Lesson 3 - A Biblical Framework for Facing the Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual Challenges of the 21st Century - Part 3

Lesson 2 - A Biblical Framework for Facing the Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual Challenges of the 21st Century - Part 2

Lesson 1 - A Biblical Framework for Facing the Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual Challenges of the 21st Century - Part 1

Compilation of snippets from Charles Clough's 224-lesson Bible Framework series providing an overview of the course.

Bible Framework Lesson Sampler

Historical, unbelieving, responses to the resurrection event. What is particularly offensive to unbelief about the resurrection? The resurrection confronts each of us with our future, permanent state; threatening “the enemies of Christianity with the consequences of unrepentant death!” Questions and answers.

Lesson 146 – Unbelieving Responses to the King’s Resurrection

Why we need the Bible Framework. The truths of Scripture must support each other, integrate with human history, and affect every area of knowledge. The biblical definition of “faith.” If you don’t believe in God, you have no basis to make a moral judgment. Examples of applying the Bible Framework. Final questions and answers on the Bible Framework.

Lesson 224 – Framework Conclusion

Review of pre-tribulationism. The four historical objections to pre-tribulationism. The suffering in the Tribulation is not discipline; it is judgment. The purpose of the Bible Framework. We must associate God, man, and nature with the cosmic act (historical event) of Creation. Questions and answers.

Lesson 223 – Critics of Pre-Tribulationism

Features of pre-tribulationism that make it the best solution. Critics of pre-tribulationism. Many cults today are modern versions of ancient heresies. The church is not found in Matthew chapter 24. God has very real contingencies in history that do not compromise His sovereignty. Questions and answers.

Lesson 222 – Israel and the Church Relative to the Pre-Tribulation View

A biblical example of how eschatology is used to control one’s soul during historical or personal disaster. Eschatology provides the big picture and gives stability. We don’t feel our way to God; we think our way. The biggest battles in the Christian life are in our soul. Pre-tribulationism and the immanency of the Rapture. The features of pre-tribulationalism. The arguments against pre-tribulationalism. Pre-tribulationism throughout church history. Questions and answers.

Lesson 221 – Applying Eschatology to the Christian Life (Part 2)

The mid-tribulation Rapture view. The uniqueness of the Tribulation period. Evaluating the three key assertions of the mid-tribulation view. The pre-tribulation Rapture view. Accomplishments of the pre-tribulation position.

Lesson 220 – Applying Eschatology to the Christian Life (Part 1)

Rather than reading the Bible through the eyes of modern secularism, this provocative six-part course teaches you to read the Bible through its own eyes—as a record of God’s dealing with the human race. When you read it at this level, you will discover reasons to worship God in areas of life you probably never before associated with “religion.”

Intellectual thinking, but with God’s truth; rather than the wisdom of the world. It’s the teaching of a man who has placed his faith in Jesus Christ… but also has a degree from MIT. Clough is one of my favorite teachers ever. He will make you re-think how you’ve been reading God’s word. Not necessarily that you were doing it wrong, but that you weren’t paying enough attention the first time you went through it. He reminds you just how much there is to be gleaned from God’s word if you’re willing to apply your mind, and treasure it in your heart.

Refreshing, Thought Provoking, Biblical Truth.

Complete Bible Framework

The “Tribulation” and the “Great Tribulation.” The Rapture of the church. The Bema Seat and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Comparing and contrasting the Rapture of the church and the Second Coming of Christ. Problems with the post-tribulation view and preterism. Questions and answers.

Lesson 216 – Post-Tribulationism: Mixing the Rapture & Second Advent; The Church & the Tribulation

Church history during the Reformation. The issue of how God’s grace comes to man from the Cross. The three areas of sin. The Council of Trent and the Reformation. Roman Catholic and Protestant definitions of “justification.” The correct definition of sin. What is the purpose, goal, nature, and role of the church? Questions and answers.

Lesson 198 – Church History – From the Reformation Through to the Present

Major doctrinal questions in church history, from Augustine to the Reformation. Lines of evidence for the deity of Christ. Historical church debate over the purpose and results of the work of Christ on the Cross. Questions and answers.

Lesson 196 – Church History – The Middle Ages

The character of how God disrupts paganism. The Word of God will either increase someone’s rebellion or induce submission to God. There is a rational connection between the exodus event and the call of Abraham. The sacred name of God. Jesus Christ’s use of the sacred name of God. The lesson of the exodus is that civilization cannot remove the fall. God took His people and walked out from the greatest existing civilization. Characteristics of God’s judgments. Part of God’s justice is restitutionary in nature. Questions and answers.

Lesson 48 – Exodus: Submission and Obedience or Rebellion and Hardening

Discovering someone’s worldview. “You can’t say anything about anything without saying something about everything.” The Creator/creature distinction is what makes the Bible anti-pagan. Failure to make this distinction is idolatry and spiritual rebellion. God has unchallenged control over everything. “Continuity of being” is the opposite of the Creator/creature distinction. God is an infinite, personal God Who is self-contained and pre-existed the universe.

Lesson 3 – Introduction: Religious Neutrality Theory

The events of the exodus and the giving of the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. The role of the Law in the Old Testament. God’s Father/son relationship with Israel. The uniqueness of the Old Testament Law code format is that it includes personal exhortation. Questions and answers.

Lesson 50 – Law: Bible Geography Mt. Sinai, Old Testament Law Codes, Review Covenants

The link between modern and ancient versions of paganism. The “continuity of being” versus the Creator-creature distinction. How did Jesus Christ and New Testament Christians interpret the Old Testament? A comparison and contrast of evolution and creation. Three strategies the Church has used to address the tension between evolution and creation. Questions and answers.

Lesson 5 – Reconciling Genesis and the Evolution Origin Myth: Strategies of Capitulation, Accommodation, and Counterattack

The exodus comes very close to defining what salvation is all about. God is always gracious before He judges. All of God’s judgments perfectly discriminate. In God’s judgments, salvation is always appropriated by faith. Salvation is not complete until both body and spirit are saved. Features of the resurrection body. Redemption, propitiation, and reconciliation. With God you cannot lose! If you are against God, you cannot win! Questions and answers.

Lesson 49 – Exodus 11–12, Atonement, Redemption, Propitiation, Reconciliation

The first historical accounts of any significance are in the Bible. History has a pattern to it. It’s moving somewhere. The secular, pagan view of a king compared with God’s view. The king’s role, in Israel, was to obey the Law. The prophets were agents of God calling Israel back to loyalty to the covenant. An evil prayer answered with tragic results. Questions and answers.

Lesson 65 – King Saul, Biblical Warning on Totalitarian Government, Eminent Domain

Physics: dating systems and measuring ages. Salvation by works is related to evolution: transmuting a sinner into a saint. The Bible makes faith contingent on historical reality. The term “natural law” implies that nature never changes. Without a lawgiver, “natural law” is just conjecture. Various dating systems to measure the age of the earth: terrestrial clocks.

Lesson 29 – Physical and Chemical Natural History: Is the Universe Thousands or Billions of Years Old? Terrestrial “Time” Clocks and the Bible

David Deals

David as a model for leadership in the Kingdom of God. The aim of and the tools God uses in the believer’s sanctification. The enemies of sanctification. The dimensions of sanctification. Resolving sin in the believer’s life: conviction, confession, and God’s response. Questions and answers.

Lesson 69 – David Deals With His Sin; Sanctification Through Tools of Davidic Dynasty

Positional truth. The core issue of the Reformation. God the Father is the ultimate speaker; God the Son is the message spoken; and God the Holy Spirit is the implementation of the message. Resurrection. [Brief Q&amp;A inserted into the lesson: What is eternal life? The Apostle John introduced the idea that eternal life is a present reality for the believer.] Jesus Christ’s priestly intercession.

Lesson 190 – Emergence of the Church (cont’d) – The Work of God the Son

Eschatology. On a pagan basis, there is no future resolution in history. Any pagan who is optimistic about history is borrowing from Scripture or is a naïve sentimentalist. Comparing the three views of the Millennium (part 3). Features of amillenialism (continued). Features of postmillennialism. Questions and answers.

Lesson 102 – Millennial Issues: Pre-, A-, Post-Millennialism

False views of Jesus Christ’s humanity, throughout church history, compared to the biblical doctrine of the hypostatic union. If Christ is not God, worshiping Him is blasphemy. Questions and answers.

Lesson 113 – Birth of Christ, Early Church History including Docetism, Nestorianism

The internal Church issue of interpreting Genesis. All reality is the result of God’s language. If you destroy language, you destroy thinking and are left with emotion. Your worldview is determined by your doctrine of language. Scripture shows that Jesus believed in a literal interpretation of Genesis.

Lesson 27 – Hermeneutics, Presuppositions, and Accommodationist Focal Points

The positional truth unique to the Church Age. Things common to every Christian that give meaning and purpose and reveal the content of God’s plan: imputed righteousness; we share in Christ’s resurrection. Questions and answers.

Lesson 189 – Emergence of the Church – The Work of God the Son

How God uses the enemies of sanctification. Both elect and fallen angels have a role in the believer’s spiritual growth. The period of the exile. Daniel’s example of how to live in a pagan world. Dreams in Scripture. Questions and answers.

Lesson 89 – End of Kingdom, Discipline of Exile, Shift from Israel to the World

The distinctive characteristics of the event of creation and where they lead us. A comparison of how paganism and biblical Christianity answer key questions. Who is man? What is truth? How should I then live?

Lesson 6 – Distinctives of Biblical Creation; Creationism vs. Paganism Answers to 3 Basic Questions: Who Am I? What is Truth and How Can I Know? How Should I Live?

Review of the foundation. Every great biblical truth can be linked to a key event. The Christian faith is a coherent set of sub-beliefs. You cannot believe in the content of biblical stories and deny their historicity. After salvation, the Kingdom of God is expanding the dominion over nature that God gave Adam. The Kingdom of God cannot come by means of fallen man. The life of Christ as background for regeneration (kenosis, impeccability). The basic Christian virtue is humility toward God. Questions and answers.

Lesson 177 – The Framework Structure as the Setting of Kenosis and Impeccability **New**

Historical biology. Structural differences between creation and evolution. Inside the Mosaic Law there is a passion to preserve the categories and structures God created. The differences between evolution as “fact” and evolution as theory. Continuity of being versus common design. Problems with mutation and other aspects of evolutionary theory.

Lesson 28 – Biological Natural History, Creation vs. Evolution

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