1.
Knowing God
-
How is
it that we have come to know about God? (Romans 1)
-
Where
is God and His kingdom?
-
How do
we come to know God personally? (John 14)
-
How does
God know us?
2.
Scripture and the Story of God’s Redemption of Mankind
-
Why is
the Bible so important to us?
-
What are
the different parts of the Bible?
-
Why does
the Bible start off with the story contrasting God’s good creation—and
Adam and Eve’s early fall into sin?
-
In what
way did Adam and Eve fail to meet God’s test?
-
Why is
God’s redemption of all mankind central to the rest of the story?
3.
God’s Chosen People
-
Which
of God’s people does He love? (John 3:16)
-
Why has
He chosen only some to be “His People”? (Deuteronomy 7)
-
How does
someone become one of the “chosen”? (Romans 8 and 9)
-
How do
people know that they are among God’s chosen?
4.
Genesis: The Patriarchs
-
What kind
of covenant did God make with Abraham? (Genesis 15)
-
Why was
Abraham considered the “father of faith”? (Romans 4:13-25)
-
How does
God test Abraham's faith? (Genesis 22:1-18)
-
Why was
Jacob (or “Israel”) considered such a schemer?
-
Was it
his schemes or was it Divine mercy that finally delivered Jacob?
-
How did
God prove to be the author of Joseph’s dreams?
5.
Exodus: Moses and the Hebrews
-
Why did
Moses fail to be a Hebrew leader as a young man?
-
Why was
Moses called as an old man to deliver the Hebrews from slavery?
-
What was
the covenant God made with the Hebrews in the wilderness?
-
Why did
that first generation fail to enter the Promised Land?
-
What later
happened to Moses?
6.
Judges and Kings
-
What problems
faced the people of Israel as they finally entered the Promised Land?
-
What were
the instructions of the Lord God (Yahweh) to the Israelites as they began
the takeover of the Promised Land?
-
The battles
of Jericho and Ai: why did they have such different outcomes?
-
Why do
you think God was so "tough"?
-
What was
the job of the judges? (Judges 2:11-19 )
-
Samuel:
Judge or Prophet? (1st Samuel 7:3-14 )
-
Saul--the
first King (1st Samuel 8:1-9 and 1st Samuel 12:13-25)
-
David
is annointed King (1st Samuel 16:1-13)
-
David
begins to distinguish himself
-
David's
time of testing
-
David
comes to the throne
-
Why do
you think David had to wait so long and go through so much turmoil
in order to be Israel's king?
7.
The Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah
-
King David
and the Prophet Nathan (2nd Samuel 7:1-29)
-
David,
Bathsheba and Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1-2)
-
Solomon:
Wise or confused?
-
The Kingdom
divided into two new Kingdoms: Israel and Judah
-
The northern
Kingdom of Israel defeated and the people carried off into captivity--never
to be heard of again
-
Judah:
The remnant of Israel
-
The Prophets
as the most powerful of the Spiritual guides of Israel during the rule
of the kings of Israel and Judah
-
The Early
Prophets: still a bit like the Judges or Samuel (1st Kings 18:1-46)
-
The Later
Prophets: more focused on declaring God's truth to a deaf people
(Isaiah 40: 1-11 and 27-31).
-
John the
Baptist in Jesus' time: The last of the prophets--in the tradition
of Elijah? (John 1:14-34)
8.
The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ: I
-
Why are the stories of Jesus'
birth so important to us?
-
Why are
the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus so closely connected? (John
1:14-34)
-
Why was
Jesus led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness to be tested? (Matthew
4:1-11)
-
What was
the central theme of all his teaching? (Mark 1:14-15)
-
Why did
Jesus often refer to himself as the “Son of Man”? (Mark 2:23-2)
-
Why was
the coming of Jesus a fulfillment of all previous covenants?
-
Why did
Jesus come “as one of us” rather than as a powerful ruler?
-
How was Jesus himself tested
in the wilderness just after his baptism?
-
What was the central theme of
all his teaching?
-
Why did Jesus often refer to
himself as the “Son of Man”?
9.
The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ: II
-
Why did Jesus refer to his miracles
as signs? (all of John, chapter 2)
-
What was the relationship of
the disciples to Jesus? (John 6:53-71)
-
What were his expectations of
them? (John 13:34-35 and John 14:12-17)
-
Why did Jesus refer to himself
as “the Way, the Truth and the Life”—the only way to the heavenly Father?
