| source Georgetown (X) |
level |
department Theology (X) |
This course will study the theology of Karl Rahner, commonly considered the preeminent Catholic systematic theologian of our time, and influential in the development of Christian theology generally. Rahner articulates the structure and dynamics of faith in a way that shows the interconnection of the various dimensions of faith. In doing so he aims to explain why it makes sense to believe in God, in Christ, and in the Church; to understand oneself to be called by God; to pray, and in making life choices to seek to discern Godâs will. So a spirituality is built into his theology, which also, because systematic, provides a framework for situating various developments in theology. It should be noted that reading Rahner, whose writing is dense, makes for a demanding exercise.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
An examination of the religious dimension of human experience and consciousness in relation to a number of problems and challenges: the problem of knowledge; the relation of faith and reason; various historical, social and existential determinants of belief; the challenge of atheism and humanism; the impact of secularization on religion.
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An introductory study of 1) the books of the Bible, 2) the history of Ancient Israel and first-century Christianity, and 3) the process of formation and transmission of the faith traditions coming to literary expression in the biblical literature.
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Ancient social relations were governed by the conventions of friendship and enmity and their corresponding ethics. Consequently, pervasive attitudes towards friendship played an important role in the daily lives of ancient peoples in the Greco-Roman world. Early Christians, as engaged citizens of the ancient world, understood the role friendship played in the society of their day and developed their own perspectives on its importance in their own social relations. The purpose of this course is (1) to understand ancient notions of friendship as reflected in the thought of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureans, and later popular Hellenistic moral philosophers and (2) to appreciate how early Christians appropriated Greco-Roman friendship traditions and adapted them to the needs of their communities. The course focuses on the ethics of friendship in the writings of Paul, Luke, and John, and probes the implications for a contemporary understanding of friends and friendship. (Not offered 2005-06)
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
The images, convictions, institutions, and events that came to expression in the biblical tradition shed light on the subject of power. This course studies some of these: "justice and judgment," "vengeance," covenant, Holy War, kingship and prophecy, apocalyptic, Jesus' proclamation of "the good news," Paul's understanding of the "principalities and powers." The attempt is made throughout to connect the historical and theological study of the biblical tradition with our experience.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
A study of the various ways in which Christians try to apply the Bible to questions of social justice in contemporary society. Biblical texts will be studied which relate to the major issues of social justice, such as world hunger, the poor and oppressed, revolution, pacifism, the role of government, etc.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
An exploration of how Saul the Pharisee came to be Saul the Apostle, enlarging the scope of his Judaism through faith in what God had done through the Jew Jesus, crucified and risen. The course will inquire into what St. Paul may or may not have known of the earthly Jesus whom he always wrote of as the glorified "Lord" and "Christ."
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
A study of the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke to see how the first Christians developed the legacy left by Jesus; their response to certain issues which face Christians today: living in a secular culture, attitude toward the poor and socially alienated, diversity of theological opinion, charismatic and institutional aspects of the Church, etc.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
âWe live with love as if we knew what it was about,â Jean-Luc Marion writes in Prolegomena to Charity. This course will engage the question of what love is about from a distinctively Christian theological perspective, reading both classic religious texts on love and 20th century theology, spirituality, and literature. An always present undercurrent in the course will be loveâs response to evil, sin, and sufferingâa response made most explicitly in the revelation of love upon Christâs cross. We will focus special attention both on the relationship of human love with the love of God and on the idea of love as gift.
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The Second Vatican Council referred to Scripture as the âsoul of theologyâ in its landmark Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum. This course considers what role the Bible plays in Roman Catholicism, and how Catholics read and interpret Scripture. The major source documents that contribute to the Roman Catholic understanding of Scripture will be studied in an effort to examine whether there is a distinctively Catholic way to read the Bible. Students will be introduced to the different âsensesâ of Scripture in the Catholic tradition, and various methods of Scriptural interpretation will be examined and illustrated by selected biblical texts.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
This course undertakes a study of the major themes of the Christian faith from the perspective of the Catholic tradition. It investigates both how various doctrines cohere into a world view and the tensions that exist among them. Each of the themes--revelation, creation, sin and redemption, Christology, ecclesiology, eschatology--is viewed in its development from story, image, and symbol to dogmatic formulation and contemporary interpretation.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
The objectives of this course are to consider various aspects of Christian initiation: (1) conversion; (2) the scriptural roots and historical evolution of Christian initiation rites â both in terms of practices and theology and across communions, with an emphasis on the developments in the sacramental churches (e.g., Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, churches of the Reformation); (3) an in-depth look at the contemporary symbols/ritual practices and theological understandings of Baptism, Confirmation/Chrismation, and Eucharist; (4) an examination of the process of initiation of adults/children of catechetical age (the RCIA in the Catholic Church and the similar processes evolving in other sacramental churches) and of the reception of a baptized person into full communion of the Catholic Church/transfer from one Christian communion to another; and (5) the contours of a baptismal spirituality and the implications of Christian initiation for everyday living.
