Undergraduate Courses
Spring 2009
PRELIMINARY UNDERGRADUATE
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
SPRING 2009
THEO 10001, 13183, 20001 FOUNDATIONS OF THEOLOGY:BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL
**GENERAL DESCRIPTION**
This course, prerequisite to all other courses in Theology, offers a critical study of the Bible and the early Catholic traditions. Following an introduction to the Old and New Testament, students follow major post biblical developments in Christian life and worship (e.g. liturgy, theology, doctrine, asceticism), emphasizing the first five centuries. Several short papers, reading assignments and a final examination are required.
THEO 20001/01 FOUNDATIONS OF THEOLOGY: BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL
ANN ASTELL 9:35-10:25 MWF
THEO 20001/02 FOUNDATIONS OF THEOLOGY: BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL
NICK RUSSO 12:30-1:45 TR
THEO 20001/03 FOUNDATIONS OF THEOLOGY: BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL
ARDEA RUSSO 11:45-12:35 MWF
THEO 20001/10 FOUNDATIONS OF THEOLOGY: BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL
2:00-3:15 TR
THEO 20001/11 FOUNDATIONS OF THEOLOGY: BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL
PAUL BRADSHAW 1:30-2:45 MW
SECOND THEOLOGY REQUIREMENT
Prerequisite
Three 3 credits of Theology (10001, 13183, 20001, or 20002)
THEO 20103/01 ONE JESUS AND HIS MANY PORTRAITS
JOHN MEIER 9:30-10:45 TR
This course explores the many different faith-portraits of Jesus painted by the various books of the New Testament, in other words, the many ways in which and the many emphases with which the story of Jesus is told by different New Testament authors. The class lectures will focus on the formulas of faith composed prior to Paul (A.D. 30-50), the story of Jesus underlying Paul's epistles (A.D. 50-58) and the epistles written later in Paul's name (A.D. 70-90). The various ways in which the story of Jesus is told by the four Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John (A.D. 70-100) and by other key books of the New Testament will be covered by assigned readings. The course will combine a lecture format with discussions, readings, and reflections on the readings. Requirements: (1) to read section by section Frank Matera's New Testament Christology (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1999) and to take short index-card quizzes on the assigned sections; (2) to take a final examination on the class lectures delivered throughout the semester.
THEO 20106/01 INSPIRATION AND REVELATION 8:00-9:15 MW
20106/02 INSPIRATION AND REVELATION 11:45-1:00 MW
ERIC STEWART
Christianity has at its core the idea that God is revealed to humanity. A concomitant of revelation is the notion of inspiration. Understandings of the concepts of both inspiration and revelation have informed the way Christian shave understood their sacred text, the Bible. This course will examine the ideas of major Christian thinkers concerning the concepts of revelation and
inspiration, highlighting particularly the role these concepts play in understanding Scripture and its relation to Christian tradition.
THEO 20201 GOD BRIAN DALEY 3:30-4:45 TR
“The outstanding feature of human dignity,” the Second Vatican Council reminds us, “is that human beings have been called to communion with God.” (Gaudium et Spes 19) In encountering the divine Mystery through our experience in the world, especially through the teaching and worship of the Church, we are led to center our lives on faith in God’s ultimate reality, and to find in that faith a meaning for human life, a cause to hope and an impulse to love. In this course, we will reflect on both the challenges and the blessings of this encounter with God as transcendent Mystery, and on how our experience of God is formed by the Church’s preaching of the risen Jesus. Beginning with the Bible’s presentation of the Mystery of God, we will read selections from Church Fathers, St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, sixteenth-century mystics, John Henry Newman, and several twentieth-century authors; we will reflect on the modern phenomenon of atheism, and on what is actually involved in living faith in a living God.
