BASIC STUDY METHODS
The course Basic Study Methods is offered to the students majoring in Theology during their first semester. The purpose of the course students to acquire basic skills that will facilitate the further academic educational process successfully – research and writing . Included is orientation in the library and computer usage for theological study and writing. This course does not require of students to have computer skills .
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BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY
This course is designed as an introductory survey to the discipline of archeology. It will provide a forum for interdisciplinary study by examining the past through the avenues that modern archeological methods provide.
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COMMUNICATIONS & MASS MEDIA
One of the main aspects of the work of the minister, preacher, evangelist and the Suncday school teacher is communicating with people. Since the days of the Early Church through the Guttenberg era until present world cyber net, the Christian minister has had the same goal: to preach the crucified Christ. How have ways, the approaches and the technical means for the communication of the Good News changed? What are the specifics of the interpersonal and mass communications? How can the church use the new technical means for the spread of the Good News? The answer of these and many other questions in this area will be seeking teachers and students during lectures and discussions of the course COMMUNICATIONS & MASS MEDIA.
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CHURCH GROWTH AND PLANTING
The course CHURCH GROWTH AND PLANTING offers general introduction to various elements of the ministry of church planting. Special attention is paid to the various aspects of the ecclesiology, the process of church planting, leadership in the church, methods of evangelization and of other key ministries. Concerning the planting of new churches, the student will be acquainted with examples of church growth from Acts and the epistles of the Apostle Paul, as well as various movements troughout history and modern examples and principles about how churches grow and multiply. Assistance will be offered for making analysis of the society in which one wants to see church es planted and growing.

Prerequisite: INTRODUCTION TO THE NT & CHURCH HISTORY.
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INTERCHURCH RELATIONS
Interchurch relations aims to acquaint the student with the essence, content, scope, historical development, the principles and the contemporary state of relations between the Christian churches on bi- and multilateral basis, as well as with their role in the global processes of our day and age.
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HOMILETICS
Preaching has always been of a very practical significance for the practical theology. It has played an important role throughout the Old and the New Testaments. Throughout the entire history of the church preaching has been an important part of the ministry of pastors. It is impossible to have a church service without preaching of the Word. For Christians preaching goes beyond public speaking. During the course how to prepare a sermon, kinds of sermons and their content will be studied. Practical skills for preaching will be developed and some examples of rhetoric will be looked at. The importance of attire, voice, posture, gestures and others will be discussed.
The goal is for the student to gain knowledge on preaching and to practice it, to exhibit clearly the central theme of the Scriptures.

Prerequisite: The student must have taken the following subject prior to taking HOMILETICS: HERMENEUTICS, NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION & OLD TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION.
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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
This course is designed to help the student acquire basic knowledge about how to use ministry and education in teaching children, young people and older/senior people in the church. The purpose of the course is students to learn how to teach others that God reveals Himself to humanity, that He demonstrates Hi s redemptive love through Jesus Christ so that everyone may respond in faith and love. The main divisions of the course are: foundations of Christian education, Christian education for children, Christian education of teenagers and young people, Christian education of older/senior people.
The course requires knowledge of the areas of OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, CHURCH HISTORY, HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN BULGARIA, and is related to the following courses: PASTORAL CARE, PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION, HOMILETICS, PASTORAL THEOLOGY, and LITURGICS.
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HERMENEUTICS
Hermeneutics is the science and the art of interpretation that is generally applied to the ancient literature. This is a basic course which deals with the application of hermeneutics to the Bible. The sixty six books of the Bible are the best atested ancient texts known to humanity. There is no doubt that the Bible is one of the most influential ancient texts translated into modern languages more than any other book in the history of humankind . The subject includes introduction to the subject of Hermeneutics, of essence of interpretation, history of interpretation, presuppositions with which we begin the interpretation, an overall methodology of interpretation (using the synthetic method as well as analytical) and presentation of some distinct problems.
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CHURCH HISTORY
The purpose of the is subject is to introduce the student to the most important historical events, trends, people, political, economical and sociological problems that the Church has encountered from time of its birth through the Protestant Reformation until present . The student is expected to comprehend the role of God's provi dence in the human history, to grasp the development of the Christian thought, and the formation and refinement of the doctrines of the Church. The subject also encourages the study of the original sources.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN BULGARIA
The course HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN BULGARIA is designed to acquaint the student with the coming and acceptance of Christianity in Bulgaria, the development of the church, its role and place in the spiritual development of the Bulgarian nation. The rise of other confessions is discussed as well.
