Courses - Graduate Level
400 Foundations and Critical Issues in Biblical Scholarship
This course explores the contemporary methodologies used by biblical scholars in interpreting scripture, with major attention being given to historical and literary criticism. Consideration will be given to the critical issues raised by contemporary biblical interpretation, including such issues as inspiration, revelation, creation, Christology, and the formation of the church. Some time will be spent on a survey of the history of biblical interpretation. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
430 Foundations and Critical Issues in Systematic Theology
This is a foundational course in systematic theology aimed at presenting students with the study of a coherent theological system. The course will focus on major doctrines of the Christian faith as understood within a systematic relationship in the contemporary theological community. Research assignments will emphasize familiarity with and use of research tools, reference works, significant books and periodicals in the specific areas of theological thought. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
450 Foundations and Critical Issues in Historical Theology
This course will present a survey and introduction to the history of Christian theology. It will cover the major moments and thinkers in this intellectual tradition in order to develop a working acquaintance with the dynamics of its development. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
470 Foundations and Critical Issues in Theological Ethics
This course is devoted to a critical analysis of theological ethics firmly rooted in the historical method. The goal is to study the various methodologies, critical issues and the personalities who shape them in the appropriate historical milieu, and thereby achieve an appreciation of the methodological and behavioral issues of the present. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
404 The History of Israel
A study of the history of ancient Israel, with particular attention to the principal features of its religion and its historical evolution, in the context of the ancient Near East. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
405 The Pentateuch
An in-depth examination of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, in their unity and discreetness, with a view to articulating the principal themes of the Pentateuch and the history of its composition. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
406 Classical (Biblical) Hebrew
This repeating course presents over a cycle of semesters the fundamental elements of classical Hebrew, i.e., the language of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Tanak and Christian Old Testament). It is designed to enable students to read and interpret the biblical text in the language in which it was actually written. Although emphasis in earlier segments falls on the acquisition of basic grammatical and syntactic patterns, readings from the Bible introduce students early on to significant biblical themes and concepts. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
418 Prophetic Literature
This course examines the prophetic literature of ancient Israel, in its ancient historical context and as it can be illuminated by contemporary sociological and anthropological perspectives. Standard historical-critical methods will be used throughout. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
419 Wisdom Literature and Psalms
This course will study the Wisdom tradition and the Psalms of Israel. Formal critical analysis and history of tradition studies will be emphasized. The rich diversity of these parts of scripture will be a prime focus. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
420 Bible Studies Seminar: Parables (Variable topics)
This course probes Jesus and the reason for teaching in parables. In a background section, we identify earlier Jewish teachings in parable and metaphor. We will survey various ways scholars have interpreted Jesus? parables. We will study short, aphoristic "one-liner" parables, such as the leaven and the mustard seed. We will study narrative parables and their sources. We will examine such parables as the Good Samaritan, the great banquet, laborers in the vineyard and the prodigal son. In the final part we will discuss the idea of God conveyed by the parables we have examined. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
421 Bible Studies: Directed Readings : Bible Studies
This one to three hour credit course is designed for students who have had at least one year of classical (biblical) Hebrew and have a solid foundation in its grammar. The course will meet one hour a week (the time to be announced). While various grammatical elements will be reviewed during these weekly sessions, the purpose of the course is to give students the opportunity to maintain and develop their reading knowledge of Hebrew. Selected biblical passages will serve as the basis for the course. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
425 Luke-Acts and the New Testament Church
This course examines the material on the early church in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles from a historical and critical point of view. Emphasis will be placed on the theological perspective of the writer of Luke- Acts and on the relationship of that perspective to other early Christian writers (Mark, Matthew, and Paul). Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
427 St. Paul's Contribution to Christianity
This course looks to three goals: a careful understanding of Paul's thought, to be discovered through exacting analysis of often difficult Pauline passages; an attempt to formulate what is uniquely Pauline in the New Testament witnesses; and an awareness of how deeply Paul affected the formation of Christianity in its facets of spirituality, Christology, redemption, ecclesiology, worship, sacraments, sin, death and resurrection, and providence. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
429 The Person of Jesus in the New Testament
