Challenge Packages
This course comes in two 'challenge packages' that allow students to select the level of challenge that is most appropriate for them. These are like automotive trims: for instance, my Honda Accord LX isn't as snazzy as the EX, and while there are days when a sunroof would be nice, it's fine with me, because fewer features means lower cost and less to break.
Base Package (reduced top grade: ~B-)
Got a lot on your plate? The base package has reduced readings, podcasted lectures, and written assignments, but your final grade has a ceiling (depending on how much you do, but assume B-) no matter how highly you score on assignments and tests. A solid value for the budget conscious!
- Lectures: from ~23 hours
Reading: two books total:
• Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Reason for Belief in an Age of Skepticism
• selected shorter readings, on Canvas
plus one of the following: - • Robert Barron, And Now I See
(reviews) for lovers of literature and Roman Catholic theology
• Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up an Asian appraisal of contemporary Asian Christian theologies
• Lesslie Newbigin, selected writings (on Canvas) for a theology focused on mission in contemporary contexts (read the 'recommended' Newbigin readings on the schedule, skipping the already book-length Sin and Salvation)
• N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (reviews) for clarifying and exploring the significance of Jesus' resurrection for our faith, present, and future - Written Assignments (submitted on Canvas): Two of these exercises:
- theology-in-life log
Bible companion
either training in righteousness or love story
either mentoring report or a book-specific exercise
worship service analysis
Performance Package (top grade: A)
Feeling like a typical student? The performance package includes more readings, lectures, and assignments. For a higher price (in time and effort), you can enjoy power options, additional features, and a higher possible grade.
- Lectures: from ~25 hours
Reading: three books total:
• Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Reason for Belief in an Age of Skepticism
• selected shorter readings, on Canvas
plus one of the following: - • Robert Barron, And Now I See (reviews) for lovers of literature and Roman Catholic theology
• Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline
(reviews) to learn how thoroughly theology centers on Jesus Christ
• Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up an Asian appraisal of contemporary Asian Christian theologies
• Lesslie Newbigin, selected writings (on Canvas) for a theology focused on mission in contemporary contexts (read the 'recommended' Newbigin readings on the schedule, skipping the already book-length Sin and Salvation)
• N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (reviews) for clarifying and exploring the significance of Jesus' resurrection for our faith, present, and future - plus another book from that list, OR one of these more specialized texts:
- • Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours? for restoring and applying to our contemporary world the New Testament church's vision and self-understanding
• Vincent Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered (reviews) for fans of cross-cultural mission and contextualization (even American)
• Michael S. Heiser, Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches About the Unseen World–and Why It Matters for highlighting the Bible's (and especially the OT's) 'spiritual cosmologies' and how biblical passages reflect them
• Matt Mikalatos, My Imaginary Jesus (review) for pondering how our 'contextualizing' can domesticate Jesus as an idol
• Thaddeus Williams, Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice for a theological critique of critical social justice theory
• Telford Work, The Kingdom's Epic Story yet more online lectures, tracing the biblical story of God's Kingdom from creation to consummation through scripture, theology, and ethics; fruitful after taking OT and NT - Written Assignments (submitted on Canvas):
• applied theology project
Plus two or more of these exercises: - • theology-in-life log
• Bible companion
• either training in righteousness or love story
• either mentoring report or a book-specific exercise
• worship service analysis
Tasks
Active participation. You will subscribe to these podcasted lectures on YouTube (uBlock Origin is a good ad blocker) or iTunes U and watch them before class, preferably with others. You will attend class sessions (and attend to them; see below) and participate in classtime discussions on online lectures and readings. Times together are integral parts of the course. To gauge your engagement, you'll upload to Canvas photos of your filled-out discussion questions.
Participation is qualitative as well as quantitative, and is not just awarded proportionately. The word 'attendance' is related to the word 'attention': If you're passive, off-topic, or checked out, you aren't participating or attending. Likewise, in the 'real world' if you miss a day of work every week, or just show up and sit at your desk doing nothing, you don't get 80% of your pay; you lose your job.
The syllabus contains links to lecture outlines, but beware: I frequently make points in lectures and class that are not on the outline. Take it from former students: you probably can't afford to skip lectures. Where I do skip points or sections in an outline, you are not formally responsible.
