the findings to the Christian life.
11. Show the ability to do research on related topics by completing a major paper.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
1. Graham, Billy. The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life. Waco: Word, 1978.
2. Hildebrandt, Wilf. An Old Testament Theology of the Spirit of God. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.
3. Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. God the Holy Spirit. (Great Doctrines of the Bible Series, Vol. 2). Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997.
4. Ryrie, Charles. The Holy Spirit. Rev. ed. Chicago: Moody, 1997.
5. A good study Bible, preferably in a modern translation. The New American Standard Version (NAU) or the New International Version (NIV) are particularly recommended. The King James is welcome for individuals who are comforable with its style. Unless otherwise noted, all of the Bible quotations contained within this course will be from the updated New American Standard Bible, (C) 1995 by The Lockman Foundation (NAU).

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INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING
The integration of faith and learning in this course comes from gaining knowledge and understanding of God's Word as it concerns the Holy Spirit, combined with research, scholarship, prayer, and reflection upon the meaning of the texts for everyday life and faith in the church. Further integration occurs when the instructor evaluates and interacts with the student's essays in each assignment.

LEARNING DOCUMENTATION
To determine if the course learning results have been attained, students document their learning by submitting essays on the following lesson topics:

Assignment #1 Intro and word study of Spirit
Assignment #2 The Holy Spirit and Creation
Assignment #3 The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament:
The Prophets
Assignment #4 The Holy Spirit in the Gospels
Assignment #5 The Holy Spirit in the Early Church
Assignment #6 The Holy Spirit in Theological
Perspective
Assignment #7 The Holy Spirit and Salvation
Assignment #8 The Holy Spirit and the Church
Assignment #9 The Holy Spirit and Sanctification
Assignment #10 Baptism and the Filling of the Holy
Spirit
Assignment #11 The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
Assignment #12 The Holy Spirit and Miscellaneous
Subjects
Assignment #13 Conclusions: Reflecting Upon the Holy
Spirit
Exegetical Paper

There are 13 lessons, a major paper, and 0 examinations for this course.

LEARNING EVALUATION
Lessons 1 - 13 are worth 100 points each, and the paper counts as three lessons for a total of 16 grades.
Grade Percent Point Range
A 93 - 100% 1488 - 1600
A- 90 - 92% 1440 - 1489
B+ 88 - 89% 1408 - 1439
B 82 - 87% 1312 - 1407
B- 80 - 81% 1280 - 1311
C+ 78 - 79% 1248 - 1279
C 72 - 77% 1152 - 1247
C- 70 - 71% 1120 - 1151
D+ 68 - 69% 1088 - 1119
D 62 - 67% 992 - 1087
D- 60 - 61% 960 - 991
F Below 60% Below 959