课程介绍：
如果从书的中间开始读一本书，你可能会觉得这本书很难理解。在不知道故事的开始和发展的情况下，你会发现很难把你读到的这些碎片拼接在一起。圣经也是这样的。我们需要《创世记》来为我们提供书中所有后续内容的根基。在英语中，genesis（译注：即“创世记”）一词其实来自拉丁语，意思是开始。因此，这卷书的题目其实来自开篇语：“起初，上帝创造天地。”众所周知，圣经全部的66卷书都是上帝在基督耶稣里的启示，这一切的根基都来自于第一节经文中所强调的万物之始。这门课将来一起查考这节经文的重要性，并全心地关注在圣经开篇语中所描述的上帝的位置。我们只先做一个简单的介绍，我的目标也非常清楚直接，就是一起与你分享“起初”一词，使你相信《创世记》在理解真正的圣经信仰并从整体理解圣经的重要作用。这门课程会从上帝起初的创造、人类的堕落、上帝救恩的开始及延续展开来叙述，使我们看见神为着自己元旨的缘故必定拯救祂的百姓也会护理祂所创造的万物。
讲员介绍：神学硕士罗伯特·D·麦考利牧师
罗伯特·D·麦考利牧师在格林威尔长老会神学院获得神学硕士，于1998年被按立为牧师，先后牧养过三间教会。于2006年，麦考利牧师接受了位于南卡罗来纳州的格林威尔长老会的呼召，该教会隶属于苏格兰自由教会（继续）。在过去的十六年里，麦考利牧师一直在该教会侍奉。麦考利牧师也是《家主号角》期刊的编辑，和格林奇出版社的监督董事。他创作出版了《第一要紧事》和《为基督燃烧自己》两册书籍，并为其它一些著作撰写了部分内容，同时在诸多的出版物中发表了大量文章。他在格林威尔长老会神学院的神硕论文研究的是撒母耳·卢瑟福在驳斥反律法主义时所表达的救恩论。麦考利牧师在约翰·诺克斯高等教育学院主讲的课程已被翻译为汉语、西班牙语和韩语，并在印度、斯里兰卡、马来西亚、新加坡、俄罗斯、英国、加拿大和美国各地的大会上讲道。他曾担任英国的苏格兰自由教会（继续）的大会教长，也在格林威尔市中心的大街上街头布道。蒙主的赐福，麦考利牧师与妻子珍妮特共养育了五个儿女。
Rev. Robert D. McCurley, ThM
Rev. Robert D. McCurley, ThM, was educated at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Ordained to the ministry in 1998, he has served as pastor of three congregations. In 2006, Rev. McCurley accepted the call to Greenville Presbyterian Church, Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), in Greenville, South Carolina, where he has served for the last 16 years. An editor of The Master’s Trumpet, and an overseeing director of Grange Press, he authored First Things First, and Spending Ourselves for Christ, and has contributed chapters to other books, as well as published numerous articles in various publications. His ThM from Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary investigated Samuel Rutherford’s soteriology within the context of his polemic against Antinomianism. Rev. McCurley’s lectures for John Knox Institute have been translated into Mandarin, Spanish and Korean, and he has spoken at conferences in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and around the United States. He has served as Moderator for the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) in the United Kingdom, and he can also be found preaching to folks on the streets of downtown Greenville. Rev. McCurley and his wife, Jeannette, have been blessed with five children.