THEO 20206 U.S.LATINO SPIRITUALITY 11:00-12:15 TR
DANIEL GROODY
XLIST HESB 20210 (2)
XLIST ILS 20800 (9)
U.S. Latino Spirituality is one of the youngest spiritualities among the great spiritual traditions of humanity. The course will explore the indigenous, African and European origens of U.S. Latino Spirituality through the devotions, practices, feasts and rituals of the people
THEO 20244 THE MONASTIC WAY IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
ROBIN DARLING YOUNG 3:00-4:15 MW
XLIST MI 20476 (3)
In the history of the eastern and western churches, male and female Monastics have composed a long and elaborate tradition of their collective life based on the imitation of Christ. A selection of the written sources attesting to the variety of the forms of monastic life and prayer, and theology and mysticism will form the syllabus for this class. It will explore the modes of life of the solitary monastic as well as those of monastic communities, from earliest Christianity through the present, by reading works from and about this form of life. It will discuss, among other themes, those of discipline, the meaning of the body and its labor, penance, suffering, humility, study and learning, the love of human beings, the love of God, union with God and participation in the life of God within the limits that the monastic life imposes.
THEO 20245 MARY IN THE CATHOLIC TRADITION 9:30-10:45 TR
NEIL ROY
XLIST GSC 20501 (2)
A study of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, as her figure and role in the history of salvation emerge in Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. An examination of the Church's understanding of Mary as expressed in sacred and historical text, theological reflection, liturgical expression, iconographic representation, magisterial pronouncement, and the life of devotion. The course will also consider the relationship of Mariology to other branches of theology, such as protology, christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology, as well as the impact of the cultus of the Virgin Mary on western art, music, and literature.
THEO 20246 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: FROM BERNARD TO
BERNADETTE ANN ASTELL 2:00-3:15 TR
XLIST GSC 20502 (2)
XLIST MI 24090 (3)
On February 11, 2008, the Church observed the 150th anniversary of the apparition of our Lady in Lourdes, France. To Saint Bernadette, the “beautiful lady” declared, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” thus confirming the dogma promulgated shortly before by Pope Pius IX in 1854. This Marian dogma deserves serious study from multiple perspectives: its historical development as a contested belief, its relation to other dogmas (Original Sin, the Virgin Birth, Redemption, the Assumption), its liturgical expressions, its crucial link to the understanding of Christian marriage as a sacrament, its representations in visual art and poetry, its special significance for women, and its general importance to Christian anthropology, as well as its particular connection to Lourdes. The syllabus will include readings from all these perspectives, film sessions, and a class trip to the Lourdes grotto on Notre Dame’s campus.
THEO 20401 CHURCH AND WORSHIP 11:00-12:15 TR
MICHAEL DRISCOLL
An analysis of the Church as a community of believers and a social institution, and a study of Church liturgy and sacraments., This course will center around three key areas, namely:
1. ANTHROPOLOGY: As human persons, why do we need to express ourselves and our relationship to God through ritual activity?
2. THEOLOGY: What are the Christological and ecclesiological underpinnings for the sacraments?
3. HISTORY: What is the historical development of each of the seven sacraments? What has remained constant in spite of the historical mutations?
THEO 20416/01 SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION 1:30-2:45 MW
20416/02 SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION 3:00-4:15 MW
RHODORA BEATON
Throughout the Judeo-Christian tradition, human beings have found various ways to understand and express their relationships with the Divine. These expressions have taken the form of covenants, purity rituals, ritual meals and other ceremonies, which make use oflanguage and physical elements. Such ceremonies appeal to all five senses and are understood to ground the individual, both physically and spiritually, in community and in relationship tothe Divine. Language and the physical elements combine to signify a spiritual change in relationship. Within the Christian tradition, these changes are marked by the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, eucharist). This course will examine the sacraments of initiation from their origins in ancient Jewish and Christian practice through their present day manifestations. Readings will be drawn from the Scriptures, contemporary and ancient ritual texts, the writings of figures such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther, and the work of twentieth century theologians. Assignments and class discussions will engage themes ofsin and grace,the significance of embodiment, and Christian identity.
THEO 20803 GOD’S GRACE AND HUMAN ACTION 10:40-11:30 MWF
JOSEPH WAWRYKOW
What are the respective roles of God and the human person in salvation? Are ideas of human freedom and of the value of human acts compatible with a belief in God as the source of grace and redemption? These and other questions about salvation have been hotly debated by Christian theologians throughout the centuries. This course analyses the positions articulated by such figures as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, and examines how they shaped the Catholic-Protestant debate about the role of good works, and of God, in salvation.
