DESCRIPTION:

This course considers problems of relevance to the spiritual life such as the nature of the human person (dualism versus physicalism), the nature and evidential value of religious experience, and the problem of divine action. While these are perennial issues in the Christian tradition, they are especially timely today due to scientific developments and to more general changes in the Western worldview.

(1) Knowledge: familiarity with some of the philosophical problems that arise in connection with the Christian spiritual life. (2) Skills: improved reasoning and writing; ability to think theologically and philosophically about church practices. (3) Attitudes: increased appreciation for diverse forms of spirituality; deepening devotion to God and others.

Class time will be divided between lectures and discussions of the relevance of course material to the students' devotional practices or spiritual disciplines. The class meets twice weekly for two hours each.

Brown, W. S., N. Murphy, and H. N. Maloney, eds. Whatever Happened to the Soul? Fortress, 1998.

Davis, Carolyn Franks. The Evidential Force of Religious Experience. Oxford, 1999.

Tracy, Thomas, ed. The God Who Acts: Philosophical and Theological Explorations. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.

Photocopied syllabus.

Read all assigned material before class and be prepared to discuss it. Engage regularly in some form of devotional practice or spiritual discipline throughout the quarter and be prepared to reflect on how the weekly reading assignments bear on that practice. Write three papers, each 8-10 pages (2400-3000 words) two on the topics addressed in readings and lectures, one on your spiritual practice in light of readings.

None. However, the readings for this course are difficult; only students with interest in and aptitude for philosophy should take it.

Meets M.Div. core requirement in philosophical theology (PHIL).

None.