Theology (also see REL crses) (THE)

THE 153 Encountering the New Testament (3 credits)

This course examines the biblical traditions and texts of the Christian Scriptures as products of particular historical and cultural communities, and as literary and theological documents. Although it focuses on the New Testament, the course will also introduce biblical studies more generally, including the relationship between the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Special attention will be paid to the need for historical- and literary-critical methods to interpret the Bible as mandated by the 1943 Papal encyclical, "Divino Afflante Spiritu," and later Church documents. This course will also help students acquire familiarity with the great diversity in the New Testament about regarding the person and significance of Jesus, the role and structure of the Christian community, and how discipleship is understood.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Signature Course, Undergraduate

THE 154 Catholic Theological Tradition (3 credits)

This course critically engages the Christian, particularly Catholic, understanding of humanity in relation to God. It undertakes this study from historical/chronological, philosophical, or thematic/topical approaches. It introduces central Christian theological concepts, such as the doctrines of Christ, the human person, sin/grace/salvation, sacramentality, and moral principles such as the preferential option for the poor, solidarity, and the common good.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Signature Course, Theology Level 1, Undergraduate

THE 155 Catholic Social Tradition (3 credits)

This course engages students in study of Christian teachings and practices related to the call to social responsibility, particularly in what is known as Catholic Social Teaching. Students examine the theological, historical, and biblical foundations of ethical commitments, explore a variety of central principles within the tradition (for instance, human dignity, social justice, rights, solidarity, and preferential option for the poor); and analyze how these ethical insights inform analysis of situations in the contemporary world (for instance, economic justice, international development, human rights, war and peace, the forced migration, and care for the global environment).

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Ethics Social Justice, CCC: Theology, GEP: Signature Course, Undergraduate

THE 161 Christian Social Ethics (3 credits)

This course provides a general overview of the forms and teachings of Christian ethics and how they impact the broader society. Specific social forms based upon human rights, theological virtues, conceptions of justice and the common good will be analyzed through teachings on war, the conquest, race, gender, class and the relationship between church and state. Particular attention will be given to the recent papal encyclicals.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, Faith Justice Course, Health Care Ethics Course, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate

THE 170 Special Topics in Theology (3 credits)

Topics will vary according to the semester in which the class is offered.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 201 Christian Origins (3 credits)

A study of the cultural and historical matrices of the early Jesus movement, its rise and early developments, and the emergence of institutionalized practices and belief systems that coalesced in the formation of Christianity. The course is organized chronologically and employs the standard tools and theoretical approaches of modern historical-critical methodology, such as those derived from anthropology, sociology, literary criticism, and classical archaeology. Ancient Studies

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 221 Synoptic Gospels (3 credits)

This course will progress in two movements. It first will investigate the historical background of the growth of the gospel tradition. It then will read the Gospels as viable literary texts, making use of the most recent advances in the literary critical study of Matthew, Mark, and Luke-Acts. In this way, the course will focus upon the theological uniqueness of each book, as well as tracing their interrelatedness. Ancient Studies

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Faith Reason, CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate

THE 222 Letters of Paul (3 credits)

The aim of this course is to examine the main characteristics of Paul's faith as found in his epistles. The course will establish the broad argument of each of the letters, their historical setting, and their literary and rhetorical character, and demonstrate how these elements work together to express Paul's gospel. Ancient Studies

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Faith Reason, CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 223 Early Christian Thought (3 credits)

An historical and theological investigation of the Christian community during the first four centuries. Among the topics to be considered are the relationship of the early church to classical culture, conflicts over issues of orthodoxy and heresy, and the links between historical context and early Christian doctrinal claims. The course will also investigate the development of the canon of Scripture, Christian leadership structures, the creeds, and early Christian traditions of martyrdom, monasticism, the sacraments and worship.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 261 Christianity & Media (3 credits)

This course offers an opportunity to explore the relationships between Christianity and the wide variety of modes of communication that we refer to as "media." In the course, students will engage in two basic tasks. First, students will engage in the descriptive task of identifying the current state of the media with respect to religion. How are religions and religious issues portrayed in various media? How do Christians understand and use media for their various purposes? Second, the class will engage in the normative task of judging the social and moral worth of the various modes of communication using the resources of the discipline of Christian social ethics. Does the current media landscape support human flourishing and the just society? If so, what should be done to ensure that this continues? If not, how might it be shaped so that it supports such development?