Reading. One book we all read: Tim Keller's The Reason for God. It supplies a helpful apologetic angle on the major course themes. We will discuss it regularly in class. You will also choose one or two from among a list. Your choices depend on the challenge level you pick. The schedule gives you guidelines for how you should be progressing on a given book. When we are all assigned material, read it before class for possible in-class discussion. Some class sessions are explicitly devoted to discussions of your chosen books. Assignments and tests draw on lectures, readings, and discussions, so you are accountable soon anyway.
BTW, I buy most of my books used on eBay, where they're often cheaper than used on Amazon.
Memorization. You will memorize the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. These texts are fundamental to Christian theological formation. You should know them.
Office hour appointment. I consider time spent with a student in person a much better investment for both of us than the same time spent writing comments on an assignment that may never be read. So please meet with me one-on-one, or with your book group, at least once during the semester during my office hours. We can get to know each other better, address concerns, tailor the course to your particular interests and needs, and extend what you are learning. Make an appointment over Google Calendar. If you forget your appointment, just apologize and make a new one. If I cancel your appointment unilaterally, please accept my apologies, and make a new one.
I especially encourage office-hour visits if you are feeling discouraged by test results, unsure about what to do for your applied theology project, intimidated or overwhelmed by the material, unsure in your faith, or vexed by the flipped format.
Tutoring: Further help is available through the library's tutoring program. Further details are to be announced.
Examinations. Only some of these count towards your grade. There are self-tests for every lecture and a number of occasional in-class tests. You have one graded midterm and one written final exam. All examinations will cover up to the day of the exam.
Applied theology project. (Not for Base Package students.) Develop and undertake your own theological project over the semester, for your own reasons. Draw broadly on the course material from across the semester (this is essential) to do something like one of the following:
- illuminate some aspect(s) of your life that you haven't understood.
- inform your major or career.
- pursue some complex theological dispute(s) that you want to entertain.
- evaluate something you care deeply about.
- prepare to reach someone else who needs Christ's help (or equip yourself for it).
- present or teach a major theme (or themes) of this material to a specific audience.
- address some doubt(s) or problem(s) you have with Christian faith, or one variety of it.
- and so on.
This could be a discipline (for instance, regular discussions), a presentation you might deliver, an exploratory essay, a dialogue, a work of art or music with explanatory text, or some other format besides a research paper. It can have multiple parts (if, for instance, you want to face a set of interrelated problems or puzzles). It should be something you're proud of and "want to keep." Do it for the Lord, others, and yourself, not the grade; the grade will follow.
With a format so open-ended, a formal length requirement is unrealistic. But if your project is mainly written, I would suggest around 1600-2000 words.
Choose a companion—a fellow student, or a mentor—for inspiration and accountability. You must demonstrate that you have drawn widely on the course material as it is appropriate to your project, applying it to some context you personally care about. It's not enough to tell me you did; either your project or your companion commentary has to show that you did.
You will file progress reports and a final submission on Canvas. If you wish to deliver or present on your project in class, arrange it with me ahead of time; there is time available around when the final submission is due.
Short written exercises. Using Canvas you will submit exercises that will help you familiarize yourself with the course material and put it to use. You choose a number of these from the available options you will find linked from the schedule. They have no formal length requirements; if you want a gauge, aim for roughly 1000 words. They of course require proper citation and quotation, the absence of which is academic dishonesty.
Let me anticipate the inevitable question: "What are you looking for?" I'm not looking for a command performance; I'm looking for exercise—for substantive engagement with the course material, both lectures and readings. I'm looking for signs you are really wrestling with and assimilating the course concepts. And of course I'm looking for you to have done what the assignment asks you to do. A follow-up question, less often stated, is "Why are you making us do this?" It's a good question; I've dropped a lot of questions where the answer wasn't compelling enough. Each assignment is crafted with an aspiration that's mentioned in its prompt. That's what I'm after.
I keep using the word exercise, to help counter the high-school baggage associated with 'essay,' 'assignment,' 'writing,' 'paper,' and the like. These exercises are like problem sets, meant to give you practice working with the stuff. So just exercise! Write them in sweats or yoga pants if it helps.
