What is the Alpha Course?
score:4
The UK website for the Alpha Course can be found here. There are others for each country, so use Google to find yours. The Wikipedia entry can also be useful.
The Alpha course is extremely popular across the world and in many denominations. It originated in the Church of England, and it is exactly what you expect - an introduction to the core of Christian belief, Mere Christianity style. It is not specific to Anglican beliefs, and has been used by a huge number of churches of many denominations.
One of the key things about Alpha though is that it is intended to be more than a lecture series. It is key to the course (assuming it is being done properly) that it is done in a discussion framework. The lectures should be followed by a discussion in a small group, to which Christians and seekers are free to contribute. Ideally there should be food as well - the guidelines for running the course recommend it.
The only slightly controversial aspect of the course is that it does teach that the Holy Spirit may give supernatural gifts, such as speaking in tongues, to Christians. It doesn't claim that those gifts are essential, and it doesn't talk about more controversial gifts. Some churches choose to omit those parts of the course.
Some churches choose to modify the course in other ways, but the one you see is unlikely to be a different course. Ask whether it includes lectures by Nicky Gumbel - if so then you are getting the real deal. I would personally make sure that there is an opportunity for discussion as part of the course. In my experience omitting that misses the point.
Upvote:1
Alpha's approach to Christianity involves a distinction between the basic kerygma and subsequent catechesis. In that sense, it is pre-catechetical and a form of mere Christianity. The course is not meant to be a full course understanding of theology, or a full blown moral catechesis that strives to avoid being soft on repentance. Rather, the Alpha Course teaches a very simple understanding of justification and salvation. For example, on the course, we hear:
The wonderful news is that it does not depend on me. It depends on what Jesus has done for me. It depends not on what I do or achieve, but on His work on the cross. What He did on the cross enables Him to give us eternal life as a gift (John 10:28; Romans 6:23b;) We do not earn a gift.
The basic kerygma on the Alpha Course is a rich Gospel imperative - grounded in grace. The attraction of the course is that the kerygma is communicated, in an accurate manner, by the use of attractive words that appeal to the reasoning mind through the use of evidential apologetics (the author Nicky Gumbel, is a former Barrister). That being said, in the final analysis, that ability to choose is in actuality a complete gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Gospel imperative in Alpha is analogous to the call to decision, which Jesus proclaimed to his friend Lazarus. When Lazarus was was resuscitated from death, there was still a call by Jesus to Lazarus to make a decision - even though he was physically dead. Alpha effectively communicates this Gospel imperative, when it states (emphasis added):
There are many ways of speaking about starting the new life…’becoming a Christian,’ ‘giving our lives to Christ,’ ‘receiving Christ,’ ‘inviting Jesus into our lives,’ ‘believing in Him,’ and ‘opening the door to Jesus’ are some of the variations. All of them describe the same reality…Jesus enters our lives by the Holy Spirit, as is pictured in Revelation 3:20. (Questions of Life, page 60)
While some Reformed or Lutheran Christians might be horrified to think that there can be Christians in the Roman Catholic Church, it is clearly a misunderstanding of Lutheran doctrine to be critical of the Alpha Course on that basis. The fact of the matter is that Lutherans have always believed that God can work outside of the Confessional Lutheran church to both create faith as well as to make disciples. For example, the founding president of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, C. F. W. Walther, points out (emphasis added):
True faith has been obtained by people before they join the Lutheran Church. It is a fatal mistake to think that Luther before becoming a Lutheran did not have true faith. Though we esteem our church highly, may this abominable fanatical notion be far from us. That our Lutheran Church is the alone-saving church
...This simple Gospel is found outside of the Lutheran Church….The Roman Church, for instance, still confesses that Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross to redeem the world. That is truth sufficient to bring a man to the knowledge of salvation.
