Previous Years' Course Catalogues

This course explores the practical and theological intersections of suffering and hope. Drawing from the Scriptures, social sciences, constructive and pastoral theology and practice, we will consider ways to understand, recognize and practice hope in the context of the devastations and suffering in life. Far from dismissing suffering in the face of hope, this course explores the hidden intersections and discontinuities between suffering and hope and seeks out a deeper ground for hope that does not flee or obscure the trauma, grief and injustice in life, but faces it head on in theology and practice. Lectures, readings, seminars. Reflection paper, book review presentation, case study, class participation, final paper.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes' major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes' major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's "Institution Christianae religions" of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the "Institutes'" major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology. Seminar style. weekly readings and reflections; major paper.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin’s Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin’s theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes’ major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin’s context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology. 

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes' major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes' major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes' major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology.

This course is a close reading of the English text of Calvin's Institutio Christianae religionis of 1559. We begin by situating Calvin's theology in the historical and theological context of the 16th century Reformation before turning to a careful examination of the Institutes' major doctrinal themes and their significance both for Calvin's context and the subsequent history of Protestant theology.

The New Testament and early Christianity originated in an "interfaith" context, which entailed the worship of deities from across the broader Mediterranean and Near Eastern world. Whether it be Mithras from Persia or Isis from Egypt or deceased emperors of Rome or (yes) the God of Israel, veneration of these gods shaped not only religious life but society itself. In this course, students will gain a better understanding of these gods and their relationship to religious, social, economic, political, and gendered (among others) dimensions of shared human existence.

The question of the genesis of moral behaviour/morality is a problem which requires clarification. In all (Western) societies today, serious discussions are now taking place about the shift In, and loss of, moral values, the opportunities and dangers that such discussions present, and the necessity of either reviving old moral values or searching for a new morality.

At the same time, from a scientific perspective moral behaviour and value commitments clearly do not arise from free search or choice. However, we experience the feeling of "l can do no other" which accompanies a strong commitment to a (religious) concept of morality, not as restriction, but as the highest expression of our free will. What is the resulting experience of this apparently paradoxical feeling of an unchangeable, and yet voluntary, commitment to values/moral behaviour?

This question interrogates the core of plural and democratic societies and their need for a common set of moral values. How can teaching/religious education provide resources to positively value and maintain moral diversity within societies?

What is liturgy? What is a sacrament? And how do both liturgy and the sacraments shape and nurture the Christian life? This course undertakes a deeper consideration of these perennial questions by engaging the best of contextual scholarship on the ancient traditions of our sacramental and liturgical life, equipping students to think both theologically and pastorally about worship, and to provide effective liturgical leadership in the wide range of pastoral contexts which characterize the contemporary Church.