THEO 20822 WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE 11:00-12:15 TR
EUGENE GORSKI
A theological exploration of the basic content and practice of the Catholic faith. The focus is on the fundamentals that form the foundation of Catholicism and against which everything else is explained or judged.
The aim of this course is not simply to educate students about Catholicism. Rather, it intends to facilitate their personal appropriation of the Catholic tradition: that is, to challenge and help them reason critically for themselves about the meaning and practical implications of their faith.
Some of the questions students will ponder concern God, Jesus Christ, the Church, Christian spirituality and moral behavior. But since we raise these questions in an attempt to come to terms with the meaning of our own lives, we begin with the question of our own human
existence: Who am I or who are we? The course is based on the conviction that all theological questions start with us as the ones who pose the questions in the first place.
While the approach taken will be one that appeals immediately to critical reason rather than to conversion of the mind and heart, the aim ultimately is to help students discern, respond to, and be transformed by the presence of God in their lives, and to work for the continuing renewal of the world in light of this discernment of God.
THEO 20825/01 WORLD RELIGIONS AND CATHOLICISM IN DIALOGUE
EUGENE GORSKI 3:00-5:30PM SUN
XLIST ASIA 20825 (1)
XLIST HESB 30244 (2)
XLIST IIPS 20715 (3)
THEO 20825/02 WORLD RELIGIONS AND CATHOLICISM IN DIALOGUE
EUGENE GORSKI 7:00-9:30PM SUN
XLIST IIPS 20715 (2)
A theological exploration of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam and the relationship of Christianity to those religions. The goal of this exploration is specifically: 1. to set forth the essential characteristics of the world's great religions; 2. to disengage the essential differences between Christianity and the other world religions; 3. to identify the distinctiveness of Catholicism within the family of Christian traditions; 4. to examine historically and systematically the Christian theological appraisal of other world religions. The ultimate goal of this course is to enable the students to gain a deeper understanding of Christianity by "passing over" into and experiencing as well as appraising the different major religious traditions of the world. To enhance the learning experience, the course will make abundant use of films.
The students are required to attend class regularly and punctually. Indeed, strong emphasis is placed on the requirement to attend class faithfully. Students are allowed but one single absence during the semester.
THEO 20828 CHRISTIANITY AND WORLD RELIGIONS 8:30-9:20 MWF
BRADLEY MALKOVSKY
XLIST ASIA 20828 (2)
XLIST CST 20828 (1)
XLIST IIPS 20704 (2)
The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the basic teachings and spiritualities of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. We will approach these religions both historically and theologically, seeking to determine where they converge and differ from Christianity on such perennial issues as death, meaning, the nature of the ultimate Mystery, the overcoming of suffering, etc. We will also examine some traditional and contemporary Catholic and Protestant approaches to religious pluralism. Our own search to know how the truth and experience of other faiths is related to Christian faith will be guided by the insights of important Catholic contemplatives who have entered deeply in the spirituality of other traditions. By course end we ought to have a greater understanding of what is essential to Christian faith and practice as well as a greater appreciation of the spiritual paths of others. Requirements: Short papers, midterm exam, and final exam.
THEO 20835 CHURCH IN THE WORLD 1:30-2:45 MW
KRISTEN COLBERG 3:00-4:15 MW
4:30-5:45 MW
This course explores the nature and mission of the church with particular attention to how these are shaped by its engagement with the world. It looks at the church’s on-going efforts to proclaim and preserve the good news of Jesus Christ while communicating it effectively in an ever-changing and increasingly diverse world. To this end, the class is divided into three units: Unit One surveys significant historical events which have helped form the Christian community’s identity and the way it conveys its message, Unit Two studies the documents of Vatican II as a recent and essential expression of the church’s mission and self-understanding and Unit Three examines the church’s position on several contemporary issues such as interreligious dialogue, economic justice, birth control and scientific/technological developments as a way of considering current efforts to proclaim the gospel and speak meaningfully to a contemporary audience. This class includes weekly response papers, two tests, a final exam and a class presentation or paper.
