NT Wright on justification

N. T. Wright video on the topic of justification:



See articles by Wright on sidebar.

Final presentations

Last night was our last session dealing with the text of Romans.
Now we take a week off (May 11), and the final two sessions (May 19, 25)
will be devoted to summary/applications...and your presentations.

Remember, this project can be a paper (4-6 pages) or a 2o minute class presentation (sermon, teaching, drama, video, interview, art, etc.) Also: between this project and your journal, I will expect you to interact with at least three of the books or articles on the website links (Note: I have added more; there are plenty of great options).

Please let me know if you have a preference on which night you would prefer;
they are working out pretty evenly so far.

Here are some of the suggestions we came up with for possible themes; but you are not limited to these:

• -Shifting our understanding from an individualistic emphasis on justification by faith to a corporate understanding of the righteousness of God.
• -A model for Jewish/Gentile unity and mutual understanding.
• Discussion of the "heaping hot coals" and love of neighbor/enemy. My audio here.
  
• -The implications of the Gentile offering to the Jerusalem church
• -Cross-cultural issues in the letter, and implications for contemporary church.
• -A sermon on a common "memory verse" in Romans, but bringing in the context of the passage, and the letter ( 3:23, 5:1, 8:28, 11:29, 12:1-3 etc)
• Role of women in chapter 16, and elsewhere in Paul.
  
• Interview with a Jewish person, or a non-believer, around issues raised in Romans.
• In-depth look at the problems of Romans 7
• Trace bounded, centered, and fuzzy sets throughout Romans, and offer application for today
• Dialogue with Rabbi Adam (how amazing to have a messianic rabbi in the class) around issues of theology and practice discussed in Romans.
• Importance of Paul's use of diatribe/ first order discourse.
  
• Use a certain church or ministry as case study related to issues in Romans
  

Keep up the great work!!

Course Syllabus

(cartoon by McKeever)

Course Syllabus
The Letter to the Romans:
The Gospel According to Paul
Latin American Bible Institute, Sanger Campus
Spring 2009

Instructor: Dave Wainscott
(559) 974-2508/davewainscott (at) sbcglobal (dot)net
Facebook: www.profile.to/davewainscott
Course website: www.labiromans.blogspot.com

Course Purpose: Intended to build into the student a life-long familiarity with and passion for Paul’s Letter to the Romans, this is an in-depth, inductive study of the letter. We will concentrate on praying over, reading, and applying the text ourselves in the community of the classroom; and will from there branch out to examining commentaries and secondary sources. After an initial reading/listening through of the entire letter in one sweep (looking for overview, structure, theology and themes) the first two evenings, the class time each evening will be broken down into three components:

-working through/exegeting the letter from the beginning
-comments on historical/cultural/literary/thematic background
-practical implications for life and ministry

Course textbooks:
• -The Bible (In order of preference, but any of these are fine: TNIV, NIV, NLT, NAS or ESV translation. The Voice strongly recommended as a secondary translation)

• -Newell, William R. Romans Verse-by-Verse.(2004:Kregel Classics)

Note:
-Because the Newell book was first printed in the 1930’s, it is sometimes published by other titles like “Lessons in Romans,” or “Exploring Romans.”
-The Newell book is readily available to read for free online (see course website for links to CCEL.org and Google Books

Grading:
-20% Attendance, engagement, and participation
-40% The student will keep an informal written and running commentary/journal
-20% Paper (4-6pages), Sermon or Presentation on a Romans passage or theme
-20% Mid- Term Exam

Secondary Sources: Students should quote or interact with the Bible Background Commentary, as well as a minimum of three of the resources available free on the website (see “Helpful websites”) at some point in journals and papers/presentations.

Looking forward

Greetings!

Ever felt like heaping hot coals on an enemy's head?  Do it!  

That's only one of the subversive messages of Paul's Letter to the Romans.  If you want to hear one of my teachings on that "hot topic," click this.

What a great class on Romans we will have; I look forward to seeing several familiar faces, and some new ones. Congrats to many of you who are very near graduation; "persisteverance" is a gift, and you have it!

This is a ten-week Monday night course, beginning March 22, 7-9:30 p.m, in Room 1o of the Sanger Campus (McKinley and Academy, on the campus of Tabernacle of Praise).
I will aim to have the syllabus up in a few days; some resources are already on the sidebar.

The best preparation (other than the prayer you've already been engaging in) might be a listening to Romans on CD..or at the audio link at right. Just listen for the broad flow and sweep of the book.

I will never forget how I was shaped by Romans early in my Christian life by Fresno Pacific University course taught by our own beloved Leslie Mark (I followed him here at LABI when he retired last year). Romans will bless and mess with your life like no other book, if you let it,

It's not too late to register for credit our audit; but contact Rev. Liz Alaniz as soon as possible:

(559) 876-2213
liz.alaniz@topchristiancenter.com

Looking and leaning forward,
dave