This week Ian explores St. Paul's Theology of Predestination and Election by examining the whole of Paul's New Testament writings. Ian points out that St. Paul centers these ideas around his expanded understandings of Monotheism, Election, and Eschatology. This lesson comes as a continuation of the previous lesson the concepts of Predestination and Election.

After last week's introduction to God's Providence, one of Ian's class members asked for clarification on the meaning of "predestination." This week begins a multiple part study on the concept of predestination and election which will end with a study on Romans 9-11. Ian spends time contextualizing the thought of Paul as a First Century Jewish Pharisee living under Roman occupation within the abiding influence of Greco-Roman philosophy.

Special Listener's Note: This week's audio has been heavily processed in order to make it more intelligible. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you will continue to listen.

In conjunction with the Doctrine of Omniscience, Ian introduces the idea of God's Providence. Ian brings to the fore the need to understand God's attributes holistically - that is that many of the previously discussed attributes combine to give greater understanding to this doctrine of Providence.

Special Listener's Note: This week's audio has been heavily processed in order to make it more intelligible. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you will continue to listen.

This week Ian introduces the idea of God's Omniscience. This lesson, done from home due to a COVID-19 quarantine, does a deep-dive into the concept of God's Omniscience. 

Still working on understanding God as the creed describes Him: "God the Father Almighty," Ian introduces God's Personal Attributes. This week, Ian addresses God's Incorporeality. What does it mean for God to be a spiritual being without a material body? How does He relate to His creation? These questions and more are addressed in this week's study.

This week Ian finishes up the Doctrine of God's Immutability. He emphasizes the key point that God is incapable of change in light of His other infinite attributes. Then Ian explains how all of these infinite attributes tie together and begins to discuss how they might influence our understanding of God's personal attributes.

In this lesson, Ian continues to tackle the ideas of God's Omnipresence and introduces the Doctrine of Immutability. Ian spends a good deal of time understanding God as Spirit, then moving to the idea that God cannot be changed because in Him is all knowledge; nothing catches God by surprise!

Special Listener's Note: Due to some unforeseen technical difficulties rendering the audio virtually unsalvageable, there is a gap between this episode and the last. We do apologize for the inconvenience, but hope that you will continue to listen.

Continuing our series on Systematic Theology according to The Apostles' Creed, Ian delves into the first stanza "I believe in God the Father Almighty." He discusses the nature of God's Eternity - is God outside of time or inside of time? - and introduces the concept of God's Omnipresence. 

Special Listener's Note: Due to some unforeseen technical difficulties rendering the audio virtually unsalvageable, there is a gap between this episode and the last.  We do apologize for the inconvenience, but hope that you will continue to listen. 

As the first in our new series on Systematic Theology according to The Apostles' Creed, Ian tackles the big picture of faith contained in the opening phrase of The Apostles' Creed, "I believe." He discusses the effects of belief on our understanding, and how the Doctrines of General and Special Revelation are contained in this opening phrase as well. 

To end our expository study of Mark's Gospel and our broader study on the Doctrine of Christ, Ian tackles the final three chapters of Mark's Gospel by exploring the timeline of the Passion and taking an understanding of Christ's crucifixion on Wednesday rather than the traditional Saturday view. He details the kinds of "trials" Jesus faced, why those trials were ultimately successful, and how quickly they all happened with deference given to Mark, but taking into account the other Gospels where need be. Ian also takes time to discuss the manuscript problem with the end of Mark.