THE-201
Advanced Systematic Theology I: Scripture & God
A more technical look at the doctrine of Scripture — inspiration, inerrancy, canon — and the doctrine of God, stated with full theological precision.
Topics: Bibliology, Theology Proper, Divine attributes
Suggested resource: Your own “One God” material, read alongside a free public-domain systematic theology (e.g. Charles Hodge) for contrast and technical vocabulary.
Week 1: The Doctrine of Scripture: Inspiration and Inerrancy
Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:19–21
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) is the foundational claim on which every other doctrine in this institute rests, and it deserves careful, technical treatment rather than being assumed. 2 Peter 1:21 describes the mechanism: “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” — a real human author writing in his own style and vocabulary, while the Holy Ghost ensured the result was exactly what God intended to communicate. Inerrancy, the claim that Scripture is fully truthful in everything it affirms, follows from a God who cannot lie communicating through a process He fully superintended, not a separate, additional assumption.
Key terms: Inspiration, 2 Peter 1:21 mechanism, Inerrancy, Human authorship, divine origin
Discussion Questions
- How would you explain the relationship between the human authors' individual styles and the Holy Ghost's superintendence over the final text?
- What follows for how you handle a passage that seems, on the surface, to contain a discrepancy?
Challenge: Find one commonly cited 'Bible contradiction' and research at least two proposed harmonizations, evaluating which is most persuasive and why.
Week 2: The Doctrine of God: Attributes and Self-Existence
Reading: Exodus 3:13–14; Psalm 90:2; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Isaiah 40:28
When Moses asks God's name at the burning bush, the answer defines God's very nature: “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14). This name, later shortened to YHWH ('the LORD' in most English Bibles), asserts self-existence, or aseity — God's being depends on nothing and no one outside Himself, unlike everything else that exists, which depends on something prior to it. This single attribute grounds every other divine attribute studied in this course: eternality (“from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God,” Psalm 90:2), immutability (“I am the LORD, I change not,” Malachi 3:6), unchanging goodness (“every good gift… cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” James 1:17), and inexhaustible strength (“the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary,” Isaiah 40:28).
Classical theology organizes these into communicable attributes, ones humans can reflect in limited, creaturely form, like love, holiness, or wisdom, and incommunicable attributes, unique to God alone and never shared with creation, like self-existence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Knowing this framework, even where a Oneness believer would state parts of it in different language than a Trinitarian systematic theology would, gives you shared technical vocabulary for engaging the wider theological world seriously rather than from outside it.
Key terms: Exodus 3:14's 'I AM' (aseity), Immutability (Malachi 3:6), Communicable vs. incommunicable attributes, Isaiah 40:28's inexhaustible strength
Discussion Questions
- How does grounding God's other attributes in His self-existence change how you think about His unchanging nature?
- Which of God's attributes do you find hardest to hold in tension with His nearness and personal relationship with you?
Challenge: Make a two-column list of God's communicable and incommunicable attributes, with one full supporting verse quoted for each.
Week 3: Putting It Together: A Doctrinal Statement
Reading: Synthesis exercise — no reading assigned
Seminary-level theological education eventually requires you to state your own beliefs formally and precisely, not just recognize them when someone else states them well. A doctrinal statement on Scripture and on the nature of God forces you to commit to specific language, notice where your own thinking is still fuzzy, and prepares you to teach these doctrines with the same clarity your own teachers gave you. This is also excellent preparation for anything you'll eventually publish under the Apostolic Power name, since a clear doctrinal statement is something any serious ministry needs on record.
Key terms: Doctrinal statement, Precision in language, Public accountability for belief
Discussion Questions
- Where, in trying to write this out formally, did you discover your own thinking was less precise than you assumed?
Challenge: Write a formal, two-paragraph doctrinal statement: one paragraph on the doctrine of Scripture, one on the doctrine of God, in your own final wording.
Course Exam
Five questions for review or self-testing.
Q: According to 2 Peter 1:21, how was Scripture written?
Reveal Answer
Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Q: What does 'inerrancy' mean?
Reveal Answer
That Scripture is fully truthful in everything it affirms.
Q: What does 'aseity' or self-existence mean about God?
Reveal Answer
That His being depends on nothing and no one outside Himself.
Q: What is the difference between communicable and incommunicable attributes?
Reveal Answer
Communicable attributes (like love) humans can reflect in limited form; incommunicable attributes (like omniscience) belong to God alone.
Q: Why write a formal doctrinal statement?
Reveal Answer
It forces precision, reveals fuzzy thinking, and prepares you to teach with clarity.