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In what sense can contemporary Christians understand a particular historical event, the Christ-occurrence, to be definitive revelation about God and humankind, and uniquely decisive for the saving fulfillment of all humankind? What do we mean when we speak of Jesus the Christ as divine and human? After a brief history of the classic teaching and an analysis of modern questions, there will be a study of two approaches in contemporary theology: the theology of Karl Rahner and Liberation Theology.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
The Bible can be a scary book. From chaos monsters like Leviathan and Behemoth, to God's terrifying nighttime attack on Moses in Exodus 4, to the beast with seven heads and ten horns in the book of Revelation--the Bible often reads more like horror literature than religious literature. In this course we will explore why that might be. That is, what might religion and horror (or the monstrous) have in common, and how finally do they differ? Why does the horror genre draw so often on biblical and religious themes (as in Dracula's favorite quote from the book of Leviticus, "the life is in the blood")? And is the supernatural a necessary part of religion, or can religion exist within the bounds of reason alone? The class will engage in close readings of selected biblical texts, and move on to Gothic literature and modern films. A good deal of writing and reading will be required.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
The church honors as martyrs those Christian men and women who refused to deny their faith and thus were âthrown to the lionsâ by the Roman emperors. This same church anathematizes as heretics those men and women it had burned at the stake in medieval Europe. And, although Nestorius was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, the church in Persia reveres him as an orthodox teacher. While the punishments for heresy in the Latin west could be quite dramatic, the complexities in identifying 'heresy' are particularly evident when Christians from different traditions come into contact with one another â as in the Christological controversies in the early church, or during the Crusades, and afterwards, in Ottoman and colonial times. In an effort to unravel the historical, socio-political and theological difficulties in defining 'heresy' and 'true' martyrdom, this course presents a comparative overview of the evolution of Christian doctrine and social realities in the (Hellenized) Latin and Semitic worlds. Course discussions will center on the testimonies and eyewitness accounts of Christian martyrs, as well as the writings of, and invectives against, key 'heresiarchs'.
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Credits: 3.00
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
A major influence on the Catholic Church of Vatican II, the thought of John Henry Newman (1801-1890), an English convert, comprises a richly varied synthesis which draws on history, philosophy, and personal religious experience. This course first considers Newman's own religious story before turning to his theories of doctrinal development, religious knowledge, conscience, and role of the laity. The course also treats Newman's sermons and his ideas on university education.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
A study of modern evolutionary theories and their impact on theological thinking. The writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin are central to the course, but texts of Henri Bergson and Loren Eiseley will also be considered.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
The search for truth seen as a quest of the spirit. Historically the search has involved seekers in imaginative dreaming and austere disciplines, but its goal has always been the illumination that liberates. The course includes a weekend retreat in September.
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Some spiritualities have spoken of the suppression of all desire, while others have spoken of the transformation or unification of desire. This course considers the issue in both spiritual and psychological terms and tries to interpret the difference. The course includes a weekend retreat in September.
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The Christian tradition is rich in personalized accounts of religious experience, which are remarkable for the range of the emotions they depict and the variety of cultural values they reflect. This course will study a sampling of such accounts, beginning with St. Augustineâs Confessions, continuing with St. Bernard, St. Francis of Assisi, Erasmus, Luther, St.Teresa of Avila, and then moving into the twentieth century with Dietrich Bonhöffer (executed by the Nazis), Dorothy Day (social activist), Thomas Merton (monk and ecumenist), and Flannery OâConnor (fiction writer). We will see the texts as cultural as well as religious expressions and take into account the literary or rhetorical frameworks the authors employ. Emphasis on close reading of primary texts. Discussion (participation required) with some lecture.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
This course examines cinematic portrayals of Catholic sainthood. Topics include martyrdom, asceticism, evangelization, miracles, mystical experience, saints of the Holocaust, and the Virgin Mary. Films considered include Romero, Il Miraculo, Monsieur Vincent, Edith Stein, Francesco, Th?r?se, The Messenger, and others. (Not offered 2004-05)
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
The course will apply the theological method of Bernard Lonergan, S.J. to four phases of the African-American struggle in order to discern and describe the transcendent presence of God. We will examine how, when, and where God shows up in the experience of African-Americans. We will look at four periods: (1) Contemporary Black Culture, (2) The Civil Rights Movement, (3) Reconstruction and Turn of the Century, and (4) Slavery. We will understand the theological method of Lonergan and apply it to these four phases of the struggle in an effort to understand faith, and its impact on the struggle of African-Americans. Lonergan's notions of cognition, history, dialect, doctrine, conversion, and bias will be treated.
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3.00
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 10.151057 Details | Listing | Web page
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