Courses

Recent electives:

Mystery of God

Who is God? How does the infinite God relate to the finite world? How can human beings come to know God? What is the nature of mystery itself? The general aim of this course is to introduce students to the rich doctrine of God as Trinity, which is, as first and foremost a doctrine of salvation, the fundamental mystery of Christian profession and human life. Traditional reflection upon the Trinity evinces both a high degree of intellectual rigor as well as a precision—even elegance—of language, but these attempts at crisp articulation do not compromise the nature of the Trinitarian God as mysterium. The course explores this essential mysteriousness of God through the historical development of normative Trinitarian doctrine, with particular attention to the biblical, patristic, and creedal formulations, as well as a selection of representative contemporary Trinitarian thinkers. Texts may include selections from Irenaeus, the Cappadocian fathers, the apophatic tradition of Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Bonaventure, Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, John Zizioulas, and Pope Benedict XVI.

Eucharist

The Church makes the Eucharist and the Eucharist makes the Church. The goal of this course is a comprehensive understanding of the nature and development of the Christian Eucharist. It provides perspective on the origins and historical development of the eucharistic liturgy across traditions, examines the structure and content of eucharistic liturgies (esp. the Roman Mass, but also other liturgical rites), the historical relationship between the Eucharist and the arts (esp. music and architecture) and undertakes a systematic reflection on various theological issues (e.g. real presence, transubstantiation, the role of the priest, excommunication, etc.). Illumined by historical and theological reflection, students will also engage in critically examining contemporary pastoral issues as well as current debates in the "liturgy wars".

Catholic Social Teaching

This seminar provides an in-depth and comprehensive overview of modern Catholic social teaching emerging from key papal writings, Church documents, and lay social movements. It explores the historical and doctrinal foundations of the Catholic Social Tradition with a focus on the last half-century. Topics of social concern include poverty, labor reform, racism, migration, war and peacebuilding, democracy, human rights, globalization, and the environment. Overall, the seminar considers both the theory and practice of Catholic social ethics by exemplary figures responsive to the cries of the poor and the earth from Pope Leo XIII to Pope Francis.

Christian Spirituality

This course explores the different ways that Christians have understood the relationship between prayer and action in a Christian's spiritual life. We begin with scriptural loci in the Bible for considering the relationship between prayer and action, and then move to Greek thought, with the distinction between theoria and praxis. We then consider how this conceptual pair was taken over in the history of Christian spirituality in some classic understandings of the relationship between the vita contemplativa and the vita activa. We conclude with a modern figure who takes up this tradition. Depending on the semester, figures will be chosen from the following: Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, Catherine of Siena, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Basil Moreau, Gustavo Gutierrez, Thomas Merton, Ignacio Ellacuria.

God, Suffering, & Evil

The Christian confession of a God of infinite love and goodness seems to be severely challenged by the immensity of suffering and evil. This course explores different theological responses to the theoretical and practical problems presented by suffering and evil. Attention will also be given to how Scripture, psychology, and film have addressed these issues. The format of the course will consist of lectures, discussions, and the close reading and analysis of seminal texts.

Saints and the Theology of Warfare

The histories of sainthood, war, and theology are strangely intertwined. Accounts of violent warfare in the Old Testament led the Manichaeans and the Marcionites to reject the Old Testament and its God and to deny the holiness of Jewish patriarchs (Abraham, Jacob, Moses), prophets, and kings (e.g., David). Protecting the unity of the Bible as the inspired Word of God, Origen of Alexandria (3rd century) interpreted the spiritual significance of biblical warfare to be spiritual warfare against vices. Saint Augustine (4th century) defended the holiness of Old Testament battle-leaders and laid the foundation for a “Just War” theory. During the early Church, Christian soldiers who refused pagan worship were martyred. Many Christian saints (Martin of Tours, Christopher, Guthlac, Francis of Assisi) became hermits and ascetics after quitting military service, turning battle against the enemy into a discipline of struggle against the devil and his temptations. Some former soldiers (e.g., Saint Ignatius of Loyola) adopted explicit military discipline, language, and images in their striving for holiness. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux taught that Christian knighthood and the Crusades could be paths to sainthood, even as he warned against the spiritual dangers of warfare. Saints Joan of Arc and Saint George were warrior saints and are invoked by soldiers. Scholastic theologians like Saint Thomas Aquinas and canon lawyers disputed questions concerning warfare.

