Master the full doctrine of salvation — from eternity to new creation

A graduate-level soteriology curriculum that takes you from the eternal counsel of God through the ordo salutis to glorification — with rigorous biblical exegesis, deep historical theology, and careful engagement with the tradition's most contested debates.

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This school is step 2 of Master of Arts in Theology — a 6-school journey.See the whole path

"The doctrine of salvation, followed to its exegetical and theological depths, does not merely inform the mind — it restructures the whole of Christian thought and, ultimately, the whole of pastoral life."

— Timothy Atunnise

What you'll learn

What you'll be able to do

Construct a comprehensive, biblically grounded account of salvation spanning the full canonical witness of both Testaments
Analyze and critically evaluate the major historical and contemporary positions on election, predestination, and divine grace
Articulate the doctrines of the atonement — substitution, propitiation, redemption, and reconciliation — with exegetical precision and theological coherence
Trace the Holy Spirit's role in the ordo salutis from effectual calling and regeneration through adoption and sealing
Engage the classical debates on justification, union with Christ, and sanctification across Protestant, Catholic, and contemporary theological traditions
Integrate eschatological categories — glorification, resurrection, and new creation — into a unified and pastorally applicable soteriology

How it works

A school that adapts to you

This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.

We learn your level

A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.

Lessons adapt as you go

Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.

Your AI coach keeps you moving

Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.

The curriculum

What's inside your school

10 modules · 50 lessons

The Biblical and Theological Foundations of Soteriology

Establishes the meaning, canonical scope, and Trinitarian structure of soteriology as a discipline, along with its major methodological debates.

1.1The Meaning, Scope, and Importance of SoteriologyIncluded
1.2Salvation in the Canonical Witness of ScriptureIncluded
1.3The Divine Initiative in the Work of SalvationIncluded
1.4The Trinitarian Structure of RedemptionIncluded
1.5Theological Methods and Major Debates in SoteriologyIncluded

Humanity, Sin, and the Necessity of Salvation

Grounds the need for salvation in a rigorous theological anthropology — from the imago Dei to the devastating consequences of sin and divine judgment.

2.1The Image of God and the Original State of HumanityIncluded
2.2The Origin, Nature, and Universality of SinIncluded
2.3Original Sin and the Doctrine of Human DepravityIncluded
2.4Spiritual Death, Bondage, and Human InabilityIncluded
2.5Divine Judgment and the Human Need for RedemptionIncluded

The Divine Purpose and Plan of Salvation

Investigates God's eternal counsel — election, predestination, and covenant — as the sovereign framework within which redemption unfolds in history.

3.1The Eternal Counsel and Redemptive Purpose of GodIncluded
3.2Foreknowledge, Election, and PredestinationIncluded
3.3Divine Sovereignty and Human ResponsibilityIncluded
3.4Covenant and the Historical Unfolding of RedemptionIncluded
3.5Major Theological Perspectives on Election and GraceIncluded

The Person and Saving Work of Jesus Christ

Grounds the entire accomplishment of redemption in the incarnate Son — his qualifications, obedience, atoning death, resurrection, and ongoing heavenly ministry.

4.1The Incarnation and Qualifications of the RedeemerIncluded
4.2The Sinless Life and Representative Obedience of ChristIncluded
4.3The Biblical Theology of the AtonementIncluded
4.4The Resurrection and Vindication of Christ's Saving WorkIncluded
4.5The Ascension, Session, and Continuing Intercession of ChristIncluded

The Atonement and the Accomplishment of Redemption

Conducts detailed doctrinal and exegetical analysis of the atonement's core categories — sacrifice, propitiation, redemption, reconciliation — and their scope.

5.1Sacrifice, Substitution, and the Bearing of SinIncluded
5.2Propitiation, Expiation, and Divine WrathIncluded
5.3Redemption, Ransom, and Liberation from BondageIncluded
5.4Reconciliation and the Restoration of Fellowship with GodIncluded
5.5The Extent, Sufficiency, and Efficacy of the AtonementIncluded

The Holy Spirit and the Application of Salvation

Traces the Holy Spirit's exclusive agency in bringing elect sinners from conviction and calling through regeneration and the full range of adoption's privileges.

6.1The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Saving GraceIncluded
6.2Conviction of Sin and the Drawing of the SinnerIncluded
6.3Effectual Calling and the Gospel InvitationIncluded
6.4Regeneration and the New BirthIncluded
6.5Spirit Baptism, Indwelling, Sealing, and AdoptionIncluded

Conversion, Repentance, and Saving Faith

Examines the human side of the salvation encounter — what Scripture means by conversion, and the nature and relationship of repentance and saving faith.

