Back to School! Essentials of Catholic Theology – Introduction

Back in the Fall of 2021, I became aware of a new book by evangelical theologian, Dr. Gregg Allison, entitled, “40 Questions About Roman Catholicism” (Kregal Academic, 2021, 326 pp.). Allison, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky, is one of evangelicalism’s premier experts on RC-ism. See my review of the excellent “40 Questions” here. Around the same time, I also noticed BiblicalTraining.org was offering a free, online course on the “Essentials of Catholic Theology,” with all seven classes taught by Allison. A student’s guide/workbook was available as well.

I was on the L3Harris fast track at the time, so I resolved to take the classes after I retired. Well, I’ve been retired for four months and now have the time. So for the next seven weeks, I’ll be taking the classes and reporting back to the WordPress blogosphere on Sundays.

Most evangelicals know very little about the RC basics. There’s a real need out there. Far too many evangelicals believe the RCC teaches a variation of the genuine Good News! Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, when it actually teaches a false gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit.

I invite you to follow along with me each week as we examine the Essentials of Catholic Theology. In fact, I encourage you to take the classes as well. The average length is only 28 minutes. The video lessons are not available at YouTube, but you can access all seven of them free of charge (your email address is the only requirement) at BiblicalTraining.org. Once you have your free account, just type “Gregg Allison Class” in the searchbox and it will take you right to the “Essentials of Catholic Theology” main page. The student’s guide/workbook is not essential.

Time is precious and I understand many won’t have time to take the classes, so I will be providing the lesson outlines and some brief commentary with each installment.

Essentials of Catholic Theology – Seven Lessons

• Lesson 1: What Unites and Divides Protestants and Roman Catholics – 32 minutes

• Lesson 2: Roman Catholicism as a System Grounded on Two Axioms – 21 minutes

• Lesson 3: Roman Catholicism’s Authoritative Divine Revelation and Interpretation – 20 minutes

• Lesson 4: The Seven Roman Catholic Sacraments – 15 minutes

• Lesson 5: The Roman Catholic Sacrament of the Eucharist – 31 minutes

• Lesson 6: The Roman Catholic View of Salvation – 36 minutes

• Lesson 7: Roman Catholic Mariology – 39 minutes

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Essentials of Catholic Theology – Student’s Guide/Workbook

Essentials of Catholic Theology: The basic teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as taught by Gregg Allison
By Gregg Allison
Biblical Training.org, 2021, 64 pp.
Available from Amazon here.

See you next Sunday with Lesson 1: What Unites and Divides Protestants and Roman Catholics.