THEO 20836 GOD, HUMAN BEINGS AND SALVATION 3:30-4:45 TR
SHAWN COLBERG
At the heart of Christian faith lies the conviction that sinful human beings are redeemed and saved through Jesus Christ who introduces them into a new and grace-filled relationship with God. While such a belief is universal to all Christians, the specific way in which redemption and salvation is understood has assumed varied expressions throughout the history of Christian thought. This course will explore Christian attempts to understand human salvation with particular focus on the notion of “justification” – the movement of a person from a state of sin into a state of grace. Central to this exploration will be the study of how God and human beings both play meaningful roles in the process of justification and the movement toward eternal life. As they relate to this central theme, the course will also explore topics including Christ’s role as savior, faith, grace, merit, sin, free will, and predestination. Surveying justification from a historical perspective, the course will offer students the opportunity to compare and evaluate diverse viewpoints using skills and vocabulary acquired during the semester.
COURSES FOR MAJORS (also suitable as collegiate electives; these courses DO NOT satisfy either University requirement
THEO 30018 ND VOCATION INITIATIVE 2:00-3:15 TR
JAN POORMAN
THEO 30217 READING THE QURAN 3:00-4:15 MW
GABRIEL REYNOLDS
XLIST MI 30477 (2)
To Muslims the Qur'an is the uncreated, eternal Word of God. As Jesus Christ is to Christians, the Qur'an to Muslims is the fullest expression of God's mercy and concern for humanity. It is both the source of complete spiritual wisdom and the constitution for a perfect society. To critical scholars, on the other hand, the Qur'an is a text that presents a number of serious challenges. The precise historical context in which the Qur'an emerged is much debated, as is
the relationship of familiar Qur'anic material “Biblical and otherwise” to earlier religious literature. Therefore the Qur'an is a rich text for scholarly examination, which is precisely the task that lies before us in this course.
While Reading the Qur'an is a course in the Theology Department, it is not a course per se on the Christian understanding of the Qur'an. We will seek, inasmuch as is possible, to speak about the Qur'an as critical scholars whose criteria is literary and logical evidence. Still in two ways this course follows logically the required Theology courses at Notre Dame. First, the Qur'an is fundamentally concerned with the great figures of Biblical tradition, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and therefore knowledge of the Bible is important to an understanding of the Qur'an. Second, the Qur'an is fundamentally concerned with (and critical of) Christian theology, and in this regard it is an integral part of the history of Christianity and its relationship with other religions.
THEO 30819 BUDDHISM IN PRACTICE 3:30-4:45 TR
ROBERT GIMELLO
XLIST LLEA 30612 (30)
XLIST ASIA (3)
An Introduction to Buddhism in East Asia (principally China, but also Japan, Korea, & Vietnam) with emphasis less on what Buddhists think or believe and more on what they actually do —in their public as well as their private lives -- e.g., the rituals they perform; their disciplines of self-cultivation; the institutions they establish; the ethical, political, and economic decisions they make; etc.
THEO 40104 THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS
JOHN MEIER 2:00-3:15 TR
The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the major historical and exegetical problems involved in the quest for the historical Jesus, especially as pursued today in the so-called Third Quest. The course will move from initial definitions and concepts, through questions of sources and criteria, to consideration of major sayings and deeds of Jesus that may reasonably be considered historical. As time allows, major areas to be treated will include Jesus' relation to John the Baptist, Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom as future yet present, his realization of the kingdom through deeds of power (miracles) and table fellowship, the various levels or circles of followers (the crowds, the disciples, the Twelve), various competing groups (Pharisees, Sadducees), his teaching in relation to the Mosaic Law, the enigma (riddle-speech) of his parables, self-designation, final days, passion, and death. This course will be a lecture course on the historical Jesus, supplemented by readings and discussion.
THEO 40108 NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION 11:00-12:15 TR
DAVID AUNE
A survey course covering the major areas of study pertinent for the understanding and study of the literature of the canonical New Testament in its historical, social and literary contexts as well as its theological appropriation in the Christian church. The course will approach these Biblical books as literary works (learning the basics of genre, narrative, and redaction criticism), as traditional works (learning the basics of source, and form criticism), as historical sources for the historical Jesus, the earliest church, and the life of Paul (learning the basics of historical criticism), and as theological works (learning how the New Testament functions in the modern church by reading and reflecting on the significance of important church documents on the Bible. Since this is an intensive writing course, the requirements include one major research paper.