(John 14:6-11)
10.
Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
-
Why did people want to put Jesus
to death?
-
What/when was Jesus’ own understanding
of his coming death?
-
What was the reaction of the
disciples to this news--and Jesus' reaction to their reaction?
-
How was Jesus again tempted
as death approached?
-
Why was Jesus’ forgiveness the
power that broke Satan?
-
Why is Jesus’ crucifixion considered
the essential ingredient for God's new covenant with us?
-
Why was Jesus raised from the
dead on the 3rd day?
-
Why is Jesus’ resurrection considered
God’s sign of a new covenant with us?
11.
The Holy Spirit
-
How was the end of Jesus' ministry
connected to the coming of the Holy Spirit? (John 14:15-17, 25-26 and 16:4-1)
-
When and how did the disciples
receive the Holy Spirit? (John 20:19-2, Luke 24:49-53, Acts 1:1-5 and Acts
2)
-
How is the Church the most important
work of the Holy Spirit?
-
How are the people's spiritual
gifts vital to the unity of the Church? (1st Corinthians 12, 13 and 14)
-
What, to Paul, are indeed the
real signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in someone? (Galatians
5:13-26)
12.
The Apostle Paul
-
What kind of person was Paul
(Saul) as a young man?
-
What happened to change him?
-
How did that affect his understanding
of the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ?
-
How did he come to serve the
early church?
-
Why are his letters to the early
churches so important to us today?
13.
The Early Church (first 300 years)
-
Where did the early Christian
congregations first meet?
-
How was the early church organized?
-
What was the relationship of
the early church with the society around it?
-
What kept the early church together
as a single faith?
14.
The Emergence of the Catholic (“Universal”) Church
-
What terrible situation was
facing Christianity as it entered the 4th Century (300AD)?
-
What did Roman Emperor Constantine
do in 312 AD that changed Christian history?
-
How did his conversion to Christianity
change the position of Christianity within the Roman world?
-
How did Unitarianism
challenge the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity?
-
What was wrong with Arias' Unitarianism?
-
How did the church move from
persecuted to persecutor?
-
In what ways did this reshape
Christianity's basic character?
-
What did Augustine teach us
about the faith--that helped keep the faith alive during very trying times
that were arising quickly?
15.
The Medieval Church
-
What happened to the church
when German tribes collapsed Rome in the West (400s / 500s)?
-
Why was Celtic Christianity
so important to the Christian West?
-
Why did the Muslim Arabs complete
the destruction job in the East (600s / 700s)?
-
Why did the Crusades (1100s
/ 1200s) begin to reverse the picture?
-
How did a renewal of wealth
and power in the West challenge the moral purity of the church (1300s /
1400s)?
16.
A Late Medieval Christian Spiritual Awakening
-
Who were the Cathars or Albigensians?
-
Why were Peter Waldo and the
Waldensians persecuted by the church?
-
How did St. Francis avoid the
same fate?
-
What was Christian "mysticism"?
-
What was Christian scholasticism?
-
Why were John Wycliff and John
Huss persecuted?
-
Who was Savonarola?
-
What was the mood like in the
Church as the 1500s loomed into view?
17.
The Protestant Reformation (early - mid 1500s)
-
Why did Martin Luther post his
95 theses on the Wittenberg chapel door?
-
What efforts were made to silence
him? How did Luther respond?
-
How did Ulrich Zwingli start
the reformation in Switzerland?
-
How did the reform movement
begin to spread in and from Switzerland?
-
How did Luther's movement and
the Swiss reform movement get along?
-
Who were the radical reformers,
or Anabaptists?
18.
John Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: I
-
Who was John Calvin?
-
How was it that Calvin came
to making Geneva, Switzerland, the center of the Reformed Movement?
-
How was Calvin's Reformed Movement
closely related to the mindset of the newly emerging European "middle class"
of townsmen?
-
How did this cause a new "democratic"
spirit to grow up as part of Calvin's Reformed Movement?
19.
John Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: II
-
How did Calvin's ideas on the
Protestant Reformation compare with Luther's and Zwingli's?
-
What about the hotly debated
issue of Holy Communion / Lord's Supper? To Calvin was Christ's presence
in the bread and wine truly real or only symbolic?
-
John Calvin is always closely
connected to the idea of predestination. What is predestination?