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Ethics Social Justice, CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, Faith Justice Course, Undergraduate

THE 262 Technology Ethics (3 credits)

This course will engage in critical reflection on technology, its role in human lives, and its impact on society. The course will examine various theories of the nature technology. It will also investigate particular resources available within the discipline of Christian social ethics that are central to understanding and evaluation the moral worth of various technologies, such as common good, justice, human dignity, development, and solidarity. These conceptual tools will then be used to explore the ethical implications of technology will be the assessment of a variety of particular cases of both commonplace and emerging technologies (e.g., civil engineering, cellular telecommunications, social media, surveillance, digital divide, data security, product manufacturing and disposal, intellectual property, body modification, and the post-human movement).

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Ethics Social Justice, CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, Faith Justice Course, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate

THE 270 Special Topics in Theology (3 credits)

Concentrated focus on a selected theme in theology at an advanced level. Topic and content varies from semester to semester. Course may be taken twice for credit as the topic changes. Certifications differ by section.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 335 Gendr & Christian Spirituality (3 credits)

An examination of some of the spiritual classics written by both the men and women of the Christian faith. Emphasis on reading and study of primary texts, largely medieval, with an eye to any discernible differences between men as spiritual authors and women as spiritual authors. Course will also examine the given perceptions of gender, spirituality and eroticism.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Diversity Course, Faith Justice Course, Gender Studies Course, Undergraduate

THE 337 Compassionate Care in Clin Set (3 credits)

Compassion is the bridge between curing and healing: Curing restores a patient to health; healing restores a person to wholeness. This course examines the philosophical, theoretical, and practical foundations of compassionate care. Topics include current research in the science of compassion, clinician burnout and fatigue, the maintenance of compassionate care in the face of suffering, clinician self-care, and the organizational factors that establish a culture of compassionate care. Course materials will be drawn from cultural anthropology, philosophy, medicine, psychology, and sources both spiritual and religious.

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Faith Reason, CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate

THE 339 Darwin, Dogma, and Ecology (3 credits)

In his 2015 encyclical, On Care for our Common Home (Laudato Sí), Pope Francis makes an urgent appeal to "every person living on this planet" for dialogue and action in the face of impending environmental collapse. Of course, the pope's argument is grounded in Roman Catholic teaching; however, his critique is more philosophical than theological. It concerns not just the detrimental effect modern technology has had on the environment, but, more fundamentally, how modern science understands our knowledge of the world, and how in turn this understanding has adversely affected human action. The course will investigate the development within Catholicism of an evolutionary worldview that critically embraces neo-Darwinian science, but also distinguishes between religious faith-traditions and secular faith-traditions, suggesting how the former might prove more effective than the latter in addressing the ecological crisis.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate

THE 340 Atheism and the Case for God (3 credits)

Over the past twenty years several best-selling authors have mounted a concerted attack on religion, advancing an argument that is, purportedly, so fresh and compelling as to earn them the title, "The New Atheists." The more important and enduring cultural phenomenon affecting religious practice today is the secularism that has increasingly dominated modern civilization, religious belief and practice became significant options rather than cultural givens. This course deals with the question of whether secularism arose in reaction to religion, or as one of religion's greatest success stories. Much of the analysis will be historical: When and how did the secular movement arise? What notion of "God" did it reject? But the course will also address questions that are more philosophical and theological in nature: Has natural science disproved religion? And is secularism properly understood as necessarily concurrent with scientific advance?