THEO 40116 THE SPIRITUAL HORIZON OF THE HEBREW BIBLE/OLD
TESTAMENT TZVI NOVICK 11:45-1:00 MW
One of the central foci of biblical piety is the worshipper’s orientation toward the future. In distress, both the individual and the nation are to put their hope in God, and neither to lose their hope in God nor to put their hope in someone or something else. In this class we examine the dynamics of hope and its alternatives in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and the foundation that this discourse of hope provides for the notions of restoration and resurrection in the Second Temple period and in early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. Readings include large parts of Job, Lamentations, and Psalms.
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THEO 40202/01 CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS 10:40-11:30 MWF
RANDALL ZACHMAN
THEO 40202/02 CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS 1:55-2:45 MWF
RANDALL ZACHMAN
This course will examine in an historical and ecumenical way the development of the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed traditions from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, with particular attention to the impact of both the Reformation and the Enlightenment on these Christian theological traditions. Evaluation will be based on five comparative papers.
THEO 40254 PAGANS AND CHRISTIANS: INTERACTION, ADAPTATION,
COERCION ROBIN DARLING YOUNG 11:45-1:00 MW
Early Christianity featured a strong opposition to the religious practices of the majority of the population of the Graeco-Roman empire and its borderlands. As it expanded, it attempted to oppose and destroy “pagan” practices through conversion and through opposition ranging from philosophical treatments to state-sponsored repression. This course examines the history of Christian and pagan interaction through the period of the Protestant and Catholic reformations, when leaders of the now-divided churches again tried to extirpate paganism – not only in Europe, but in the New World as well.
THEO 40401 CHRISTIAN INITIATION AND EUCHARIST
PAUL BRADSHAW 8:00-9:15 MW
The Rites of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and First Eucharist) and the Eucharistic Liturgy as the primary sacramental celebrations of and in the Church: their biblical and anthropological foundations, historical evolution, contemporary forms and pastoral effectiveness.
THEO 40402 FEASTS AND SEASONS 9:30-10:45 TR
MAX JOHNSON
The Church measures time and lives not by the civic calendar but according to its own cycle of feasts and seasons. This course will explore the origins, evolution, and theological meaning of the central feasts and seasons of what is called the liturgical or Church year: the original Christian feast of Sunday; Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany; Lent, Easter, and Pentecost; and with some attention to the feasts of the saints. What do we celebrate on such occasions and how might we celebrate these feasts and seasons "fully," "consciously," and "actively?" Of special interest to those who work with the liturgical year in a variety of ways and for all who seek to understand the way in which the Church expresses itself theologically by means of a particular calendar, as well as for Theology Majors and interested graduate students in theology.
THEO 40407 CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO
MODERNITY NEIL ROY 2:00-3:15 TR
Catholic spirituality has been enriched by countless devotions and pious practices which can be traced as far back as the Middle Ages and indeed even much earlier. Many derive from the sacred liturgy and lead practitioners to a deeper understanding and appreciation of liturgical prayer. Various devotional objects and rites actually have been appropriated officially as sacramentals of the Church, enjoying their own liturgical blessings and rituals of enrollment or application. Others remain vital expressions of paraliturgical prayer and popular piety. This course examines particular forms of prayer and piety endorsed by the Church (Rosary, First Fridays, novenas, scapulars, medals, renowned statues, pilgrimage sites) from the Middle Ages until the present age. The course will also pay due attention to the religious orders, congregations, and movements that gave rise to or promoted specific devotions.
THEO 40810 FEMINIST AND MULTICULTURAL THEOLOGIES
MARY CATHERINE HILKERT 3:30-4:45 TR
XLIST HESB 30249 (2)
XLIST THEO 60823 (22)
XLIST GSC 60555 (2)
An exploration of how the voices of women have helped to reshape theological discourse and to bring to light new dimensions of the living Christian tradition. Like other forms of liberation theology, feminist theologies take the experience of suffering and missing voices in the tradition as the starting points for theological reflection on the mystery of God and all of reality in relation to God. Using writings of feminist, womanist, Latina, mujerista, Asian, and Third World theologians, the course will focus on the significance of gender and social location in understanding the nature and sources of theology, theological anthropology, Christology/soteriology, the mystery of God, and women's spirituality in our day. Students with appropriate background will have the opportunity to join an optional reading group that will focus on key texts in the development of feminist theologies.