In this course, attention will be given to the presentation of the meaning of Jesus Christ within the earliest Christian communities. Emphasis will be placed on both the variety and the development of early Christian attempts to understand the meaning of Jesus. In addition, this variety and development will be placed in the context of early Judaism and Graeco-Roman religions. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
434 The Nature and Method of Theology
The course is a survey of the concepts of the nature and method of theology which were largely implicit in theological praxis from the New Testament period to the Reformation, and of the explicit emergence of these concepts as problematic in the nineteenth century. It will study some contemporary Protestant and Roman Catholic positions on theology's nature and method. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
435 Scripture, Tradition and Theologians
This course investigates 1) important texts from the Christian theological tradition dealing with the issues of Biblical interpretation, and 2) selected contemporary theological, philosophical and literary aspects of these same issues. While the course will be particularly attentive to texts contained in the comprehensive exam readings lists, it will also examine the history and contemporary positions of the field known as hermeneutics. Because it will be team taught by one professor from Biblical Studies and one from Constructive Theology, the course will work to create a discussion between these two fields of investigation. The course will require readings, seminar presentations and a research paper. It may also require at least one exam, although that is not yet determined. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
436 Christology
This course will study the speculations and formulations concerning the person of Christ and the redemptive incarnation from the early fathers and councils up to and including modern times. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
437 The Mystery of God in Christian Theology
Despite Jewish monotheism and Greek gnosticism, the Christian church has insisted, from the beginning, that Jesus Christ is decisive in humanity's access to, and understanding of, God. Eventually, this realization was expressed in the doctrine of the Trinity, which is the focus of this course. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
438 Theology of Grace
This course is a presentation of the grace reality involved in humanity's relations with God as this has been understood in the various stages of Christian development. The course will study the questions dominating contemporary theology and the various approaches taken toward their resolution. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
439 The Sacramental Life of the Church
This course will cover: historical and social-scientific perspectives on the development of the sacramental tradition; the development of post-Vatican II theology and practice; selected issues in contemporary sacramental theology such as marriage and divorce, initiation, and Eucharistic theology. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
447 Philosophical Theology
The course is a study of the ways in which philosophical assumptions, systems, and methodologies shape theological reflection. The work of one particular theologian is analyzed, or a number of theologians, issues, or theological systems are compared in order to demonstrate this influence. The specific texts and figures to be studied are announced in advance. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
440 Seminar - Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is not simply a "genitive theology" (in which liberation would be a mere sub-theme alongside a host of other conventional topics). Rather, it represents a new way of doing theology, where liberation (personal, communal and social) becomes a kind of horizon against which the whole Christian faith is interpreted. Put another way, one might say that theology is not simply "fides quaerens intellectum" but "fides quaerens intellectum et liberationem". Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
457 Development of Protestant Theology
The course will examine the development of Protestant theology from the post-Reformation period until the present. Topics will include the contributions of Locke and Newton to a changed understanding of the nature of the world; attempts to justify religion in an age of reason; the philosophical influences of Kant and Hegel; the response of romanticism in Wesley and Schleiermacher; the development of historical consciousness in Baur, Ritschl and Harnack; and the expression of the experience of the twentieth century in the works of Barth, Bultmann and Tillich. Attention will be given to the changing definitions of Protestantism; the importance of methods; the use of historical models; the convergence of Protestant and Catholic theology; and consideration will be directed to strategies for constructive theology today. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
458 The Reformation Debate
Concentrating on the period of the Reformation, this course will include an examination of selected formulations of the doctrine of sin, fallen humanity's condition, grace and forgiveness, and the new life of the righteous in the great debate at the outbreak of the Reformation. It will include considerations of Luther and other reformers, and Catholic understandings and responses in the initial contexts. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
460 Seminar in the History of Theology
A consideration of the organizing models characteristic of theology in particular periods. The seminar is organized around a specific doctrinal theme determined, in part, by the specialized interests of the students. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
475 Natural Law and Theological Ethics
The course will assess some of the many theological interpretations of natural law developed in Western Christian thought. It will examine the current approaches to the natural law tradition represented in several modern authors. The issue of a specific Christian ethic vis-à-vis a universal humanistic ethic will be investigated. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
