Overview
It is common to describe the recent intellectual landscape as involving a major shift from Modernism to Postmodernism. This description is overly simplistic. In this course we will investigate four intellectual currents that make up the contemporary mind. Featuring teaching from Dr. Greg Ganssle, Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, this Small Group Curriculum package provides video lectures and a downloadable participant guide for use in live group settings. With a single purchase, you have everything you need to facilitate a six-week group study.
Note: This is the Small Group Curriculum version of the course. There is also a version of the course built for individual study.
Dr. Greg Ganssle has been thinking about the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary scholarship for over thirty years. He began as an undergraduate by skipping his classes and reading C.S. Lewis. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1978, he worked in campus ministry on a variety of campuses. Hundreds of conversations with students from a wide variety of religious and philosophical perspectives drove him to a sustained self-study program. Eventually, it occurred to him that he was reading philosophy. Since he had escaped college without taking a philosophy course, he decided to begin with Philosophy 101 at the age of 25. Within weeks he was hooked. Continuing to juggle his full-time campus ministry responsibilities, he earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Rhode Island in 1990. He then went full time and earned his doctorate in philosophy from Syracuse University in 1995, where his dissertation on God's relation to time won a Syracuse University Dissertation Award. In addition to publishing nearly three dozen articles, chapters and reviews, Greg has edited two books, God and Time: Four Views (IVP, 2001) and God and Time: Essays on the Divine Nature (Oxford, 2002 – with David M. Woodruff). Greg is also the author of Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations (IVP, 2017), Thinking about God: First Steps in Philosophy (IVP, 2004) and A Reasonable God: Engaging the New Face of Atheism (Baylor University Press, 2009). Greg was a part-time lecturer in the philosophy department at Yale for nine years and a senior fellow at the Rivendell Institute at Yale. Greg's research interests lie in contemporary philosophy of religion and history of philosophy. Greg has been married to Jeanie since 1985. They have three children, none of whom are philosophers. Although happily married, Greg has a secret crush on Jane Austen.
Talbot School of Theology is a theologically conservative, evangelical seminary in Southern California near Los Angeles. With over a 60-year heritage of biblical fidelity, the seminary couples solid evangelical scholarship with spiritual formation to prepare students for a lifetime of relevant, effective ministry. The seminary's master's degree programs and doctoral degree programs are led by a faculty of nationally renowned, widely-published and actively engaged ministry leaders.
Course FAQ
No. The included participant guide contains everything you need to successfully complete the course. There are resources recommended at the end of the course that you are free to purchase if you wish to pursue further study on the course topic.
Since this course is designed as a packaged small group curriculum, you will not have any interaction with the professor during the course.
These videos are only available on Biola LEARN. You will also need to be connected to the internet to view these videos.
It is common to describe the recent intellectual landscape as involving a major shift from Modernism to Postmodernism. This description is overly simplistic. In this course we will investigate four intellectual currents that make up the contemporary mind. Featuring teaching from Dr. Greg Ganssle, Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, this Small Group Curriculum package provides video lectures and a downloadable participant guide for use in live group settings. With a single purchase, you have everything you need to facilitate a six-week group study.
Note: This is the Small Group Curriculum version of the course. There is also a version of the course built for individual study.
Dr. Greg Ganssle has been thinking about the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary scholarship for over thirty years. He began as an undergraduate by skipping his classes and reading C.S. Lewis. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1978, he worked in campus ministry on a variety of campuses. Hundreds of conversations with students from a wide variety of religious and philosophical perspectives drove him to a sustained self-study program. Eventually, it occurred to him that he was reading philosophy. Since he had escaped college without taking a philosophy course, he decided to begin with Philosophy 101 at the age of 25. Within weeks he was hooked. Continuing to juggle his full-time campus ministry responsibilities, he earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Rhode Island in 1990. He then went full time and earned his doctorate in philosophy from Syracuse University in 1995, where his dissertation on God's relation to time won a Syracuse University Dissertation Award. In addition to publishing nearly three dozen articles, chapters and reviews, Greg has edited two books, God and Time: Four Views (IVP, 2001) and God and Time: Essays on the Divine Nature (Oxford, 2002 – with David M. Woodruff). Greg is also the author of Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations (IVP, 2017), Thinking about God: First Steps in Philosophy (IVP, 2004) and A Reasonable God: Engaging the New Face of Atheism (Baylor University Press, 2009). Greg was a part-time lecturer in the philosophy department at Yale for nine years and a senior fellow at the Rivendell Institute at Yale. Greg's research interests lie in contemporary philosophy of religion and history of philosophy. Greg has been married to Jeanie since 1985. They have three children, none of whom are philosophers. Although happily married, Greg has a secret crush on Jane Austen.
Talbot School of Theology is a theologically conservative, evangelical seminary in Southern California near Los Angeles. With over a 60-year heritage of biblical fidelity, the seminary couples solid evangelical scholarship with spiritual formation to prepare students for a lifetime of relevant, effective ministry. The seminary's master's degree programs and doctoral degree programs are led by a faculty of nationally renowned, widely-published and actively engaged ministry leaders.
Syllabus
| Setting the Stage Lesson 1 |
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| Participant's Guide Sample Resource |
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| Setting the Stage Video |
| Descartes and Mechanism Lesson 2 |
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| Participant Guide Resource |
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| Descartes and Mechanism Video |
| Hume and Empiricism Lesson 3 |
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| Hume and Empiricism Video |
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| Kant and Constructivism Lesson 4 |
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| Kant and Constructivism Video |
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| Nietzsche and Postmodernism Lesson 5 |
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| Nietzsche and Postmodernism Video |
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| The Gospel as Good News Lesson 6 |
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| The Gospel as Good News Video |
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| Curriculum Evaluation Resource |
Course FAQ
No. The included participant guide contains everything you need to successfully complete the course. There are resources recommended at the end of the course that you are free to purchase if you wish to pursue further study on the course topic.
Since this course is designed as a packaged small group curriculum, you will not have any interaction with the professor during the course.
These videos are only available on Biola LEARN. You will also need to be connected to the internet to view these videos.