Course Description: Designed as an introductory course 1) to examine the religious themes which ground the human condition and are common to all religions, 2) to introduce the student to Christian revelation through guided reading of selections from the Old and New Testaments, 3) to show how the New Testament faith in Jesus Christ is lived in the Catholic Christian community, with emphasis on those things held commonly by all Christian churches.

Dunn, Edmond J. What is Theology? Foundational and Moral. Mystic, CN: Twenty-third Publications, 1988.

Readings provided by the instructor.

Bible: acceptable translations will be discussed in class.

 

Method of Student Evaluation:

50% short essays and presentations

30% daily work

20% attendance and participation

Assignments are due on the date scheduled. Written assignments turned in late are subject to a deduction of one letter grade. Unless other arrangements are made, assignments will not be accepted if they are more than one week (one class period) late.

Responses to questions over the reading material are due by 8:30 p.m. on the Tuesday prior to the class period for which they are listed. The answers should be typed and double-spaced and the student is encouraged to submit them electronically to: frlawrence@sgc.edu.

Unless otherwise indicated, short essays will be due during the class period. They should be typed double-spaced and documented when appropriate. Essays will be evaluated on accuracy, thoroughness, appropriate content, and coherence of development and language. Deductions will be made for errors of grammar, spelling, punctuation and documentation.

All written assignments should include the student’s name, the course number and title, and the date the assignment is due on the title page.

Class attendance:

Due to the intensive nature of the ACE format, students are expected to attend every class and to participate in class discussions. In order to receive full credit for attendance, the student must exhibit that s/he has prepared adequately for class. The instructor is to be informed in advance of absences in order for them to be excused. Use of "chat rooms" and/or the playing of computer "games" during the class period, unless such activity is assigned, will constitute an absence from class.

Course Outline

Part One: Fundamental Questions

Part Two: The Nature of Revelation and Tradition

Part Three: Faith Expression in the Worshipping Community

Part Four: Faith in Action: Fundamentals of Moral Theology

Class Schedule

February 25: Theology – A Definition

"Theology is our attempt to express in clear and concise language what we presume to be the self-disclosure of God in persons, nature, history, everyday human experience and, for Christians, in an ultimate way in Jesus of Nazareth."

Read: Dunn pages 1-33 (Introduction and Chapter One)

Respond: Provide written responses to questions 1, 2, and 5 on page 33 of Dunn.

Write your own definition of Theology in light of this reading assignment.

March 4: Revelation and Faith

"Revelation is God’s gracious self-disclosure reaching out to humans as an invitation (as well as promise) to participate in God’s own life of unfathomable love mediated to us through persons, nature, history, everyday experience, and ultimately in and through God’s very Word, Jesus Christ."

"Faith is our freely given, graced response to God’s invitation to a loving relationship that begins in preconceptual form but takes its cognitive form in creeds, preaching, prayers, doctrines, and dogmas of the faith community, and calls us to a discipleship of worship, personal transformation, and action on behalf of justice."

Read: Dunn pages 35-54

Respond: Provide written responses to questions 1 and 4.

Presentation/Discussion:

Select and Interview a person of faith, asking the following questions:

1. How did you first experience faith in God?
2. How do you experience God’s self-revelation – e.g., scripture, oral tradition, human love, nature? How do these experiences relate?
3. Do you share your faith with a community of believers? If so, what is the faith group, denomination, etc.?
4. How does the community of believers shape your faith – i.e., how is your faith influenced by communal worship, the teaching of your minister and/or church, and your fellow believers?

Make a written record of your interview. Are Dunn’s definitions of revelation and faith applicable in the case of the person interviewed? Why or why not? Submit your written interview and response at the end of class.

During class, discuss your interviews and as a group record the major similarities and differences in the responses.

March 11: Scripture and Tradition

Read: Dunn, pages 55-79

Respond: Provide written responses to questions 1, 2, 4, 5 on pages 79-80.

Presentation:

Identify and describe a tradition of your family, tribe, faith community, or nation. Research the historical beginning of this tradition. What was the original meaning of the tradition? How has the significance of this tradition changed over the years? Find three persons who observe this tradition (preferably of three different generations) and ask them what the tradition means to them. What can we learn from their responses about this tradition and about its meaning to the community that observers it? What can this exercise teach us about the relationship between scripture and tradition in the development of Christianity? Prepare this presentation in written form with accurate documentation when appropriate. The presentation should be 2-4 pages in length. It will be turned in at the end of class.

