Courses

Devotional practices, or spiritual disciplines, are fundamental ways that we enter the sphere of grace and foster our love for God. The devotional actions of the first Christians with which they worshipped Jesus Christ as God were stunningly innovative in their contexts. Understanding those actions anew in those contexts provides a repertoire that moves us beyond our typical traditional and our popular devotional practices. This course combines the study of the devotional practices in the New Testament with interactive experience in which we explore the application of early Christian devotional practices together.

Knowing

• Know the spectrum of devotional practices in the New Testament and early Christianity
• Understand the social, historical, literary and religious cultural contexts in which the early church developed its devotional practices
• Grasp the nature of devotion to Jesus within exclusive monotheism

Being

• Be open to diverse biblical practices and experiences of devotion and worship
• Grow in radical commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ
• Become a multi-faceted worshipper of the triune God

Doing

• Participate in interactive practices of devotion and worship
• Research and write a paper on an aspect of early Christian devotion that is suitable for the student’s area of specialization.
• Utilize the research and course resources to develop a project in the area of the student’s specialization that speaks to the contemporary context.