Rich, Poor, War

This course examines the interrelationships between economic injustice and violence. We begin by delineating two basic understandings of the nature of violence, that set out by Catholic social teaching and that which is dominant in American thought and law. We then investigate the gap between rich and poor both in the U.S. and worldwide. In the body of the course, we address the ways in which economic disparity intersects with the problem of violence in the full range of social spheres, from the domestic (violence against women), to the economic (workplace conditions), to the international political realms (terrorism, war, and revolution). In each case, we will examine various Christian responses to violence, from encouragement and fomentation to conciliation and forgiveness.

Character & Conscience

In this course, we will study the development of personal moral character and conscience through a series of guided discussions about values, decisions, habits, virtues and vices, the role of the Christian narrative, and finally, an integrated theory of Christian character formation. To illustrate the dimensions of character and conscience we will consider cases and dilemmas in the topic areas of relationships and sexuality, biomedical ethics, and justice concerns. Readings will include selections from writers in contemporary Christian ethics and cases drawn from numerous scholarly and popular sources.

Faith and Science

This course investigates the relationship between the Catholic Faith and modern science for the sake of an integrated worldview in which they are brought into a "relational unity," i.e. a dynamic interchange in which their distinct perspectives and methods are carefully respected. We will begin with historical, philosophical, biblical and theological resources for engaging science from the perspective of faith. These will be brought into dialogue with modern cosmology, evolutionary biology and the sciences of human origins in an attempt to forge a holistic perspective in which science, philosophy and theology are treated as distinct but mutually enriching paths to truth. Specific topics will include the conflict model of science and religion, the Galileo Affair, the biblical creation accounts, the doctrines of divine creation and divine providence, and the human person as the image of God.

Islam & Christian Theology

The relationship between Christianity and Islam is absolutely unique, in part because of the way that Muslims challenge Christian teaching on Jesus. According to standard Islamic teaching, Jesus was not God, not a savior, and did not die on the cross. Instead, he was a Muslim prophet who predicted the coming of Muhammad. From a traditional Islamic perspective, Christian teaching on Christ is confused and the New Testament on which it is based is a falsified version of an Islamic revelation that God gave to Jesus. Muhammad came centuries later to correct the errors of Christians and to preach the same eternal religion that Jesus once taught: Islam. Muslims, in other words, have something to say to Christians: that Jesus was a Muslim and that Muhammad is a true prophet sent to the entire world. In this course, we will listen to how Muslims explain and express this idea, examine how Christians have responded through the centuries, and ask how Christians today might fruitfully promote dialogue with Islam.

Christianity & Buddhism

Christian theologians have long been interested in Buddhism, not least because it promises a complete religion, spirituality, and culture without the existence of God. This class introduces students to the life of the Buddha, the Buddhist religious orders, and the various schools of Buddhist philosophy in India, China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. Topics explored include proofs and refutations of God’s existence, reincarnation and future lives, the nature of the human person, the origin of evil and suffering, Buddhist approaches to ethics, and contemporary Buddhist-Christian dialogue.

Christianity & Judaism

In the wake of the Holocaust, the Catholic Church put its relationship with the Jewish people on a new footing with the declaration Nostra Aetate, wherein the Church calls to mind “the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock.” In this course we will explore the nature of this bond, and put into practice the call to dialogue that, according to Nostra Aetate, follows from it. The substantive goals of this course are two. First, we will study what Christians have thought, and what Christianity—especially Catholicism—has taught across the centuries about Jews and Judaism, and about the relationship between the Church and its Jewish roots. Second, we will learn about the teachings and practices of Judaism, from the early Christian centuries to today, and engage in comparison between Christian and Jewish theology.