DESCRIPTION:

This is a CATS graduate seminar, open to a very small number of master's level students. Despite the remarkable advance of democracy in the twentieth century, and despite democracy's stunning success in the recent history of the West, the power of the modern state continues to expand and extend its sway. The state now rules in areas that were heretofore considered the responsibility of the Church, and while this means that opportunities for social justice are potentially enhanced, the putative omnicompetence of government brings with it substantial threat. At the same time, the Church itself has rediscovered the political nature of its existence in the world. Christian leaders today must examine afresh the question of the foundations for modern political authority in relationship to the Kingdom of God. To that end, this seminar examines the political thought of leading twentieth-century theologians, including Barth, Bonhoeffer, Moltmann, Cone, and Segundo, with emphasis on questions of authority, human rights, equality, and liberation.

This course is intended for students who plan a vocation in teaching, research, and writing. The course will provide students with a historical foundation for understanding the biblical and theological basis of political and church authority today. Numerous contemporary political issues will thus be placed in the context of the best Christian thought on the topic of the state.

The seminar will meet two hours a week for discussion.

Barth, Karl. Community, State and Church. Anchor Books, 1960.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison. SCM Press, 1971.

Cone, James H. God of the Oppressed. Seabury Press, 1975.

Segundo, Juan Luis. Faith and Ideologies. Orbis Books, 1984.

Moltmann, Jürgen. Theology of Hope. Harper, 1975.

__________. Creating a Just Future. SCM Press, 1989.

Rigorous participation in the seminar discussions and a major research paper. Students will be able to choose from a wide variety of specific topics for their papers, but the seminar is also designed to enhance the student's overall competence in the broad field of modern Church history.

The course is open by permission of the professor to a very limited number of M.A. and M.Div. students who are planning advanced work in the fields of history or theology. Such students should have completed one or more survey courses in Modern Church History, American Church History, or Modern Theology.

Elective.

None.