THEO 40811 RELIGION AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1:30-2:45 MW
JOHN DUNNE
Description: A course on the spiritual journey of the individual person, drawing on diaries and autobiographies. The first half is on the story of the life in terms of feeling and imagination and insight and choice, and the second half is on the story of the person in terms of the life project, the boundary situations of life, and conversion of mind, of heart, and of soul. Readings: Saint Augustine, Confessions; Martin Buber, The Way of Man; Carolina Maria de Jesus, Child of the Dark; John Dunne, Reasons of the Heart and Search for God in Time and Memory; Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life; C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections; Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet and Reading the Gospel. Writings: a spiritual diary (not handed in), a term paper, and a midterm take home and a final take home exam.
THEO 40822 EDUCATING IN FAITH: CATECHESIS IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
JANICE POORMAN 12:30-1:45 TR
XLIST THEO 60824 (11)
XLIST ESS 40530 (8)
This course is designed to assist current or prospective teachers of religion/theology at the junior-high and high school levels in the catechesis of adolescents in Catholic schools. The course is also helpful for those anticipating a career in pastoral, and most especially catechetical, ministry with adolescents and young adults. The course is open to Theology students at the undergraduate and graduate levels and to Notre Dame undergraduates with minors in Education, Schooling, and Society. Within class sessions designed to be highly dialogical, interactive, and prayerful, participants explore both theological and practical/pedagogical dimensions of the process of catechesis. Required readings are drawn from the National Directory for Catechesis, the General Directory for Catechesis, and The Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as from the works of theologians and educational theorists who have contributed significant responses to the two central questions addressed in this course: "What is Catechesis?" and "How Do We Engage in Catechesis in the Context of Catholic Schools?" During this course, participants explore all of the central tasks that constitute the holistic process of catechesis as delineated in the general and national Catholic catechetical directories and other catechetical documents and as adapted for use in Catholic schools: communicating knowledge of the mystery of God's self-revelation; fostering maturity of faith and moral development; sharing and celebrating faith by forming Christian communities of prayerful people; promoting Christian service and social justice; and witnessing to faith through pedagogy and by the example of authentic spiritual lives.
Course Requirement
Participants are required to read all assigned selections from the course packet, as well as from the National Directory for Catechesis. Participants also actively contribute to class sessions (Presence in class is mandatory; one excused absence is allowed for illness; participation is factored into the final grade.) Participants also synthesize within the following assignments what they have learned from both readings and class sessions:
1.) in-class group work on pedagogical strategies;
2.) short written assignments and oral reports;
3.) a mid-term examination;
4.) a personal mission statement for the student as catechist (2-3 pages);
5.) an integrative essay (10-12 pages) answering the question, "What does it mean to educate in faith?".
THEO 40831 CHESTERTON AND CATHOLICISM 3:30-4:45 TR
DAVID FAGERBERG
G. K. Chesterton was a man with many sides, but this course will confine itself to only one, and that is his theological front. About his conversion to Catholicism he wrote to a friend, "As you may possibly guess, I want to consider my position about the biggest thing of all, whether I am to be inside it or outside it." We will consider his position by reading primary works in theology that led up to and followed his decision, among themOrthodoxy, Tremendous Trifles, The Everlasting Man,biographies ofSt. ThomasandSt. Francis,The Thing, andWhat's Wrong with the World. In these we will follow his own advice that “To become a Catholic is not to leave off thinking, but to learn how to think. It is so in exactly the same sense in which to recover from palsy is not to leave off moving but to learn how to move."
THEO 40832 APPROACHES TO BLACK THEOLOGY 1:30-2:45 MW
EUGENE UZUKWU
This is an introductory course to theology from African American perspective. The course will not only open students to Roman Catholic (intellectual) theological traditions but also to the diversity of approaches in theology within which Black theology is located. The dialectical engagement of Black theology, the methodological and interpretative shifts that account for its emergence and ongoing development, are rooted in Black history and tradition (African and African American). The course has an added pastoral dimension - the preparation for and enhancement of ministry in the Roman Catholic Church to peoples of African descent.