7.1The Biblical Nature and Dynamics of ConversionIncluded
7.2Repentance as a Turning from Sin toward GodIncluded
7.3Saving Faith and Trust in Jesus ChristIncluded
7.4Grace, Faith, and the Rejection of Works-RighteousnessIncluded
7.5Conversion, Lordship, and the Evidence of Genuine FaithIncluded

Justification, Union with Christ, and Adoption

Investigates the forensic, relational, and familial dimensions of the believer's new standing before God — and the ecumenical debates surrounding them.

8.1The Biblical and Forensic Nature of JustificationIncluded
8.2The Imputation of Righteousness and the Believer's StandingIncluded
8.3Union with Christ as the Center of SalvationIncluded
8.4Adoption and the Believer's New IdentityIncluded
8.5Justification in Protestant, Catholic, and Contemporary TheologyIncluded

Sanctification, Perseverance, and Assurance

Addresses the ongoing transformation of the believer from definitive sanctification through growth in holiness, the security debate, and the grounds of assurance.

9.1Definitive and Progressive Dimensions of SanctificationIncluded
9.2The Mortification of Sin and Growth in HolinessIncluded
9.3Grace, Spiritual Disciplines, and Christian ObedienceIncluded
9.4Perseverance, Apostasy, and the Security of the BelieverIncluded
9.5The Biblical Grounds and Pastoral Importance of AssuranceIncluded

Glorification and the Consummation of Salvation

Integrates eschatological categories — the intermediate state, bodily resurrection, and new creation — into a unified and pastorally grounded soteriology.

10.1Death and the Intermediate State of the BelieverIncluded
10.2The Return of Christ and the Completion of RedemptionIncluded
10.3The Resurrection and Transformation of the BodyIncluded
10.4Glorification and Perfect Conformity to ChristIncluded
10.5Salvation in the New Creation and the Eternal KingdomIncluded

Who it's for

Is this you?

MDiv / MA Theology students

Supplements or replaces a formal graduate soteriology course with the same depth of primary-source engagement and systematic rigor demanded in seminary.

Ordained ministers

Equips pastors to preach, teach, and counsel from a theologically coherent and exegetically grounded account of salvation — far beyond what initial ordination preparation typically provides.

Serious lay theologians

For the self-directed student who has outgrown introductory theology and is ready to engage the tradition's hardest soteriological questions at a graduate level.

Church educators & catechists

Builds the doctrinal depth to teach salvation accurately across Protestant, Catholic, and ecumenical contexts — and to handle the hard questions congregants actually ask.

ThM / PhD candidates

Provides a comprehensive and critically engaged map of the soteriological landscape as preparation for advanced research, comprehensive exams, or dissertation work in systematic theology.

Cross-tradition theological dialoguers

Ideal for those engaged in Protestant–Catholic, Reformed–Arminian, or ecumenical conversations who need a precise, fair-minded command of where the traditions agree, diverge, and genuinely contest.

Questions

Frequently asked

Your teacher

A note from your teacher

Timothy Atunnise

If you have spent time in a seminary classroom or worked through the serious theological literature on your own, you already know what is at stake in soteriology. You know that the doctrine of salvation is not a set of tidy propositions to be memorized and filed — it is a contested, layered, exegetically demanding terrain where the most consequential questions in Christian thought are negotiated: the character of divine love and divine justice, the nature of human freedom and divine sovereignty, the sufficiency and scope of Christ's atoning work, the relationship between grace and faith, the meaning of righteousness before God. You know that getting it wrong, or getting it right in only a partial way, has consequences that reach from the pulpit to the counseling room to the academy.

What I've tried to build in this school is the kind of course I wished existed when I was working through these questions — one that does not flatten the tradition's complexity in the name of accessibility, but also does not lose the theological forest for the exegetical trees. Every unit begins where theology must begin: with the biblical text. We do careful exegesis of the primary passages — Romans 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 through 11; Ephesians 1 and 2; John 6 and 10 and 17; Hebrews 9 and 10; and the full sweep of salvation-historical narrative across both Testaments — before we ascend to systematic formulation. The historical theologians — Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Arminius, Owen, Edwards, Bavinck, and their contemporary heirs — are engaged not as museum pieces but as live interlocutors whose arguments still bear on our own.

I want to be direct about what this school is not. It is not a survey of soteriology for those who are new to the discipline. It is not a polemic for any single confessional tradition, though I hold my own convictions and will not hide them. And it is not a course that trades doctrinal precision for devotional warmth — though I believe the two are never finally in tension, and that the most rigorous soteriology, followed to its conclusions, produces the deepest doxology.

What you will gain, if you work through this material seriously, is the ability to move through the doctrine of salvation with the confidence of someone who has done the exegetical work, engaged the primary sources, and thought through the constructive questions with care. You will be able to preach justification without caricaturing imputation. You will be able to counsel someone in the fog of assurance without reaching for platitudes. You will be able to engage a Catholic or an Arminian or a proponent of the New Perspective as a theological peer. That is the kind of formation this school is designed to produce — and I invite you, with seriousness of purpose, to begin.