March 18: Church – Its Meaning, Mission and the Quest for Church Unity

"The church is the community called in the Spirit that professes Jesus as Lord, that ratifies that faith through baptism, celebrates it in the Lord’s Supper, and joins in a common mission to preach, to witness, and to serve."

Read: Dunn, pages 81-139

Respond: Provide written responses to questions 1, 3, 4 and 7 on pages 120-121.

Short essay:

Write a 2-3 page essay on the way in which your faith community embodies the four "marks" or qualities of the church: one, holy, catholic (universal) and apostolic. Submit the essay during class.

March 25: Faith Expression in Sacrament and Sacramentality

Read: Downey, Michael. "Christian Living: The Sacraments and Liturgy." In The College Student’s Introduction to Theology. Thomas P. Rausch, ed. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press. 142-160.

Respond: Answer questions 1, 2 and 3 on page 160 of Downey.

Answer question 2 on page 139 of Dunn.

April 1: Faith Expression in Worship – Liturgy

No additional reading assignment. We will discuss the student essays in class.

Short Essay:

Select a faith tradition with which you are familiar and discuss its use of symbol and ritual in a 2-4 page essay. How are symbols used to communicate the beliefs of the faith community? Give specific examples of symbols that are used and explain their meaning for the faith community. What are the most important rituals of the faith community? How often are they celebrated and who is involved? How are these rituals and symbols connected to the daily life of the individual members of the faith community? Do the symbols and rituals of this faith community relate to those of other faith communities?

We will participate in the Holy Thursday Liturgy at St. Gregory’s Abbey

April 8: Moral Theology – A Definition and Method

"Moral theology is our attempt to know and understand how we are to live and what we are to do (or not do), to be (or not be) from a faith perspective [as disciples of Jesus Christ]."

Read: Dunn, Chapters Six and Seven (pages 143-171)

Respond: Prepare a written answer to question 1 on page 151 of Dunn.

Short Essay:

Write a 2-3 page essay describing your predominant method in moral decision making. Describe how this influences or informs your thinking on a contemporary issue of that requires moral deliberation and choice – e.g., use of extraordinary medical procedures to preserve/terminate life; use of military force to secure peace; marriage norms; use of capital punishment; recognition of homosexual unions; treatment of immigrants who lack documentation; issues regarding procreation, etc. What sources do you look to in order to "inform" your decision, e.g., scripture, teachers, minister, family tradition, etc.? How do they influence your position? Has your thought on this particular issue changed with time? If so, what brought about this change? How do the strengths and weaknesses of this approach described by Dunn apply in your example? Is your position one of "moral theology" or is it one of "ethics"? Explain. (Hint – see discussion in Dunn, pages 147-150.)

April 15: The Agent of Moral Action – the Human Person

Read: Dunn, Chapters Eight and Nine on Moral Agency, pages 173-199.

Respond: Prepare written answers to questions 2 and 4 on page 185 and questions 2 and 3 on page 199.

April 22: Making Moral Choices

Read: Dunn, Chapters Ten and Eleven, pages 201-242.

Respond: Prepare written responses to questions 1 and 5 on page 241.

Group Presentations:

Students will discuss implications of our moral theology on five contemporary issues. They should articulate how "material norms" and/or "formal norms" apply in their issue.

April 29: Spirituality – the Integration of Faith and Action

Read: Milligan, Mary. "Christian Spirituality." In The College Student’s Introduction to Theology. Thomas P. Rausch, ed. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press. 161-174.

Essay:

Write a 2-4 page essay in response to the question: How is "spirituality" the integration of faith and action, of "orthdoxy" and "orthopraxis"? Illustrate your response in light of the theological investigation you have encountered in this course. Provide an example of one who has an integrated "spirituality" (whose life reflects his/her faith experience) or of one who seemingly fails to do so. How is that person’s faith experience expressed in his/her understanding of God, belief system, worship, communal interaction and moral decision making?

We will attend the senior seminar presentation at St. Gregory's University this evening.