Previous Years' Course Catalogues

This course explores issues in the philosophy of religion, with special reference to The Brothers Karamazov. Major themes include: the existence and nature of God, religious language, religious experience, faith and reason, the problem of evil, religion and morality, and afterlife beliefs. Readings include Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and selections from theologians and philosophers of religion.

This course explores issues in the philosophy of religion, with special reference to The Brothers Karamazov. Major themes include: the existence and nature of God, religious language, religious experience, faith and reason, the problem of evil, religion and morality, and afterlife beliefs. Readings include Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and selections from theologians and philosophers of religion.

This course explores issues in the philosophy of religion, with special reference to The Brothers Karamazov. Major themes include: the existence and nature of God, religious language, religious experience, faith and reason, the problem of evil, religion and morality, and afterlife beliefs. Readings include Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and selections from theologians and philosophers of religion.

This course explores issues in the philosophy of religion, with special reference to The Brothers Karamazov. Major themes include: the existence and nature of God, religious language, religious experience, faith and reason, the problem of evil, religion and morality, and afterlife beliefs. Readings include Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and selections from theologians and philosophers of religion.

This course explores issues in the philosophy of religion, with special reference to The Brothers Karamazov. Major themes include: the existence and nature of God, religious language, religious experience, faith and reason, the problem of evil, religion and morality, and afterlife beliefs. Readings include Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and selections from theologians and philosophers of religion. Lectures, discussion, participation, and critical reflection papers.

Paul's letter to the Romans is seen by many as the centrepiece of his epistles, providing a summary of his theology and the key to his thought. We will, however, read Romans as a thoroughly situational letter, written to communities shaped by the culture and beliefs of imperial Rome, struggling not only with their own social contexts, but also with the place of Judeans and the story of Israel in their midst. The social status of the believing communities in Rome, as well as the social dislocation of many residents of Rome will provide a context for reading Romans from below, as a letter to communities struggling with what it means to be faithful in a context of slavery, poverty and violent distrust of the stranger.

This seminar will trace, explore, and interact with the developing Theopoetics of postmodern philosopher/theologian John D. Caputo. Situated at the interface between deconstruction and the religion, Theopoetics is a radical alternative to both classical theism and classical atheism, insisting that whether or not God shows up depends on us. In the style of Deconstruction, Theopoetics seeks a way between absolutism and relativism, envisioning Truth, not as a claim we make, but as a claim made on us. For Caputo, philosophy (as the search for wisdom) and theology (as the search for God) work together: The one true philosophy- the love of truth - is the love of God.

The last book of the Christian biblical canon, the Book of Revelation is often talked about but less often read. It has inspired and continues to inspire a range of persons and groups, from fringe religious movements through to artistic and intellectual titans. This course will consider the Book of Revelation in its own rights, situating it within its time and place, and also consider what it might mean for Christian thought and practice in the contemporary world.

The last book of the Christian biblical canon, the Book of Revelation is often talked about but less often read. It has inspired and continues to inspire a range of persons and groups, from fringe religious movements through to artistic and intellectual titans. This course will consider the Book of Revelation in its own rights, situating it within its time and place, and also consider what it might mean for Christian thought and practice in the contemporary world.

This course will explore the work of seminal Protestant and Catholic theologians associated with the re-shaping of 'modern' theology in the twentieth century. Our focus will be on the 'nature-grace' relationship - understood as the distinction and connection that theologians posit or discern between 'divine' and 'human' power, freedom, and desire. The famous debate between Karl Barth and Emil Brunner (Natural Theology, ET, 1948) , and the more recent discussions of Leonardo Boff (Liberating Grace, ET, 1979) and Stephen Duffy (The Graced Horizon: Nature and Grace in Modern Catholic Thought, 1992) will stimulate our contemporary reflections on the 'covenantal' nature of reality and the spirituality of existence. Participants will engage key reading s in a seminar setting.

Emphasis on the history of the iconoclastic controversy and ecumenical councils, especially for the development of Christology. Readings from Nicaea II, Theodore the Studite, John of Damascus and Theodore Abu Qurrah. Iconography and spirituality. Church visit.