Previous Years' Course Catalogues

The course will introduce students to the text of the letters of Peter and Jude and to issues surrounding their interpretation. A range of scholarly approaches to interpreting the letters of Peter and Jude will be introduced, and issues explored will include authorship, literary relationships between the letters, literary relationships with other early Christian and Jewish texts, and the social and ecclesial contexts of the first readers. Careful attention will be paid to the theological perspectives and convictions expressed In the letters, with particular concern for (i) questions of Christology, (ii) the relationship of the churches with Greco-Roman society, and (iii) conflicts within the churches. The Identity of Christ and the nature of the church, its common life and divisions, and its relationship with Greco-Roman society, will provide the prindpal foci of the course. This course also aims to assist students in apprehending the relevance of the letters of Peter and Jude in contemporary contexts.

The course will introduce students to the text of the letters of Peter and Jude and to issues surrounding their interpretation. A range of scholarly approaches to interpreting the letters of Peter and Jude will be introduced, and issues explored will include authorship, literary relationships between the letters, literary relationships with other early Christian and Jewish texts, and the social and ecclesial contexts of the first readers. Careful attention will be paid to the theological perspectives and convictions expressed in the letters, with particular concern for (i) questions of Christology, (ii) the relationship of the churches with Greco-Roman society, and (iii) conflicts within the churches. The identity of Christ and the nature of the church, its common life and divisions, and its relationship with Greco-Roman society, will provide the principal foci of the course. This course also aims to assist students in apprehending the relevance of the letters of Peter and Jude in contemporary contexts.

Philosophical method for a theology of beauty. This course takes Balthasar's assessment of the loss of beauty as a context to survey the implications for the loss of beauty and the conditions for its recovery. Philosophical issues such as the nature of beauty, aesthetic experience/ perception, aesthetic judgements, the beauty of God/ Christ, and other cultural notions of beauty will be considered. Investigate Lonergan's philosophy as basis for theological aesthetics.

Philosophical method for a theology of beauty. This course takes Balthasar's assessment of the loss of beauty as a context to survey the implications for the loss of beauty and the conditions for its recovery. Philosophical issues such as the nature of beauty, aesthetic experience/ perception, aesthetic judgements, the beauty of God/ Christ, and other cultural notions of beauty will be considered. Investigate Lonergan's philosophy as basis for theological aesthetics.

Philosophical method for a theology of beauty. This course takes Balthasar's assessment of the loss of beauty as a context to survey the implications for the loss of beauty and the conditions for its recovery. Philosophical issues such as the nature of beauty, aesthetic experience/ perception, aesthetic judgements, the beauty of God/ Christ, and other cultural notions of beauty will be considered. Investigate Lonergan's philosophy as basis for theological aesthetics.

Did God take a risk in creating the world? How are divine and human freedom related? Can we confess God's sovereignty in the face of evil? This course will explore the different ways in which the God of history is viewed by advocates and critics of "Open Theism." Our examination will stimulate our own reflections on how we might best understand and, indeed, image God's love, knowledge and power.

The world is becoming increasingly intercultural, not only in the west but also in the east. How has the church prepared for intercultural church? How can we become an intercultural church? What leadership does it require to be an intercultural church? This course will deal with cultural competency, sociocultural structures, ethnicity and churches, leadership and culture, leadership and power, intercultural communication, and contextualizing leadership. At the end of the course, we will develop a vision and strategy for intercultural church.

This course will focus on two of Ricoeur's essay collections, From Text to Action and Figuring the Sacred. Students will explore the general shape of Ricoeur's hermeneutical phenomenology, including such themes as textual interpretation, action, explanation, understanding, ideology, and utopia.

This course will focus on two of Ricoeur's essay collections, From Text to Action and Figuring the Sacred. Students will explore the general shape of Ricoeur's hermeneutical phenomenology, including such themes as textual interpretation, action, explanation, understanding, ideology, and utopia.

This course will focus on two of Ricoeur's essay collections, From Text to Action and Figuring the Sacred. Students will explore the general shape of Ricoeur's hermeneutical phenomenology, including such themes as textual interpretation, action, explanation, understanding, ideology, and utopia.

In our culture, "apocalypse" typically refers to a cataclysmic, catastrophic ending, real or imagined. Often this meaning, in which fear eclipses hope, is traced back to the biblical tradition. But what if the book from which we derive the term, i.e. the "Apocalypse" or "Revelation" of John, refers less to the end of the world than to a transition between the two Ages? What if that transition is characterized as double-edged: as both 'the death throes of the old world order' and 'the birthpangs of the new creation'? Attentive to the nature of apocalyptic discourse, this course will seek to develop a key area of systematic theology by exploring the topics of death, judgment, heaven, and hell-the 'four last things' of traditional eschatology-as they are portrayed in the book of Revelation. In allowing lntertexual and intratextual webs of meaning to emerge, we will pay special attention to the way in which Old Testament echoes, together with the book's own symbolic coherence and narrative logic, can open up new avenues for exegesis, and for theological reflection. The topic of Final Judgment will be a special focus. How is this to be conceived in the light of the apocalyptic transition? If the first reference to Babylon in the biblicaJ canon, the Babel narrative of Gen 11 , refers to a judgment that does not bring history to an end but opens It up once again to the dissemination motif of Gen 1 :28, is it possible to detect a parallel 'judgment unto salvation' theme in the final book of the New Testament? Our discussions will explore the interface between biblical studies, the "theological Interpretation of Scripture," and contemporary eschatology.

The Hebrews and the General Epistles, and the reception thereof, have contributed significantly to the development of Christian thought and practice. Due to the emphasis placed upon Paul in recent centuries however, there has been a tendency to neglect these works. This course will consider these works, situating them within their time and place, and also consider what significance they might hold for Christian thought and practice in the contemporary world.