Course Catalogue 2025-2026

Introduction to Old Testament literature and history, with emphasis on application within the church.

The Spiritual Internship Year, in response to the challenges of contemporary pastoral ministry, provides an intense formational experience in which the sciences foundational for Christian life and ministry are appropriated via: classroom instruction (philosophy, catechesis, scripture, and theology), extensive reading of classic spiritual authors and the Documents of Vatican II, Ignatian spiritual direction [Annotation 19], retreat experiences, field placement, formation in communal living and instruction in essay writing skills.

This course offers an opportunity to explore the history of the Christian Church from its origins in Judaism, its social and sacramental development, including the work of Christian apologists, the convening of councils, confronting heresies, the rise of monasticism and the growth of Christianity beyond the confines of the empire through to the East-West Schism of 1054. It will examine the conflicts, individuals, social movements, and theologies that shaped Christianity during this formative period. A special emphasis is placed on the use of primary sources, which will aid students to better understand the historical realities of the period being studied and learn how primary sources may be used in historical research.

This course offers an opportunity to explore the history of the Christian Church from its origins in Judaism, its social and sacramental development, including the work of Christian apologists, the convening of councils, confronting heresies, the rise of monasticism and the growth of Christianity beyond the confines of the empire through to the East-West Schism of 1054. It will examine the conflicts, individuals, social movements, and theologies that shaped Christianity during this formative period. A special emphasis is placed on the use of primary sources, which will aid students to better understand the historical realities of the period being studied and learn how primary sources may be used in historical research.

From the subapostolic age to the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" in the East and the Carolingian revival and Treaty of Verdun in the West. Geographical expansion of the church; the relation of Christian faith to cultural settings and other religions; the development of doctrinal and ethical positions; forms of Christian life and worship; the rise of Islam.

Why should anyone training for lay or ordained ministry in today's Church care about history or what historians do? Is there even such a thing as historical reality ? If there is, what makes historians think they can ever discover any part of it? And what can the past possibly contribute to the new theological and pastoral problems of the present? In this course, we will grapple with these questions as they relate to the earliest centuries of Christian history, from the time of the apostles down to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. It was during this period that the Church(es) worked out the patterns of belief, governance, worship, ministry, and mission that Christians of all subsequent centuries have variously appealed to as binding norms of orthodoxy or rejected as corruptions of the primitive Gospel. As we learn about some of the most influential events, persons, and ideas of this period, we will interrogate the materials and methods used by historians to reconstruct the past, asking why historians have often disagreed about the supposedly objective facts of what actually happened. We will explore how new questions and pressures led pre-modern and modern historians to offer radically different interpretations of the significance of early Christian history, and we will test some of the claims about the Christian past that have been used to justify choices in our own time. Students will receive an introductory training in the responsible use of primary sources and secondary literature that will equip them both to continue with more specialized coursework in history and to begin drawing on historical knowledge to enhance their own practical ministries.

Why should anyone training for lay or ordained ministry in today's Church care about history or what historians do? Is there even such a thing as historical reality ? If there is, what makes historians think they can ever discover any part of it? And what can the past possibly contribute to the new theological and pastoral problems of the present? In this course, we will grapple with these questions as they relate to the earliest centuries of Christian history, from the time of the apostles down to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. It was during this period that the Church(es) worked out the patterns of belief, governance, worship, ministry, and mission that Christians of all subsequent centuries have variously appealed to as binding norms of orthodoxy or rejected as corruptions of the primitive Gospel. As we learn about some of the most influential events, persons, and ideas of this period, we will interrogate the materials and methods used by historians to reconstruct the past, asking why historians have often disagreed about the supposedly objective facts of what actually happened. We will explore how new questions and pressures led pre-modern and modern historians to offer radically different interpretations of the significance of early Christian history, and we will test some of the claims about the Christian past that have been used to justify choices in our own time. Students will receive an introductory training in the responsible use of primary sources and secondary literature that will equip them both to continue with more specialized coursework in history and to begin drawing on historical knowledge to enhance their own practical ministries.

This course will introduce students to the methods and study of the history of Christianity. It will also provide a survey knowledge of major events and trends in Christian history which will be required for other Knox College courses. These courses will expect that students will know the historical context of monasticism, the Wesley's, etc. As a survey course, topics will not be covered in extensive detail or in great depth: rather the course will allow students to place events in their proper chronological order and cultural context which will allow for more detailed study of topics in later courses at TST and as needed in congregational ministry or further graduate study.

Institutional conflict, when led skillfully, can be a source of creativity and growth, but when avoided, becomes a means to stagnation and decline. This course focuses on the basics of the personal qualities and skills needed by leaders who assist congregations and other religious institutions to meet conflict and change in a spiritually and theologically grounded, healthy, and productive manner.

This course is a historical and topical survey of the origins and development of Islam. The course is primarily concerned with the life and career of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, the development of the Muslim community and its principal institutions, schools of thought, law, theology, cultural life and spiritual/mystical tradition (Sufism), to about 1300 CE. This course is cross-listed and counts as a theology course, as well as a history course, at Emmanuel College.

Survey of New Testament world, authors, theologies. Introduction to the historical-critical and other methods of exegesis. Focus on the relation of hermeneutic to Christian Theological traditions; determining the senses of Scripture, the intent of the author, the structures in the texts; stance of the reader.

Survey of New Testament world, authors, theologies. Introduction to the historical-critical and other methods of exegesis. Focus on the relation of hermeneutic to Christian Theological traditions; determining the senses of Scripture, the intent of the author, the structures in the texts; stance of the reader.