Listen! When you have come to the point where you are hungering and thirsting for the grace of God, you have the contrition which you need…A person must not inquire whether his contrition is sufficient for admitting him to Jesus. His very question about his fitness shows that he may come to Jesus…the Word of God is not rightly divided when...it does not allow the Gospel to have a general predominance… (The Proper Distinction Between Law & Gospel)
More post
- 📝 Did the metaphor of ' cup of suffering' as used by Jesus derive from OT?
- 📝 What does the Catholic Church say happens on the New Earth?
- 📝 Saying the concluding prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours
- 📝 How are penances decided?
- 📝 What does 2 Timothy 2:15 mean?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for hearing God's audible voice today?
- 📝 Does it matter which day I celebrate Sabbath / Lord's day on?
- 📝 Did Augustine often complain that his contemporaries burdened the church with their traditions?
- 📝 Why haven't we revised the Bible in centuries?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for all people meeting God when they die?
- 📝 How close is the English word "father" compared to the original word used by Jesus in the Lord's Prayer?
- 📝 Required readings for courses on the Gospels at the Westminster Theological Seminary
- 📝 Examples of people who fell from grace and earned it back?
- 📝 Do OT scriptures clearly indicate sacrifices will be replaced?
- 📝 What is the nature of Dyothelitism according to the Council of Chalcedon?
- 📝 What is joy? How is it different from happiness (or is it)?
- 📝 Catholic Translation of the bible which inserts the four marks in Matt 16 "on this rock I will build my church"
- 📝 Who said "he would be called a Nazarene"?
- 📝 The difference between how the Holy Spirit and Son "proceed" from the Father
- 📝 Could the pope adopt a child?
- 📝 (LDS perspective) How would people before Mormonism have entered heaven since they would not have known the masonic handshakes?
- 📝 Do JW teach that Luke 23:43 was corrupted? On what basis?
- 📝 What are some uses of the Magnificat, Benedictus and Nunc Dimittis in the Eastern Rites?
- 📝 Why should I choose one particular congregation or denomination?
- 📝 How do Calvinists understand the argument that only the Ephesian church were elect in the context of Ephesians?
- 📝 According to Protestant theology, does God’s omnipresence entail us humans walking into God all the time?
- 📝 What is the purpose and meaning of the Christian Flag?
- 📝 Bible Stories on LP from the 80s
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for believing in the Book of Mormon?
- 📝 What is the official Catholic position on heterosexual civil partnerships?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the Alpha Course?
- 📝 What is the significance of Jesus saying "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending"?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the claim that abortion is immoral?
- 📝 What major translations of the Bible are in the Public Domain?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis to claim that masturbation is a sin?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the concept that Jesus spent time in Hell?
- 📝 What is the biblical justification for permitting female pastors?
- 📝 What is the basis of my fractured understanding of "Sola Scriptura"?
- 📝 What is an overview of the main interpretations of "day" in Genesis 1?
- 📝 How can the Son not know what the Father knows?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jesus being God incarnate?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Total Depravity?
- 📝 To what extent does the Law of Moses still apply?
- 📝 What extrabiblical sources support the existence of Jesus in history?
- 📝 What happened to the tribe of Dan in Revelation?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for believing in the Book of Mormon?
- 📝 From a Fundamentalist standpoint, what does the phrase "Inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God" mean?
- 📝 Do we have to obey the laws of the bible? If so, what laws?
- 📝 What does the bible say about h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 What were Martin Luther's opinions on the Crusades?
- 📝 What Protestant arguments exist for the perpetual virginity of Mary?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for saying Lucifer is an angel?
- 📝 What is the Roman Catholic view on Matthew 23:9?
- 📝 What is the difference between Evangelical and Protestant?
- 📝 What is significant about the torn curtain? What about Jesus' death impressed the centurion at the cross?
- 📝 What are the different names of God in the Bible and what do they mean?
- 📝 What was it about the death of Jesus that allows God to forgive us?
- 📝 What is the doctrine of the Trinity?