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CHRISTIAN MUSIC
The study of CHRISTIAN MUSIC is designed to give foundational knowledge of the ways music was used for worship in the times of the Old and New Testament s and application for the church today. Examples from the history of the Jewish and the Christian worship are reviewed. The rise of the different styles in the chrisitan music are traced historically and their influence for contemporary worship. Attention is given rudiments of mucsic and elements to the Christian music for children. Practical music exercises will be planned.
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HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
During the lecture hours the students will learn about the development of the main philosophical ideas and schools throughout history. Basic problems that form the understanding of philosophy are presented as well as the development of the methods of cognition. Special place is given to Christian philosophy and its relation to theology.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE OT
The goal of the INTRODUCTION TO THE OT is to give basic theological knowledge related to the cultural, religious and social context of every Old Testament book. This subject is related to the rest of the courses and is prerequisite to other courses.
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OLD TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION
The purpose of the OT INTERPRETATION is to acquaint students with the contents of the OT books from the perspective of modern Hermeneutics. This course aids the rest of the disciplines related with the OT by creat ing skills for modern interpretation of the OT text.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE NT
The course INTRODUCTION TO THE NT is a survey of all NT books, related to the historical, political, cultural, and religious situation in the NT times. Various critical approaches to the Gospels and the life of Jesus are looked at. The events of His life, as well as the major theological themes are also in the focus of this study. There is an emphasis on the exploration of the life of Apostle Paul, as basis for understanding of his epistles. The content of each book is looked at briefly in the light of the main theme, purpose, and the unique contributions of the book.
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NT INTERPRETATION
The course NT INTERPRETATION contains broad survey of the morphology and syntax of the Greek language used in the NT, building up Greek vocabulary, introduction to the NT text criticism, understanding of the methodology of NT exegesis, and reading selected passages from the Greek NT. It is necessary for this course that the students have taken the basic levels of NT GREEK.
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LITURGICS
LITURGICS is called the art of worship and service to God. In this course will be emphasized the history and development of service in the Christian church. The topics will include the origin of Christian service which is found in the Old Testament scriptures where the forms commanded by God and practiced by ancient Israel are recorded. Since the book of Psalms is a rich source of worship, we will give considerable attention to the book and its application for the services today. The development of the liturgy in the Christian church in the East and West, and in the Protestant-evangelical churches will be studied in details. As we study the different forms, we will try to discover the contribution of the different styles of service to the growth and health of the spiritual life and demonstration of faith. Students will be able to observe and take part in different forms of services in order to develop their own skills for ministry in their home churches. The practicum will be guided and coordinated, and different themes will be used for regular Sunday morning services and services for special occasions. As the students gain more understanding about liturgics, they will be able to develop ‘their own philosophy' of services, to lead them and prepare God's people during the services.
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CHURCH MANAGEMENT
The course is designed to assist the students in their preparation to lead churches and church related organizations. They are introduced to the basic principles of leadership, structure, forms of leadership, strategies, personnel, budget, accountability, responsibilities and duty. The foundational book is the Bible but others by contemporary authors are used a well.
This course is closely related to others like: CHURCH HISTORY, CHURCH PLANTING AND GROWTH, PASTORAL THEOLOGY, and LITURGICS.
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PATRISTICS
The course is designed to offer basic knowledge on the activity and work of the so called Fathers or Teachers of the Church, that is those Christian writers whose authority follows the one of the New Testament, and who developed the teaching s of the Church in its literary form. The course will help the students to gain deeper understanding about the history of formation of the to Christian doctrines and the rich spiritual heritage that the Christian thinkers from all times had left. A review will be made of the presuppositions for divisions in Christianity. The students will also be led to evaluate their own evangelical position in the context of a continuous and developing spiritual tradition. The course contain three sections which follow the development of the doctrines about the Knowledge of God, Man (Anthropology), and Salvation.
In regard to the Patristic period it will be proper not to set limit only to the Antiquity or the age of the Church Councils of 9 th century but also to envelope Medieval period and the particularly the most important representatives of isihims in Byzantium.
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MISSIOLOGY
The Church has many tasks at hand, but one is the most important one – its mission. The essence of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is to motivate the church to reach the lost.
This course is a study of the history of missions of the Christian church and the contemporary missionary efforts. This course can be taken after successful completion of the course INTRODUCTION TO THE NT and is a foundation for the course EVANGELISM.
