Missiological Theology

Telling the stories about God in accessible and meaningful language.

What to expect:

Missiological Theology will introduce you to pivotal Christian doctrines expressed in contemporary language as a missiological framework within which to engage the working philosophical, artistic, and religious assumptions of contemporary cultures. In addition to investigating several models for Christian engagement with culture and a theology of missions, the course encourages the positive formation of a biblically informed worldview as a foundation for creative and imaginative missiological interaction with current issues.

Come to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the crucial significance of certain central doctrines of the Christian faith for life and thought.
Develop a method for moving from Christian theology to cultural engagement.
Gain a sense of the cultural milieu of society as related to secularization, postmodernism and religious pluralism and of how Christian theology helps to engage the milieu.
Come to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the historical development of doctrine in the early years of the church and its significance in contemporary culture.
Develop the intellectual habits and practical virtues corresponding to our Christian faith.

What's inside the course:

1. Welcome to this Ephesiology Master Class
2. How to use the course player
3. Introduction to Missiological Theology
4. Course Description and Objectives
5. Zoom Registration
6. Before we begin...
1. Instructions
2. Syllabus and Student Assignments
3. Writing a Seminary Paper
4. Required Textbooks and Articles
5. Course Bibliography
6. Resources for Academic Research
7. Writing & Style Guides
8. Library Research Strategies
1. What to expect in this session
2. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians
3. Our Boundaries
4. Doing Theology in Community
5. Excursus: Why Words are Important
6. Remnant and the New Dark Age
7. Notes Submission
1. What to expect in this session
2. From Christendom to Post-Christendom
3. Worldview: Understanding a Concept
4. Is there a biblical worldview?
5. Excursus: World-vision or Worldview?
6. Discussion
7. Conversion and Worldview Transformation
8. Depolarizing?
9. Resource: Hofstede Insights
10. Ultimate Questions
11. Toward a Biblically Informed Worldview
12. Excursus: The Changing American Worldview
13. Fragmentation of Christianity
14. Bounded and Centered Sets
15. Christianity and Religious Pluralism
16. Excursus: Views of Five World Religions
17. Discussion
18. Notes Submission
1. What to expect in this session
2. Vincent of Lerins
3. The Ontology of Missiological Theology
4. The Apostles Creed
5. What Unites Us
6. Our Theological Goal
7. Excursus: Hans Urs von Balthasar
8. The Source of Theology
9. Resource: The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts
10. Interpretative Methods
11. Theology and Culture - Exercise
12. Theological Method
13. Excursus: Michael F. Bird on Biblicism
14. Excursus: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Bible Interpretation
15. Excursus on African Christianity - Thomas C. Oden
16. Assignment: The Theologizer
17. Determining Orthodoxy
18. Toward a Missiological Theology Method
19. Contextualization Risk Paradox
20. Contextualization versus Missiological Theology
21. Notes Submission
22. Toward a Missiological Theology Method
1. What to expect in this session
2. Theological Unity in the Early Church
3. Historic Views of God
4. Classical, Free Will, and Open Theism
5. Excursus: What do you believe about God?
6. Toward a Compelling Portrait of God
7. Missiological Theism
8. Missiology in Tension
9. Discussion on Movemental Theocentrism
10. Notes Submission
1. What to expect in this session
2. Toward a Compelling View of God - Part 2
3. Jesus Among the Gods - Michael F. Bird
4. Excursus: Atonement Theories
5. Christological Heresies
6. Discussion: "He Gets Us"
7. Critique of "He Gets Us"
8. Excursus - Constructively Engaging Ideas
9. Christology of the Apostolic Fathers
10. Missiological Christology
11. Missiology in Tension
12. Assignment: Theological Seminar
13. Notes Subscription
1. What to expect in this session
2. Spirit Christology - Myk Habets
3. Jesus and the Holy Spirit
4. The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
5. Reflection on the Holy Spirit
6. Notes Submission
1. What to expect in this session
2. Excursus: Socrates' Life and Methods
3. Views of the Image of God and Fall of Humanity
4. Excursus: Tim Keller - Human Condition
5. Logos Spermatikos
6. Paul's Natural Revelation
7. Theology of Religions in a Globalizing World
8. Toward a Biblical Understanding of Finishing the Task
9. Notes Submission
1. What to expect in this session
2. Missiological Theology: Pulling it All Together
3. From the Ancient to the Contemporary
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Ethics
5. Excursus: Relational Ethics and Engaging Culture
6. Assignment: Engagement Seminar
7. Notes Submission
1. What to expect in this session
2. State of Theology
3. Understanding Critical Social Theories
4. Josh Packard and the Spirituality of Generation Z
5. Critical Theory and Critical Legal Studies
6. Critical Race Theory
7. Issues with Critical Social Theories
8. Racism
9. AI, Spirituality, and Human Flourishing
1. Final Reflections
2. Class Survey
3. Before you go...
4. Want to go further? Here's what's next.
1. Annotated Bibliography
2. Blog
3. Competency Assessment

About this course

$200.00
122 lessons
20 hours of video content

Meet Dr. Michael Cooper

Professor of Missiological Theology Michael T. Cooper

Dr. Cooper earned a PhD in Intercultural Studies with a focus on religious movements and a minor in theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He currently serves as a missiologist for a missions agency where he focuses on missiological research and equipping missionaries for effective cultural engagement. He has thirty years of missions experience, including ten years as a pioneer church planter in Romania after the fall of communism and has equipped church planters and leaders in Africa, Europe, North America, South America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. He is a guest faculty at Torch Trinity Graduate University, adjunct faculty at Mission India Theological Seminary, Asia Graduate School of Theology Nepal, and Ebenezer Bible College in Katmandu, and affiliate faculty at Kairos University. He has written and contributed to more than 30 books and academic articles and has presented conference lectures at the London School of Economics, University of Bordeaux, Loyola University, Baylor University, and many others. His recent book, Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement is a best seller at William Carey Publishing.

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