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate

THE 341 Jesus through the Centuries (3 credits)

An inquiry into Western Christianity's understandings of the meaning and significance of Jesus Christ, including New Testament Christologies, the controversies of the 4th and 5th century councils, medieval atonement theories, post-Enlightenment problems and reformulations, and contemporary liberation Christologies. Students will be encouraged to develop their own Christological position as an integral part of the course.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate

THE 345 Evil as a Theological Problem (3 credits)

An examination of the profound challenge both to religious understandings of a meaningful and ordered existence and to theological claims regarding an omnipotent, beneficent deity rendered by the occurrence of evil and the suffering that accompanies it. The course will contextualize particular manifestations of evil and investigate how evil is identified, explained, challenged and interpreted through texts in theology and popular culture, with particular attention to its modern and contemporary manifestations.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 211)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate

THE 348 Theology and Science (3 credits)

An exploration of the Galileo Case, evolution, contemporary Big Bang cosmology, and quantum theory show how the relationship between theology and science has developed to the present day. The scientific, methodological and theological issues will be critically evaluated for their significance today. Students will thus be provided with the basic tools for understanding and participating in the contemporary dialogue between science and theology.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Theology Level 3, Undergraduate

THE 349 Theology of Disability (3 credits)

This course will examine the relationship between the way in which human disability is approached, on the one hand, from the perspective of the theological anthropology found in the Christian faith and, on the other hand, how it is approached by other contemporary discourses. More specifically, the course will examine the adequacy of certain contemporary approaches to disability and inquire into ways in which the Christian theological tradition can contribute to the project of rethinking and re-imagining the nature of human disability as well as the nature of the human person in general.

Attributes: CCC: Diversity, CCC: Mission: Faith Reason, CCC: Theology, GEP: Diversity Course, Faith Justice Course, Health Care Ethics Course, Undergraduate

THE 350 The Beauty of God (3 credits)

This course explores how beauty serves as a way to God. In the history of all three major monotheistic faith traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), it was believed that God identified himself through various divine names. Focusing primarily, though not exclusively, on the Judeo-Christian tradition, this course examines beauty as one of these divine names. Consequently, the mode of theology that will ground this exploration is what has recently come to be called theological aesthetics. As a mode of theology, or a theo-logic, theological aesthetics draws from the principles of human reason as the art of thinking well (hence as a logic) and the event of divine revelation. Insofar as it unites theology with beauty, a theological aesthetic not only draws from the grammar, language, and thinking associated with beauty and art, but attempts to tie these more deeply to both human reason and divine revelation. Taking its cue from aesthetic experience, this course is divided into three basic parts: part 1 is the encounter with the object of interest, namely God's existence; part 2 examines the subjective aspects of the encounter, namely, the socio-cultural dimensions of how we come to understand God, "religion," faith, etc.; and part 3 examines the results inspired by the encounter, namely, the reception of divine beauty in revelation, music, responding to evil and human suffering, and mysticism.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Faith Reason, CCC: Theology, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Medieval, Ren & Reform Studies, Undergraduate

THE 351 Ignatian Spirit in Jesuit Trad (3 credits)

An examination of and reflection on the religious vision of Ignatius of Loyola and its embodiment in the life of the Society of Jesus, including a reading of the Spiritual Exercises. An overview of the major movements and influential persons in Jesuit history, a study of Jesuit spirituality and theology, and a consideration of the role of the Jesuits in broader church life.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, European Studies Course, Undergraduate

THE 356 Liberation & Pol Theologies (3 credits)

An inquiry into the critique and vision brought to theology by the perspective of the poor and oppressed in the 20th century via the paradigm known as liberation and political theology. An extensive examination of the context and methods of Latin American liberation theology followed by an examination of European political theology and African-American liberation theology. Other topics for consideration may include the work of Hispanic, Asian, African, and North American feminist liberation theologians.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Faith Justice Course, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Latin American Studies Course, Undergraduate

THE 357 Feminist Theologies (3 credits)

An inquiry into the sources, contexts, methods, and symbols of Christian theology from the perspective of women in the process of human liberation. The roles of women in church and society, the history of the women's movement in North America, and the experiences and theological perspectives offered by feminists of differing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic background will be examined. Feminist reflections within other religious traditions may also be considered.