Was this an idea that Calvin thought up?
-
Calvin is also closely connected
to the idea of the Covenant. Why?
-
How is this idea of Covenant
closely related to Calvin's understanding of Baptism?
-
What was Calvin's impact on
the Reformation?
20.
John Knox and Presbyterian Polity (mid 1500s)
-
How was it that Protestantism
first came to Scotland?
-
How did Knox become such a supporter
of Calvin's form of Protestantism?
-
How did Knox and the Scottish
Noblemen finally bring Protestantism to Scotland?
-
How did Knox reshape the Scottish
Church into a "Presbyterian" form?
21.
The Spread of Protestant Reform (1500s)
-
Why was
the Protestant Reformation such a "political" event--and not just a matter
of renewing and strengthening the
people's personal faith in God?
-
Was the
Protestant Reformation limited just to Germany, Switzerland and Scotland?
-
How did
Protestantism come to England in the 1500s?
-
What was
the Catholic church doing during this period to protect its position in
Europe?
-
What happened
to Protestantism (Lutheranism) in Germany in the 1500s?
-
What happened
to Protestantism (Calvinist Huguenots) in France in the 1500s?
22.
The Wars of Religion (1600s)
-
Who were the English "Puritans"?
-
How does this relate to the
English establishment of colonies in America (early 1600s)?
-
What was happening in the meantime
on the European continent between the Catholics and Protestants (first
half of the1600s)?
-
Why does the English civil war
now take up at this point (1640)?
23.
Modern Secularism and the Church: I
-
Why by
the 1600s was the idea of "Truth" undergoing a profound change in European
culture?
-
Why by
the end of the 1600s can we speak of a Newtonian (or "modern") world-view
(or cosmology) that was beginning to replace the older Christian world-view?
-
Where
did the Newtonian "revolution" leave us in our thinking about God?
-
Where
did such "Deism" leave the church?
-
Why was
the Great Awakening (1740s) so important to Christianity?
24.
Modern Secularism and the Church: II
-
How was
it that by the early 1800s the secular spirit was able to seriously challenge
the Christian faith?
-
Why were
some Western thinkers becoming even very disdaining or haughty in their
attitude towards Christianity?
-
Why was
the most serious challenge to Christianity posed by the English naturalist,
Charles Darwin?
-
How did
secularism continue to push Christianity off center stage--in order to
take that position for itself?
-
What was
happening to Christianity during the rise of secular science to dominance
over Western culture?
25.
Modern Secularism and the Church: III
-
Why have
the writings of Darwin, Marx and Freud had such an impact on us?
-
How has
material success in this world become the “modern” hope for life?
-
How has
the church been put to the test by modern secular culture?
How
well has the church stood its ground in witness to God in Jesus Christ?
26.
Rediscovering God in the Age of Science
-
As a recap--what
were the steps up to the present situation in which religious Truth has
been chased out of our modern culture as being just so much superstition?
-
How did
relativity theory begun to “break the box” of scientific "realism"?
-
How did
quantum theory further shake loose the hold of the empirical mindset on
modern science?
-
How has
the “big bang” theory reopened among scientists the debate on God?
-
How has
“chaos theory” demonstrated Divine design in creation?
-
What other
branches of science have been adding to this post-Newtonian revolution
in modern science?
-
Overall,
what are the "lessons" we can begin to draw from the "new" science or "post-modern"
(or "post-Newtonian") science as it is being called?
27.
On Being Christian in an Age of Cultural Pluralism
-
What are we to say about Jesus’
claim to be the only way to the Father?
-
How ought we Christians present
ourselves before our confused world?
-
How should we approach those
of other faiths?
-
What does God really require
of us?
28.
Review
-
How is
it that we have come to know about God?
-
Where
is God and His kingdom?
-
How do
we come to know God personally?
-
How does
God know us?
-
Why is
the Bible so important to us?
-
Why does
the Bible start off with the story contrasting God’s good creation—and
Adam and Eve’s early fall into sin?
-
Why is
God’s redemption of all mankind central to the rest of the story?
-
Which
of God’s people does He love?
-
Why has
He chosen only some to be “His People”?
-
How does
someone become one of the “chosen”?
-
How do
people know that they are among God’s chosen?
Return to the home page: The Spiritual Pilgrim
Copyright
© 2002 by Miles H. Hodges. All Rights Reserved.
