Spring 2023
Spring 2023
THEO 60806 (CRN 32255 or 32256): Ecclesiology: The Mystery of the Church
Professor: K. Haas
Description: This course offers a theological introduction to the mystery of the Church. It focuses on the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the Scriptural basis of ecclesiology, including the theological figure of the People of God called to manifest the plan of wisdom that God has accomplished in history. The marks of the Church, the structure of the Church, and the universal call to holiness are studied as expressing the Christological and Eucharistic character of the mystery of the Church in relation to particular features of the modern world. The course concludes with a study of Mary as eschatological icon of the Church. Thus the course helps students to cultivate and share a spiritually and pastorally fruitful vision of the Church that is rooted in the Church’s self-understanding. (required)
THEO 60711 (CRN 32254): The Qur'an and Its Relation to the Bible
Professor: G. Reynolds
Description:This course is an introduction to the Qurʾan with particular attention to scholarship on the origins of the Qurʾan and to the Qurʾan’s relationship with the Bible and early Christian literature. *No background* at all in the Qurʾan, Arabic, or Islam is necessary. There are six sections to the course. A. Historical Context of the Qur’an B. Structure of the Qur’an C. Themes of the Qur’an D. Islamic Reception of the Qur’an E. The Qur’an and the Bible F. Qur’an and Issues of Contemporary Interest. (elective)
THEO 60818 (CRN 32292): Eschatology
Professor: T. Walatka
Description: "Eschatology," the study of the "last things" and includes theological reflection upon the realities of death, judgment, heaven, hell, purgatory, and the consummation of all God's creation in the life of God. This course will explore the nature and scope of Christian hope historically and systematically. In the first half of the course we will focus most intensely on the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, analyzing the beginnings, historical developments, and practical implications of belief in the resurrection and how this belief shapes various dimensions of Christian hope. We will then turn to classical accounts of heaven, hell, and purgatory and contemporary engagements with important eschatological questions. Central questions for the course include the following: how do we imagine the final state for which we hope? Why hope for the resurrection of the body and not just the immortality of the soul? How do the Church's teachings on eschatology impact another aspects of Christian thought and the living of the Christian life? (elective)