Grace Institute: Relating to You World: Course Syllabus

Relating To Your World Grace Institute for Biblical Leadership Spring 2007

Download the syllabus as a PDF file.

Whether we are 5th century monks holed up in a cave or 21 st century evangelicals in suburban America, Christians tend to cloister together rather than reach out to the world around them. While the sense of community we establish in our churches and fellowships is critical to the development of our faith, it is often to the detriment of our relationship to the larger community to which we belong.

Instead of interacting and befriending our neighbors, we try to influence them through hard sell, used cars salesmen tactics, mass media advertising, or the political process. The result has been that Christians are increasingly alienated from the world in which Jesus commanded us to have an influence.

In the Spring 2007 of the Grace Institute we are going to explore how as Christians we can better relate to our world. This class will help us to gain a better understanding of the community and world in which we live, and how we can have the influence that Jesus intended. The course will cover the following topics:

• The importance of relating to the world.
• The importance of understanding differing world views
• Exploring world religions
• Exploring different philosophical approaches to life
• Answering tough questions about the Christian faith.
• Practical methods for reaching out to our world.

Course Syllabus

Goals of the Course

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Understand and be willing to practice the Biblical model for relating to non-Christians.
• Understand some of the major religious and non-religious worldviews believed today.
• Give a reason for the hope that is within you (1 Peter 3:15).

Expectations

You will not required to hand in your homework and there won't be any tests or quizzes. Nonetheless, in order to get the most you can out of the class, I highly encourage you to make a commitment to the following expectations:

• Attend and participate in class each week.
• Complete the assigned readings.
• Complete the study worksheets.
• Present one oral report to the rest of the class.
• Be willing to put the principles learned in class to use.
• Have fun.

Outline

(The following outline is subject to change)

Oral Presentation

Beginning on week two you can sign up for a topic in which you are interested. If you have a relevant topic not listed, talk to the instructor. Beginning week 4 of the class (April 25), students will begin their oral presentations. We will try not to have more than one person per topic, or more than two people present oral reports on any evening.

Presentation Guidelines

• Presentations should be no more than 15 minutes in length.
• Presentations should help the class understand the mind-set and beliefs of a non-Christian.
• If your topic deals with another religion or belief system, feel free to use the outline provided to assist in your presentation.
• Presentations should be based on your individual research and should be drawn from more than one source. No plagiarism or regurgitation of information allowed!
• Make your presentation interesting. Don't just stand there and read it. Be animated.
• Learn something. That's the point of the oral presentation. Become an expert in your topic.
• Relax. Don't worry about it. Be yourself. This is a pretty easy audience and we will appreciate whatever and however you share with us.

Possible Presentation Topics

• Atheism
• Agnosticism
• Deism
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Taoism/Confucianism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Mormonism
• Jehovah Witness
• Christian Science
• Universalism/Unitarianism
• New Age
• Earth-Worship/Environmentalism
• Other religions or worldviews not listed