Foundational Christian Beliefs
Unit Overview
What are the core doctrines of the Christian faith? What does it mean to say God is Trinity or that Jesus is the Christ? How should we understand the role and nature of the Holy Spirit? The Church? Jesus himself? Through the lens of a number of historical Creeds, this unit gives students undertaking a one year course the opportunity to lay down some theological foundation stones for the rest of their lives and ministry.Please visit the
timetable by clicking here for the current dates on when this unit is offered.
Unit Details
| Mode |
Online |
On-campus |
| Workload |
One semester, 12 credit points |
One semester, 12 credit points |
| Status |
Core |
Core |
| Unit code |
TH005 |
TH005 |
| Prerequisites and Exclusions |
This unit may not be taken if any of TH101–104 have been completed.
This unit should only be taken by Diploma or Graduate Diploma students. |
This unit may not be taken if any of TH101–104 have been completed.
This unit should only be taken by Diploma or Graduate Diploma students. |
| Teacher |
Mike Bird |
Andrew Malone |
Unit Content
- Why beliefs matter, and why the Creeds were created
- The doctrine of God the Father
- The doctrine of God the Creator
- The doctrine of God the Son
- The doctrine of Jesus the Saviour
- The doctrine of the Holy Spirit
- The doctrine of the Church
- Eschatology
Learning Outcomes
The purpose of this unit is to provide students with an overview of the central doctrines of the Christian faith following the outline given in the Creeds. It is designed to provide a single semester outline of theology for candidates for the Diploma Ministry/Theology or the Graduate Diploma of Divinity.
On completion of this unit, a student will be able to:
- Name and outline the content of the major theological loci as set out in the Creeds;
- Describe why it is useful to be able to describe beliefs; and
- Locate their own beliefs in the wider spread of Christian understandings.
Recommended Texts
Bird, M., What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Through the Apostles’ Creed (Michigan: Zondervan, 2016)
Study Expectations (Online)
In Ridley Online units you can expect to work through a variety of weekly learning activities which are designed to develop your understanding of and skills in the themes and passages related to your unit. These usually include watching videos, reading, completing set learning tasks and contributing to online seminars and interacting with your peers. Allow 8-10 hours study time per week for this unit.