477 Feminist Issues in Theology and Ethics
This course is designed around current issues in feminist theology and ethics. Issues include the role of the Bible in feminist theology, hermeneutics, theological education, church and sacraments, as well as normative theory, sexuality and reproduction, and ecology. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
478 Issues in Medical Ethics
The course will deal with the problems of abortion, genetic engineering, technological reproduction, sterilization of the handicapped, prolonging life, etc. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
480 Seminar in Christian Ethics
In-depth study of select topics in contemporary Christian ethics. Topics vary from faith and morality, religion and politics, church-state relations, and work to ecology, sexuality, and eschatology. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
485 Christian Spirituality
The problem of Christian spirituality is the problem of how individuals, in changing civilizations and cultures, can most completely live not only the way of life proposed by Jesus but the very life of Jesus Himself. This course will investigate the scriptural indications, with a study of the basic ideas and attitudes involved. Then it will study the evolution of the gospel directives through the course of Christian history, with special attention to the influence of particular movements and individuals. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
487 Western and Eastern Mysticism
This course will have three parts: a critical examination of some approaches to the study of mystical writings and mystical experience; a close reading of selected mystical texts from Western and Eastern religions; and a survey of the appropriation of and resistance to mysticism as a source of authoritative theological knowledge in various religious traditions. The examples of mysticism will be drawn from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
515 The Gospels in Early Christianity
This course will focus on the study of one or the other of the four gospels. In cases where the gospel is part of a larger body of literature (e.g., Luke/Acts), these attendant bodies of literature may also be considered. The study will be conducted by means of historical, narrative, sociological, and other modern scientific methods. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
517 Early Christian Letters
This course studies letters from Christian leaders of the first two centuries A.D. in their original Greek language. Included are the New Testament letters and such non-canonical letters as 1-2 Clement and Ignatius of Antioch's correspondence. These letters are studied against the background of Graeco-Roman letter-writing and rhetoric, as well as in terms of Jewish influences. The communal-religious purpose(s) which early Christian letter-writing served as a whole and the specific contribution of individual letter writers are examined. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
519 Later New Testament and Subapostolic Writings
This course studies New Testament and non-canonical Christian writings in their original Greek language from the late first and early second century A.D. These are non-gospel and, for the most part, non-epistolary type writings. Such writings as Hebrews, Revelation, and the Shepherd of Hermas are included. Such theological considerations as the growing institutionalization of the church and its offices, the relations of the Christian community to the Roman government, and Christological developments are included. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
523 The Cultural and Religious Environment of Early Christianity
This course examines specific aspects of the cultural and religious environment of the Mediterranean world between 200 B.C. and A.D. 300 relevant to early Christianity. The selection of texts and topics to be treated will be drawn either from Judaism or from the Graeco-Roman world. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
525 Figures and Themes in Early Christianity
The course is designed to study key issues in the theology of the early Church, such as Christology, Trinity, reception and interpretation of scripture, ecclesiology and theology of grace. The course may focus upon a major figure whose thought encompasses a number of key issues, e.g., Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius or Augustine; or, the documents may be selected according to theme, e.g., theological anthropology and the theology of grace. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
527 Varieties of Community in Early Christianity
The course will examine the identity, cohesion, and institutions of various communal groups in early Christianity. The course is designed to introduce aspects of communal life, illustrating the range of the course, e.g., Qumran, the "Q" community, the Johnannine and the Pauline communities, ecclesial features in the Ignatian letters, Gnostic sects, Pachomian monasticism, and schism in North Africa. In this way the course functions as a bridge between the various areas of the period covered by New Testament and Early Christianity. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
527 Varieties of Community in Early Christianity
The course will examine the identity, cohesion, and institutions of various communal groups in early Christianity. The course is designed to introduce aspects of communal life, illustrating the range of the course, e.g., Qumran, the "Q" community, the Johnannine and the Pauline communities, ecclesial features in the Ignatian letters, Gnostic sects, Pachomian monasticism, schism in North Africa. In this way the course functions as a bridge between the various areas of the period covered by New Testament and Early Christianity. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
536 Christian Doctrine and Catholic Theology
This course will examine the dialectical relationships between Christian doctrine and theological learning. These may be manifested in particular Church teachings, in theological writing, and, more broadly, in episodes in the formative periods in the history of the Church and of theology. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
