Professor: David
Arnett
Office
Phone: 833-2551 (Ex.
1150)
Cell Phone: 224-5325
(emergencies)
Office: Welch
134
Web Site www.DavidArnett.com
E-mail: DArnett@cbcag.edu
&
COURSE
SYLLABUS &
Mission
Statement
Central
Bible
College has been
established for the purpose of training ministers and
missionaries.
Central
Bible
College is an Assemblies
of God institution of higher learning having a Bible-centered
curriculum designed to educate and train ministers, missionaries,
and Christian workers to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in and through
the local church.
Course
Description
This course is designed to provide a
careful study of the relevance of the scriptures to contemporary
needs within every generation and culture. Attention is given to proper
interpretation and application of timeless biblical truths and
principles. Students
discuss and address cross-cultural preaching/communication,
doctrinal issues, social issues, and current movement within or
facing the Body of Christ.
The course requires not only discussion, but also the
practice of its stated objectives. Prerequisites:
PR-302—Homiletics I.
Course
Objectives
As a
result of his experiences in this course, the student should be able
to:
1.
Demonstrate the ability to
logically analyze contemporary issues and offer philosophically and
biblically sound responses to these
issues.
2.
State
the five basic philosophical questions.
3.
Summarize how ten major
worldviews attempt to answer the philosophical
questions.
4.
Describe
how these ten worldviews affect the thinking and behavior of their
adherents particularly in dealing with contemporary
issues.
5.
Define
Christian Apologetics and
state the two immediate goals
of Christian Apologetics.
6.
Define
Christian Polemics and
state the goals of Christian
polemics.
7.
Detail
the problems facing preachers who want to communicate to postmodern
audiences.
8.
Contrast
Cognitive Apprehension with Intuitive
Apprehension.
9.
Give
Anderson’s four discovery questions
to consider when preparing a Bible-based
sermon.
10. Outline
Anderson’s “Integrative Model for
Preaching.”
11. Explain why
“receiver-orientation” is essential for communication
relevance.
12. Model communication
relevance by constructing understandable, rhetorical argumentation
and people-focused applicational
wording.
13. Describe how to make a
sermon relevant by using illustrations.
14. Prepare and deliver a
problematic sermon that applies biblical truth to a contemporary
issue.
15. Prepare and deliver a
narrative sermon to communicate biblical truth to a postmodern
audience.
Course
Textbooks
Required:
& Johnston, Graham. 2001. Preaching to a Postmodern World.
Grand
Rapids,
Mich.: Baker Book House.
& Loscalzo, Craig A. 2000. Apologetic Preaching:
Proclaiming Christ to a Postmodern World.
Downers Grove, Ill.:
InterVarsity Press.
& Miller, Mark. 2004. Experiential Storytelling:
(Re)Discovery Narrative to Communicate God's Message.
Grand
Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan Publishing
House.
& Any translation of The Holy Bible
(no paraphrases).
Recommended:
& Kimball, Dan. 2003. The Emerging Church:
Vintage Christianity for New Generations.
Grand
Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan Publishing
House.
& McLaren, Brian. 2000. The Church on the Other
Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix.
Grand
Rapids,
Mich.:
Zondervan.
Course Requirements and
Outline
The requirements for PR-322 are as
follows:
Unit One — January 12 -
February 10 – Recognizing Prevailing Worldviews.
During the first unit, the
student shall:
1. Take detailed notes over class
lectures, discussions, and debates.
2. Read pages 8-175 of Graham
Johnson’s Preaching to a
Postmodern World.
3. Memorize 1 Timothy 4:1-14 in the New
International Version.
The memorization will take some doing. It is recommended that the
student write the verses on 3 x 5 cards and drill them whenever
there is a spare minute.
Upon the completion of this
unit, the student should be able
to:
1.
Distinguish
between the Enlightenment’s belief in inevitable progress and the
postmodern consciousness of the future (Class
notes).
2.
Explain how
postmoderns view the idea of a privileged perspective or point of
view by which one can accurately claim to know the objective truth
for everyone (Class notes).
3.
Explicate
Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” (class notes).
4.
Define the
following (class notes):
a.
Worldview
(according to James Sire)
b.
Perception
c.
Preaching
(according to Kenton Anderson)
d.
Integration
e.
Metaphysics
5.
Differentiate
between the following branches of philosophy (class
notes):
a.
Anthropology
b.
Epistemology
c.
Axiology
d.
Aesthetics
6.
List the
tenets of the following worldviews:
a.
Christian
Theism
b.
Neo-Scholasticism
c.
Idealism
d.
Realism
e.
Secular
Humanism
f.
Behaviorism
g.
Existentialism
h.
Nihilism
i.
Pragmatism
j.
Marxism
k.
Cosmic
Humanism
l.
Postmodernism
7.
Evaluate the
result or effect of Descartes’ postulate “Cogito, ergo sum” (Class
notes).
8.