THEO 40826 COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY
BRADLEY MALKOVSKY 1:30-2:45 MW
XLIST THEO 60818
This course provides a survey of some important recent literature bearing on the doctrinal and spiritual relations between Christianity and other religions, in particular Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. We will examine various Christian theologies of religions, acquaint ourselves with the new method of “comparative theology,” and read various perspectives on interreligious dialogue. In addition, we will evaluate the possible significance of some theological ideas and religious experiences from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam for Christian thinking on God, Christology, self, grace, and eschatology.
THEO 40833 MODERN SPIRITUAL WRITERS 11:00-12:15 TR
LAWRENCE CUNNINGHAM
This course, for Theology majors, is designed as a reading course in early modern and modern spiritual figures who were considered marginal persons in their respective traditions but whose writings had a profound impact on the subsequent Christian tradition. Writers to be considered include the 18th century American Quaker, John Woolman; the Danish writer, Soren Kierkegaard; the anonymous Russian Orthodox author of The Way of a Pilgrim.; The German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer; the French mystic, Simone Weil; and the American Catholics, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. Students will write frequent short reflections, make class presentations; and submit a final essay. Since the course is writing intensive, there are no exams in this class.
THEO 43001 PROSEMINAR (1 CR) M 7:00-9:00 PM
DAVID FAGERBERG
Prerequisite: Six credit hours of theology. This one-credit course will provide an introduction to the field of theology, emphasizing its nature and task, its relation to faith and experience, and its various methods of inquiry. Class sessions will have discussion format to promote close interaction among all the participants. Five sessions of the seminar will feature different members of the faculty who will discuss the goals and methods of their respective disciplinary areas. During the course students will gain the necessary background to begin planning their own programs in theology. Required for all majors and supplementary majors, and open to minor, pre-seminarians, and any other interested students. Spring only.
THEO 43203 JOINT SEMINAR 3:00-4:15 MW
MICHAEL HEINTZ & ALFRED FREDOSSO
XLIST PHIL 43801 (4)
A close study of some of the most important works of Joseph Ratzinger, both before and after his elevation to the Papacy as Pope Benedict XVI. What follows is a tentative description of the course contents. We will begin with Ratzinger's assessment of the state of Catholic thought before and after Vatican II, concentrating on the distinction between calls for aggiornamento and calls for resourcement. Then we will explore the themes contained in his Introduction to Christianity and his first two encyclicals Deus est Caritas and Spe Salvi, e.g., the nature of faith, the situation of the Christian believer in the intellectual milieu of contemporary Western culture, the relation of faith and reason, and the theology of history. After that, we will turn to Ratzinger's writings on the portrait of Jesus as it emerges from the synoptic Gospels, concentrating on Jesus of Nazareth. We will end, as is only fitting, by looking at the eschatalogical questions that he deals with in his Eschatology.
Requirements:Daily submission of a question based on the reading for that day; writing assignments that will total about 20 pages.
THEO 50201 JEWISH/CHRISTIAN DEBATE
MICHAEL SIGNER 9:35-12:35 MONDAY
The encounter between Judaism and Christianity has been grounded in diverging hermeneutical approaches to the Hebrew Scripture or Old Testament. From the New Testament texts onward the Christian tradition has appropriated the Hebrew Bible and incorporated its ideas. In the apostolic and patristic period the introduction of apologetic literature utilized the exegesis of Hebrew Scripture to refute truth claims that rabbinic Jews offered. Rabbinic literature, while not developing a specific genre of apologetics, included refutations of heretical viewpoints. This course begins with a discussion and description of both Jewish and Christian texts in the rabbinic and patristic period. Particular emphasis will be given to the ways Jews and Christians in the medieval world reappropriated the ancient traditions. We shall consider the literary qualities of these texts and their relationship to the social reality of Christians and Jews during the Middle Ages. Students will also acquire bibliographic skills to do advanced work in this field.
Course Requirements
Active participation in classroom discussions, three analytic papers of 7-10 pages, a term paper of 15 pages on a topic to be determined by student and instructor.