541 Fundamental Theology: The Church and Theology
This course will examine the ways in which theology's nature, purpose, and methods are determined and altered primarily as a consequence of the Churches' own experienced need for intellectual integrity in believing. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
546 Fundamental Theology: Culture and Theology
This course will examine the ways in which theology's nature, purpose, and methods are determined and altered primarily as a consequence of reflection upon discoveries and developments in the natural sciences, in the social sciences, and in philosophy and religious thought occurring outside of ecclesial Christianity. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
550 Classical Authors
This course will examine the methods, concerns, major issues, achievements, and lasting influence of particular writers whose work has significantly shaped Christian doctrine and/or theology. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
560 Contemporary Authors
This course will examine the methods, concerns, major issues, achievements, and lasting influence of twentieth century writers whose work has significantly shaped theology today. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
570 Fundamental Issues in Christian Ethics
This course investigates fundamental issues raised in defining Christian ethics, delineating its sources and methods, developing normative theories, and analyzing processes of moral decision-making. Within each issue attention is paid to the interplay between Christian ethics and systematic theology, as well as the development of constructive responses. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
573 Roman Catholic Ethics: Traditions and Transitions
This course will concentrate on one or more classic topics in Roman Catholic ethics (e.g., distinctiveness of Christian ethics, moral norms, social teaching, etc.). Each selected topic will be traced historically to discern how the various theological traditions in Roman Catholicism (e.g., papal, conciliar, scholastic, manualist, revisionist, etc.) have analyzed and come to conclusions on the topics. Emphasis will be placed on comparing these traditions and then discovering the continuities and discontinuities among them. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
575 Religious Ethics and Social Theory
The social-scientific study of human institutions and behavior is an important resource for contemporary religious ethics. This course investigates what religious ethics gains from and contributes to such basic concerns of social theory as action and symbol, community and society, power and authority, class and status, sacred and profane, order and change, personality and socialization. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
577 Christian Ethicists and Their Writings
Christian ethicists have long attempted to correlate the moral perspectives and concerns of their religious tradition with the emerging practical problems of their generation. The discipline's insights and concerns have developed historically through the hard work of many exceptional Catholic and Protestant thinkers such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Reinhold Niebuhr, Bernard Haering, and Richard McCormick. This course will examine in depth the work of one or more of these major figures in order to understand their normative concerns, the overall logic of their system, as well as how their theological convictions support and influence their ethical discernment and judgments. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
580 Christian Social Ethics
This offering will present and examine the methodological, constructive, and critical elements of Christian teaching and practice as these concern the interrelation of persons with social structures and patterns. Consideration will focus on those authors who examine distributive and juristic systems in the family, society, and state, and the concomitant questions of policy, e.g., healthcare systems and gender/race issues. The course will examine the sources, transformation, problematics, and potential directions in developing the middle principles which articulate the interaction of theological ethics and social questions. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
585 Issues in Applied Theological Ethics
Christian ethicists are confronted by many concrete spheres of hu-man life and practice where the analysis of moral perspectives and responsibilities is of grave practical importance. This course will examine in depth one or more areas which have traditionally engaged religious ethicists. Possible topics may be bioethics, issues of business practices and corporate culture, war and peace issues, issues of human sexuality, and our emerging ecological problems.
590-591 Directed Readings and Research
While completing the ten courses that are required in the doctoral portion of the program, students register for six hours (two courses) in directed readings and research. The primary objective is to involve students in the researching and writing of the doctoral dissertation. (Graduate faculty) Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
600 Dissertation Supervision
Students who have filed the dissertation paperwork and are currently writing, should be enrolled in this course. You must be enrolled in some course every semester. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
605 Master's Study
Students who have completed their Master's level course work and are preparing for the comprehensive exams should enroll in this course, unless they plan to take the exam while taking courses. You must be enrolled in some course every semester. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
610 Doctoral Study
Students who have completed their doctoral level course work and are studying for the written and oral comprehensive exams should be enrolled in this course. You must be enrolled in some course every semester. Outcome: Students successfully completing this course can be expected to have achieved a deep level of understanding and of critical thinking with respect to the subject matter of the course.