Identify the
following and their contributions to particular
worldviews:
a.
John
Dewey
b.
Burrhus
Frederic Skinner
c.
Jack Kevorkian
d.
Fredrich
Engels
e.
Werner
Erhard
Unit Two - February 13 - March
03 – Preaching to Postmoderns
During the second unit, the
student shall:
1. Take detailed notes over class
lectures, discussions, and debates.
2. Read pages 11-134 of Craig A.
Loscalzo’s Apologetic Preaching: Proclaiming Christ to a
Postmodern World.
3. Memorize 1 Timothy 4:1-14 in the New
International Version.
The memorization will take some doing. It is recommended that the
student write the verses on 3 x 5 cards and drill them whenever
there is a spare minute.
4. Complete the Mid-Term Exam on or before Friday,
March 03 — It will cover all
class notes and handouts,
pages 8-175 of Graham Johnson’s Preaching to a Postmodern World,
pages 11-134 of Apologetic Preaching, and
the memorization of 1 Timothy 4:1-14 in the New International
Version. The exam will
be objective in nature (true or false and matching). The scripture memorization
will be tested by means of a matching section on the
exam.
Upon the completion of this
unit, the student should be able
to:
1.
Describe how
the postmodern worldview views pure objectivity (Class notes;
Loscalzo, 17).
2.
Identify the
church’s built-in resource for responding to the longing of
postmoderns (Class notes; Loscalzo,
19).
3.
Name
postmodernism’s hermeneutical approach to life (Class notes;
Loscalzo, 19).
4.
Describe how
postmodern thinkers respond to point-making sermons, alliterated
outlines and a third-person descriptive logic (Class notes;
Loscalzo, 21).
5.
Identify a
homiletic method to which postmodern listeners will respond more
favorably (Class notes; Loscalzo,
40).
6.
State how a
homiletic method affects the theological content of a sermon (Class
notes; Loscalzo, 40).
7.
State how
Christians should respond to a skeptical age (Loscalzo,
54).
8.
Describe the
place of the syllogistic method as an apologetic tool for those who
desire to communicate the Gospel to postmodern audiences (Class
notes; Loscalzo, 76).
9.
Describe how a
postmodern apologetic must tap into the culture’s desire for story
and meaning based on narrative assumptions (Class notes; Loscalzo,
77).
10.
Evaluate the
mantra of postmodern seekers — “it doesn’t really matter what you
believe as long as you believe something” (Class notes; Loscalzo,
85).
11.
Name the
strengths and weaknesses of both postmodernism and modernism
(Loscalzo, 85).
12.
Explain
Loscalzo’s statement that “either all truth is relative or no truth
is relative” (Loscalzo, 90).
13.
Portray the
stance one should take when preaching to a postmodernism audience
(Class notes; Loscalzo, 92).
14.
Name two
traits that postmodern people long for in those who seek to minister
to them (Class notes; Loscalzo,
93).
15.
Depict how
contemporary hearers typically view protracted, logical, linear
arguments (Class notes; Loscalzo,
118).
16.
Define
deductive reasoning (Class notes; Loscalzo,
118).
17.
Identify the
single biggest hurdle or obstacle for postmodern non-Christians to
overcome (Class notes; Loscalzo,
120).
18.
State how one
should present the claim of the exclusive nature of Christ’s atoning
death when preaching to postmodern people (Class notes; Loscalzo,
120).
9.
Explain how
the first point or division of a problematic sermon establishes the
criteria for judging the adequacy of
proposed
solutions for
contemporary issues (Class
notes).
10.
Explain why a
preacher should motivate his or her congregation to “select” the
right part of a perceptual experience (Class notes).
11.
Describe how a
preacher may lead his or her congregation to “select” the right part
of a perceptual experience (Class notes).
Unit 3 - Mar 13-Apr 7 -
Problematic
Preaching
During the third unit, the
student shall:
1. Take detailed notes over class
lectures (PowerPoint) and debates.
2. Memorize Ephesians 4:17-32 in the New
International Version.
The memorization will take some doing. It is recommended that the
student write the verses on 3 x 5 cards and drill them whenever
there is a spare minute.
Upon
the completion of this unit, the student should be able to prepare
and submit a Problematic
Sermon.
a. Utilizing the Problematic Sermon
Pattern, the student shall carefully prepare and submit via
e-mail a Bible-based Problematic-Topical Sermon. In a topical sermon, the
proposition is drawn from a biblical text while the main points
and
sub-points may be
drawn from other parts of the
Bible.
b. In
preparing for the Problematic-Topical sermon, the student must
prayerfully select Biblical texts that treat one of the following
subjects. Special
permission must be obtained to address a different topic.
