Winter 2009/Pasadena
CN865/565
Augsburger

CN865/565: RECONCILIATION, FORGIVENESS, AND HEALING. David Augsburger.

DESCRIPTION: This is a 6-unit seminar for doctoral students, also offered at the 500-level as a 4-unit course open to a limited number of students at the masters' level. Conciliation is our task in ministry; reconciliation is God's work. Forgiving and being forgiven are central experiences for both the healer and for the one seeking healing. The interrelationship between reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing will be explored in depth utilizing theological, ethical, anthropological, psychological fields of study and reflection on human alienation and brokenness. Particular attention will be paid to object relations perspectives on intrapsychic healing, to systems approaches to reconciliation, to ethics of character and virtue as guides to reparation and restitution.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The goal of the seminar is to deepen theory and practice skill so that participants will know theological, ethical, psychological, and anthropological roots of reconciliation, will be correlating and applying them to life situations in ministry, and will be able to hear and follow the call to be reconciling persons.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: The course is focused for students who plan a vocation in pastoral counseling, the teaching of pastoral care, counseling and pastoral care, or will be seeking certification in pastoral psychotherapy.

COURSE FORMAT: The seminar will meet for three hours a week for lecture, for discussion, for presentations by participants, for both exposition and experiencing of theory and praxis.

REQUIRED READING: (Not required for purchase)

: Augsburger, David. Hate-Work: Working through the Pain and Pleasures of Hate. Westminster, 2004.; _________. Helping People Forgive. Westminster, 1996.; Bartlett, Anthony. Cross Purposes. Trinity Press. 2001.; Girard, Rene. The Girard Reader. Edited by Jas. Williams. Crossroads, 1996.; Jones, L. Gregory. Embodying Forgiveness. Eerdmans, 1995.; Patton, John. Is Human Forgiveness Possible? Abingdon, 1985.; Schults, LeRon, and Steven J. Sandage. The Faces of Forgiveness. Baker, 2003.; Schwager, Raymond. Must There Be Scapegoats? Harper & Row, 1987.; Shriver, Donald W., Jr. An Ethic for Enemies. Oxford University Press, 1995.; Weaver, J. Denny. Nonviolent Atonement. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 2001; Wiesenthal, Simon. The Sunflower. Schocken, 1997.; Wink, Walter. Engaging the Powers. Fortress, 1992.; (An extensive bibliography will be supplied.)

ASSIGNMENTS: Rigorous participation in the seminar presentations, experiences, and discussions and a major research project. Students will be able to choose from a wide variety of specific topics for their papers and for class presentations, but all will focus on the healing process of reconciliation, forgiveness, and personal transformation.

PREREQUISITES: The seminar is designed for PhD and ThM students working in the areas of pastoral counseling and pastoral care. It is open to doctoral students in other specializations and to MA and MDiv students (by permission of the professor) who have completed at least two courses in pastoral counseling or care.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: This seminar is a part of the curriculum for the Practical Theology PhD; elective for MA and MDiv students, with permission of the instructor.

FINAL EXAMINATION: No examination, instead a process of mutual evaluation.

This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (10/08)