Assignments are due on the date listed in the schedule. The following are guidelines to give you an idea of how I will be evaluating these:
| Consistently excellent quality (something like "A"): all assignments complete, on time, full responses to question(s), uses sources broadly and appropriately, demonstrates unusual grasp of the material, well written. |
| Consistently good quality (like "B+"): complete, on time, full responses, uses sources broadly and appropriately, demonstrates sound knowledge of the material, well written. |
| Adequate quality (~"B-"): complete, generally on time, adequate responses, works with sources, demonstrates basic knowledge of the material, mediocre writing (some grammatical and spelling errors). |
| Deficient (~"C"): occasionally missing or late, repeated failure to do what is assigned (e.g., not using sources well enough, tangential topics), poor understanding or misunderstanding of the concepts, or poor writing. |
| Poor (~"D"): somewhat incomplete, generally late, consistent failure to do what is assigned, poor or no grasp of the concepts. |
| Inadequate (~"F"): largely incomplete, failure to do what is assigned. |
Policies
Late work. Work that is late may be penalized, moderately, unless I have excused it.
Note well: If you upload 'the wrong file' for an assignment, or a 'corrupt' version of a file, you have not submitted the assignment. If I notice two weeks later while grading and ask for the correct one, I'll regard your submission as two weeks late. (Dishonest students use this trick for extra time on assignments.)
Grading. Here is how tasks are likely to figure into your final grade:
| factor (* = final grade penalty if incomplete) | weight of grade |
| participation* (attending, diligence, office hour visit, tests, etc.) | moderate |
| scores of tests 1-6 | none |
| written assignments* | moderate |
| midterm and written final | moderate |
| oral final (optional, if I offer it) | moderate |
| project* | moderate |
You probably want a rubric with precise percentages, but after twenty years of teaching I'm unsatisfied with those and especially with the way the grading process distorts the learning process. Some students' understanding is best reflected (for better or for worse) in written work; others, in test scores; still others, in oral communication. Your grade will be whatever in my judgment best reflects your understanding at semester's end. You may appeal if you think the results are inaccurate.
So your course grade reflects the final product more than the process, while the process is what produces the product. The course's vision page describes both. I consider lectures, readings, written assignments, and even mid-term tests to be preliminary steps along the way of our course. They give you exposure to material, experience processing, and some feedback. They are for getting you ready. So use them that way!
I am not using grades as rewards along the way to direct the process. If you are the type of learner who needs such incentives and is unlikely to adapt, you should either work out an accountability structure for yourself or reconsider taking the course at this time.
Integrity. You will not engage in academic dishonesty (as described in the student handbook). Students who do will fail the course.
Writing Center. The writing center is a creative, collaborative space where you can improve in writing skill and confidence. Our peer tutors serve as friendly “test readers” for your projects, helping you develop and revise your writing before submitting it to professors, employers, and others. During the Fall 2020 semester, Writers’ Corner tutors will be meeting with you online using video conferencing and other tools. We encourage you to meet with a tutor at least 48 hours before your writing deadline. Be ready to share your assignment prompt and your latest draft, no matter how rough. All tutorials are free of charge. Make an appointment at westmont.mywconline.com. We hope to see you soon!
Academic Accommodations. Students who have been diagnosed with a condition that meets the criteria of a disability are strongly encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) as early as possible to discuss appropriate accommodations for this course. Formal accommodations will only be granted for students whose disabilities have been verified by ODS. These accommodations may be necessary to ensure your full participation and the successful completion of this course. Please contact the website for more information.
Having trouble understanding the reading? Look up unfamiliar terms in a dictionary (for instance, your assigned Pocket Dictionary, Wikipedia, or the on-line New Advent Catholic Dictionary). If even these suggestions do not help, there is still the advice of Thomas Cranmer:
"I cannot understand it." What marvel? How shouldest thou understand, if thou wilt not read nor look upon it? Take the books into thine hands, read the whole story, and that thou understandest keep it well in memory; thou that understandest not, read it again and again: if thou can neither so come by it, counsel with some other that is better learned. Go to thy curate and preacher; show thyself to be desirous to know and learn: and I doubt not but God, seeing thy diligence and readiness (if no man else teach thee) will himself vouchsafe with his Holy Spirit to illuminate thee, and to open unto thee that which was locked from thee (Preface to the Great Bible 6).
Hard work, but it's within reach. 