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PASTORAL CARE
PASTORAL CARE reveals one of the major activities in the Church. It contains the description of the main skills and techniques necessary for counseling. The major theories for pastoral counseling are looked at as well as the different kinds of counseling. The content of the course contains topics revealing some of the major problems related to personality and interpersonal relations: anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, loneliness; problems related to the age cycle, problems related to premarital and marriage relations as well as divorce, problems related to self esteem and some types of addictions.
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PSYCHOLOGY
The course is an introduction to the basic theories of understanding of the psychic life of the person. An overview is made of the cognitive, emotional and motivational processes. The basic theories of personality are presented, as well as the psychotherapies based on them. The course also covers the life cycle and the crisis in the different stages of life, and the health of the soul.
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THEOLOGY OF REFORMATION
The goal of this course is to introduce the student to the most meaningful works o f the Protestant Reformation as a means to achieving a broader view on the formation of evangelical faith and practices. The main focus is on the prime sources and the purpose is to improve the ability to analyze theological arguments and better articulation of the meaning of the Christian faith and its historical development. This will include the study of methodology and formation of the basic doctrines in their historical context. Selected passages of books will be discussed in class.
Prerequisites: CHURCH HISTORY and SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.
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NT THEOLOGY
The NT THEOLOGY course serves as an introduction to the study of biblical theology, applicable to the NT. The students will be able to understand the difference between Systematic theology and Biblical theology and how to look at Scripture form the perspective of Biblical theology. In the course are studied the main themes of the NT theology, according to the unique contribution of the NT authors and the situation in which they wrote. The purpose is students to understand in what way the Scripture addresses theological issues, according to the life situation in first century A.D., in order to be able to use theology to address current theological issues.

It is assumed that the students have passed successfully through the course INTRODUCTION TO THE NT.
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OT THEOLOGY
The purpose of the study of the discipline OT THEOLOGY is to give basic theological knowledge about the religious contents of the OT books. The curriculum is related to the other disciplines of the section BIBLICAL THEOLOGY and serves as a basis for a number of disciplines of the other sections.

CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY
It is an introductory survey course designed to acquaint the students with the main streams of development in theology and the writers associated with them from the beginning of the 19 th century until present. Formation of understanding of the contemporary mission of the church, comprehensive relationship between the theological formulations, social, political and religious climate of the 20 th and the beginning of the 21 st century.
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PASTORAL THEOLOGY
The purpose of study of the course PASTORAL THEOLOGY is to introduce the students to the teaching about the church, what structure and organization – reason for existence, basic guidelines for action, form of government based on the Bible. Additional reading materials are used by ancient and contemporary authors. The topics covered in the course are theory of ministry, opportunities and challenges for the minister in ministry to the church and society. This course helps the student to grow and develop skills and understanding , character and will for the spread of the Gospel to every person.
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CULTS AND WORLD RELIGIONS
The goal of CULTS AND WORLD RELIGIONS is the students to receive satisfactory knowledge o f the ancient and contemporary religious movements. The study plan provides 30 lecture hours to cover the most popular topics. There will be a limited number of visits (2-3) of different places of serivce.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE EASTERN ORTHODOXY
The course INTRODUCTION TO THE EASTERN ORTHODOXY is designed to give essential information on the Orthodox Christian confession, its birth and historical development, the most important stages of dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church, the Orthodox C hristian E thics, the orthodox service, structure, government and hierarchical organization of the Orthodox Church, Constitution of the Orthodox church, the relationship between Eastern Orthodoxy and the other Christian confessions, the place and role of the Orthodox Church and community in our age.
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NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: PART I & II
The course NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: PART I & II is designed to teach the basic elements of the Greek language used in the New Testament. The course covers the principles of the Greek grammar and syntax as well as the basic vocabulary of the New Testament Greek. The goal is for the students to begin to build the foundation of the language so that they might be able to read and translate passages from the New Testament. The course serves as a preparation for the NT INTERPTRETATION course. NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: PART I & II are the first two parts of the three part NT GREEK course.
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ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
The course ESL is designed to help the student gain knowledge of the grammar of the English language – tenses and grammar structures - as well as to master his /her vocabulary for conversational and reading purposes. Be coming future preachers, theologians and pastors, s tudent s must be able to use a foreign language in their future contacts with Christians from other countries, in exchange of information, cooperation, ect. The English language is necessary for the use of the available Christian literature in English. Classes are provided for the study of the theological terminology in English, usage of theological literature, bible dictionaries, commentaries, ect.
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BIBLICAL HEBREW
BIBLICAL HEBREW course aims at giving foundational knowledge of the Hebrew language and thinking of the authors of the OT canonic books. The syllabus is connected to the disciplines of OT Studies – introduction, interpretation and theology.
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