Readings [selected]
David Berger, The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages Jeremy Cohen, Living Letters of the Law Gilbert Dahan, The Christian Polemic Against Jews in the High Middle Ages Amos Funkenstein, Perceptions of Jewish History Jacob Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance Michael A. Signer and John H. Van Engen [eds], Jews and Christians in 12th Century Europe Israel J. Yuval, Two Nations are in your Womb
THE FOLLOWING COURSES MAY BE USED TOWARDS A THEOLOGY MAJOR
Courses DO NOT satisfy University Theology
Requirements
THEO 30211 PHILOSOPHY OF JUDAISM 3:00-4:15 MW
ALVEN NEIMAN
The most obvious goal this course is to examine the philosophy of Judaism professed by the great American Rabbi, teacher activist Abraham Joshua Heschel (1909-1972). In order to facilitate comprehension of Heschel’s philosophical rendering of Judaism we will also study Rabbi Leo Trepp’s The History of the Jewish Experience (history, customs, beliefs) on alternative class days.
THEO 30214 CHINESE WAYS OF THOUGHT 11:00-12:15 TR
LIONEL JENSEN
XLIST LLEA 3011 (21)
XLIST ASIA 30101 (5)
XLIST HIST 30143(20)
XLIST PHIL 20218 (20)
XLIST RLT 40218 (3)
LLEA 380 is a special topics class on the religion, philosophy, and intellectual history of China. Conventionally it is assumed that the religion and philosophy of the Chinese can be easily divided into three teachings: Daoism, Buddhism, and “Confucianism.” Chinese Ways of Thought questions this easy doctrinal advisability by introducing the student to the worldview and life experience of Chinese as they have been drawn from local cultic traditions, worship and sacrifice to heroes, city gods, earth gods, water sprites, nature deities, and above all, the dead. China’s grand philosophical legacy of Daoism, Buddhism, “Confucianism,” and later “Neo-Confucianism” with which we have become familiar in the West derived from the particular historical contexts of local practice and it was also in such indigenous contexts that Islam and later Christianity took hold.
THEO 40825 GOD, PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICS 11:45-1:00 MW
ALASDAIR MACINTYRE
XLIST PHIL 43426 (6)
This class falls into three parts. In the first we consider the implications for politics of the thought of Augustine and Aquinas. In the second we examine the nature and justification of modern democratic states and a variety of problems posed for democracy, including those that arise from the gradual decline in voting that characterizes polities as various as those of Norway, Switzerland and the United States. In the third we ask what resources modern Catholic political philosophy is able to bring to the solution of those problems.
Readings: Augustine, City of God, Book XIX; In City of God tr. R.W. Dyson (Cambridge University Press). Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Ia-IIae 94-96, IIa-Iiae 105, art. 1; In Aquinas: Political Writings tr. R.W. Dyson (Cambridge University Press). R. A. Dahl , On Democracy (Yale University Press). T. E. Patterson, The Vanishing Voter (Random House). J. Maritain, Man and The State (CUA Press), The Person and the Common Good (UND Press).
Paper Topics: Can one be both an Augustinian and a Thomist in one’s political attitudes and activities? Does government in a democracy represent the will of the governed? If so, how? If not, why not? What is the common good? Can a democracy flourish without a concern for the common good? Discuss with reference to both Dahl and Maritain.
KNOW YOUR CATHOLIC FAITH –THESE COURSES DO NOT SATISFY UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS
1 CREDIT HOUR EACH - GRADED S/U
THEO 30002 KNOW YOUR CATHOLIC FAITH: PRAYER
1 CREDIT S/U
LAWRENCE CUNNINGHAM 6:30 PM SUNDAYS
This one credit course will begin on Sunday evening, February 1st and will continue for five more Sunday evenings. The class focus will be on an introduction to the rich variety of Catholic prayer. We will meet each Sunday from 6:30 to 7:10 in class and then go to the basilica for Vespers. The core text will be Michael Casey's Towards God: The Ancient Wisdom of Western Prayer. There will be a brief writing assignment for each Sunday. This course is graded S/U. No credit will be given for anyone who misses a class unless there is a serious medical reason attested to by the health center.