(1)
Abortion
(2)
Atheism
(3)
Bioethical
issues
(4)
“Black
Theology”
(5)
Comparative
Religions
(6)
Cults
(7)
Drug and
Alcohol Abuse
(8)
Economic
Issues
(9)
Ecumenism
(10)
Entertainment
(11)
Euthanasia
(12)
Evolution
(13)
“Feminist
Theology”
(14)
Homosexuality
(15)
Humanism
(16)
Labor
Issues
(17)
Liberation
Theology
(18)
Marketing
& Consumerism
(19)
Neo-Paganism
(20)
New Age
(21)
Parenting and
Family Life
(22)
Postmodernism
(23)
Racism
(24)
Separation of
Church & State
(25)
Sexuality and
Intimacy
(26)
Terrorism
(27)
Violence
(28)
War
(29)
The Welfare
State
(30)
Women’s
Issues
c.
Strict
adherence to the following guidelines is
mandatory.
(1)
The sermon
must be current (i.e., written during the Spring 2006
semester).
(2)
The sermon
must be written entirely by the
student.
(3)
Doctrinal
content must not deviate from the Assemblies of God Fundamentals of
the Faith, the Assemblies of God position papers, and other commonly
held beliefs and practices of the Fellowship and
college.
d. A typed manuscript of the
sermon must be submitted via e-mail. Important: A formal cover
page must contain the student’s name and campus box number. The first page after the
cover should list the sermon’s:
(1)
Sermon
Title.
(2)
Biblical
Text.
(3)
Exegetical
Idea (a.k.a. Subject, Big Idea or Central Idea of the Text
[CIT])
(4)
Fallen
Condition Focus (a.k.a. Homiletical Idea, Audience Relevance)
(5) Proposition (a.k.a. Thesis) — For
this sermon it must be a proposition of rectification. When the preacher desires to
present a biblical answer to a contemporary problem he will use this
type of proposition. (“God has an answer for the problem of ___________”) For guidance, the student
should consult his or her class
notes.
(6)
Sermonic
Interrogative — This is the question the sermon is intended to
answer. For
propositions of rectification, it is “What is God’s answer
to…?”
(7)
Form of
Development — State your form of development. For problematic sermons, it
will be Inductive-Deductive.
If you are using an inductive form of development for the
main points, please indicate such before listing your points.
(8)
Main Points —
These are declaratory or imperative complete sentences worded to
address the audience and encourage action based on the
transhistorical, transcultural truth of the biblical text(s). While questions may be used
for transitions between points, they should not be used as main
points.
(9)
Sub-Points —
Remember to:
(a)
State the
point
(b)
Place the
point in the supporting Biblical
text
(c)
Explain the
point
(d)
Illustrate the
point
(e)
Apply the
point
(10)
Summary
Sentence — This is a sentence that begins with “therefore” and
restates the proposition.
(11)
Action
Statements — These are a few sentences that issue a call to action
by very specifically answering “What do you want me to do?” “When and where do you want
me to do it?”?” “When
and where do you want me to do it?”
e. The sermon manuscript
should begin on the third page. Careful attention must be
paid to grammar, spelling and punctuation. Proper credit must be given
when quoting or referring to Scripture or other sources. It should have one-inch
margins and be double-spaced.
The font should be easy to read (i.e., 12-point Times New
Roman). Black ink
should be used. The
pages must be numbered and stapled. The manuscript (not
including the title page and data page) will be around three typed
pages. IMPORTANT! Failure to comply with these
requirements will result in a grade reduction.
f.
The sermon
should be around 1,250 words (i.e., 125 words per minute).
Unit 4
- Apr 10-28 -
Evangelistic
Proclamation
During the fourth unit, the
student shall:
1. Take detailed notes over class
lectures, discussions, and debates.
2. Read Mark Miller’s Experiential Storytelling:
(Re)Discovery Narrative to Communicate God's Message.
3. Memorize Ephesians 4:17-32 in the New
International Version.
The memorization will take some doing. It is recommended that the
student write the verses on 3 x 5 cards and drill them whenever
there is a spare minute.
The scripture memorization will be tested by means of a
matching section on the exam.
Upon
the completion of this unit, the student should be able to prepare
and deliver an Evangelistic
Narrative Sermon.
a. Utilizing the Narrative Sermon
Pattern, the student shall carefully prepare and preach a
Bible-based
story-telling
sermon (with a strong mystery element to appeal to postmodern
thinkers).
b. In preparing for the narrative
sermon, the student must prayerfully select a Biblical story or
weave a story from various passages that will lead the audience to
salvation in Jesus Christ.
c. Strict adherence to the following
guidelines is mandatory.
(1)
The sermon
must be current (i.e., written during the Spring 2006
semester).
(2) The sermon must be written
entirely by the student.
(3)
Doctrinal
content must not deviate from the Assemblies of God Fundamentals of
the Faith, the position papers, and other common beliefs and
practices of the Fellowship and
college.
d. A typed manuscript of the sermon
must be submitted (via e-mail). Important: A formal cover
page must contain the student’s name and campus box number. The first page after the
cover should list the sermon’s:
