Systematic Theology II: Bibliology & Hermeneutics

C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyke of The Theology Program teach the doctrine of the Bible: where its authority comes from, how it was copied and collected, what inspiration and inerrancy mean, and how Scripture is to be interpreted rightly.

This is the second course of The Theology Program, a full curriculum in Christian theology taught at the classroom level for ordinary church members. C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyke spend ten sessions on the doctrine of Scripture from every side: the question of authority and sola Scriptura, how the text was transmitted through centuries of hand copying, how the books of the Old and New Testaments came to be recognized as canon, what it means that Scripture is inspired by God and written by men, the evidences that it is God’s word, the doctrine of inerrancy, and the story of biblical interpretation from the ancient rabbis to the Reformation, ending with the working principles and common fallacies of sound Bible study.

Each lecture below is a full class session, and each has its own page with the video, a study sheet that walks the lecture section by section, links to every Scripture passage discussed, key terms, a comprehension check, discussion questions, and a printable PDF.

Lectures by C. Michael Patton, Th.M., and Rhome Dyke, Th.M., embedded from The Theology Program's public channel.

Enrollment is free and optional, and takes a minute: let the church know you are studying.

All 10 lectures are ready.

  1. 01Authority: Who Do We Trust?76 min
  2. 02Sola Scriptura: Is Scripture All We Need?79 min
  3. 03The Transmission of Scripture: From Their Pens to Our Hands82 min
  4. 04The Canon of the Old Testament: Do We Have the Right Books?72 min
  5. 05The Canon of the New Testament: Recognized, Not Invented74 min
  6. 06Inspiration: One Hundred Percent God, One Hundred Percent Man73 min
  7. 07Proving Inspiration: Seven Evidences That This Is God’s Word85 min
  8. 08Inerrancy: True in All That It Teaches77 min
  9. 09The History of Interpretation: From Midrash to Augustine80 min
  10. 10Historical Grammatical Hermeneutics: Principles and Fallacies83 min

Start with Lecture 1

The course begins with the question beneath every other question: who do we trust, and where does final authority lie? Each lecture builds on the last, so start at the beginning and work through in order.