700
These courses take a Catholic approach to contemporary moral issues from a theological and pastoral perspective. Issues in one or more of the following areas will be treated: social, medical, sexual, marital, and business morality.
Notes
This course may be taken more than once on different topics.
An in-depth study of a particular area, book, or theme of Old Testament literature. Examples of possible course topics include: The Pentateuch, the prophetic literature, the Psalms, covenant theology.
Notes
This course may be taken more than once on different topics.
An in-depth study of a particular area, book, or theme of New Testament literature. Possible course topics include: Pauline writings, the Gospel of John, the Church in the New Testament, theology of the Holy Spirit.
Notes
This course may be taken more than once on different topics.
This course, which presupposes undergraduate background in moral theology, is an exploration of some foundational issues in moral theology. One topic treated is the distinctively Christian contribution to our understanding of morality. In addition, one or more of the following are covered: the structure of the human/moral act, the meaning of natural moral law, the meaning of virtue, the meaning of conscience, the meaning and possibility of sin. One text used is Veritatis Splendor. In addition, other texts that serve as important background or context for Veritatis Splendor, and/or that contribute to subsequent theological discussion about the topics treated, are also used.
Christian Spirituality is the study of the nature and means of Christian holiness. This course will consider various dimensions of Christian holiness, including prayer and worship, the cross and the ascetical life, repentance, the activity of the Holy Spirit, the role of the sacraments, and the love of God in Jesus Christ, which is the center of all Christian spirituality. This course will approach these topics through the study of major spiritual writers and saints of the past and of more recent times.
This course pursues an in-depth study of an important topic or author from either the patristic period (the era of the Fathers of the Church) or from the great Doctors of the Church, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Catherine of Siena, or St. Theresa of Avila.
Notes
This course may be taken more than once on different topics.
This course will be a systematic exploration of the theology of grace. We will examine the various meanings and key issues involved in understanding grace as presented in Scripture, tradition, and contemporary sources. The development of an integrated theology of grace will lead to and ground a reflection on fundamental aspects of our relationship with God and our living out of the Christian life.
A systematic study of the person and work of Jesus Christ will be conducted in this course. Beginning with a consideration of method, we will develop a contemporary, integrative approach to Christology, drawing on the riches of the biblical, traditional, and contemporary testimony.
A consideration of the signs of salvation flowing from the sacrament, Christ, and his Church will be the goal of this course. The anthropological bases of these signs will be examined and utilized in the seven sacraments that will be covered in-depth.
This course will explore the meaning of Tradition and its relation to Sacred Scripture, touching upon such issues as the material sufficiency of sacred Scripture and its relation to the Reformation doctrine sola scriptura. The monuments of Tradition are studied with a view to recognizing the complementarity between Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The study of Tradition readily leads to an exposition of the development of doctrine within the Catholic Church. The course investigates such development beginning with Cardinal John Newman's text, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, wherein the development of doctrine answers the questions of how the Catholic Church's teaching extended into every generation after the close of the Apostolic Age. The study of the development of doctrine follows various authors from Newman to the present day.
This course will select a topic of theological interest for careful study. Possible topics include: recent papal teachings, ecumenism, Catholic apologetics, theology of renewal, the Church and the Holy Spirit, etc.
Notes
This course may be taken more than once on different topics.
This course introduces revelation as the teaching technique of God the Father and examines the content and method of Jesus' teaching. The apostles' teaching styles, the content of their catechesis, and their use of Scripture are covered as well. The scriptural basis of the catechesis of the Fathers of the Church is included. The course also explores implementation of Bible studies and liturgies of the Word for evangelical and catechetical purposes and provides practice in biblical narrative and teaching from Scripture.