Prerequisites: (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Faith Justice Course, GEP: Faith-Reason Course, Gender Studies Course, Undergraduate

THE 360 Story as Theology (3 credits)

This course introduces fiction and films that are driven by religious sensibilities and theological insights. Issues rising throughout the course include deity, sin, forgiveness, grace, redemption, virtue, and community. Student expectations entail critical analysis and theological reflection, as well as a very basic grasp of the phenomenon of human religiosity.

Attributes: American Studies Course, CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 366 Christian Medical Ethics (3 credits)

With the technological inauguration of the age of new medicine we have at our disposal more means than norms for intervention in the life, health, and death processes of human existence. Even more crucial is the question: "Should we do everything that is within our capacity to do?" Consideration will be given to the contribution of Christian ethicists in their reflection on the issues involved in abortion, reproductive engineering (AIH, AID, IVF, cloning, etc.), care of the dying, euthanasia, medical experimentation, organ transplantation, and the rights of patients.

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Ethics Social Justice, CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, Faith Justice Course, Health Care Ethics Course, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate

THE 368 Just Hlth Care in Dev Nations (3 credits)

Just Health Care in Developing Nations: An investigation of adequate health care as a fundamental human right. The course will proceed from the premise that socially induced needs are a result of historical development of material and social conditions, coupled with a social consensus that some things are necessary for happiness, social life, or some other goal. It will consider the inability of many societies to supply adequate health care as an issue of basic personal dignity, a claim against society, and as a matter of justice. The course will examine the issue of just health care for all peoples from both public health and ethical perspectives. When taught as a study tour, students will travel internationally.

Attributes: CCC: Mission: Global Citizenship, CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, GEP: Globalization Course, Health Care Ethics Course, Justice Ethics and the Law , Latin American Studies Course, Theology Level 3, Undergraduate

THE 370 Special Topics in Theology (3 credits)

Concentrated focus on a selected theme in theology or religion at an advanced level. Topic and content varies from semester to semester. Course may be taken twice for credit as the topic changes. Other certifications differ by section.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 373 Economic Ethics (3 credits)

Economic Ethics: This course will examine the historical, social and philosophical conditions that gave rise to economics as a distinct discipline. Both the theory and practice of economics will be subjected to an ethical analysis drawing upon biblical and theological sources, particularly emphasizing Catholic teaching. Different economic systems will be compared and different forms of economic life and teaching within the Christian church will be discussed.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, Faith Justice Course, GEP: Globalization Course, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate

THE 374 War and Peace (3 credits)

Throughout Christian tradition, theologians have argued for and against Christian participation in war. This course will examine these arguments through reading relevant biblical, theological, historical and philosophical materials. We may explore how the various arguments have been represented (or misrepresented) in popular culture through film.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, GEP: Ethics Intensive, Faith Justice Course, Irish Studies Course, Undergraduate

THE 392 Directed Readings in Theology (3 credits)

A study of significant themes or issues in Theology or Religious Studies under the direction of faculty in the department. Frequent consultations and written reports are required. Prior written permission of the instructor and approval from the chair is required.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 470 Special Topics in Theology (3 credits)

Topics will vary according to the semester in which the class is offered.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 491 Internship in Theology I (3 credits)

This course is an experiential learning experience in which students work 10 hours per week (total 130 hours) in an organization related to Religious Studies. The internship is a way to see how different areas of theological study are used "on the ground" in public, private, non-profit, community, and church-related organizations. In addition to their hours, students must keep a journal, meet regularly with their faculty adviser, and complete a final essay/presentation that connects their learning experience in the internship to their other coursework and the goals of the major. For more information and for the required application, please see the department chair.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 492 Internship in Theology II (3 credits)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 493 Ind Research in Theology (3 credits)

Independent research and writing under the direction of faculty in the department. Prior written permission of the instructor and approval from the chair are required. Course may be taken twice for credit as the topic of research changes.

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate

THE 494 Ind Research in Theology (3 credits)

Attributes: CCC: Theology, Undergraduate