Fall 2013/Pasadena

ST829

Kärkkäinen

ST829: THEOLOGICAL METHOD. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen.

DESCRIPTION: This doctoral seminar, open to limited number of advanced master’s level students, is designed to investigate and discuss critically competing methodologies and approaches in contemporary systematic/constructive theology including their philosophical, hermeneutical, and cultural ramifications. Approaches to be studied include mainline Protestant and Catholic, post-liberal, postmodern, Radical Orthodox, postmetaphysical, post-colonial, canonical-linguistic, and various types of Liberationist and other “contextual” or “global” theologies, as well as Evangelical responses and constructive proposals.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: In light of the fact that in current theology there is no single “method” available, a careful consideration of various proposals and methodological issues is necessary for the preparation for independent academic work.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated their ability to (1) identify key methodological choices and agendas in various contemporary systematic theologies; (2) analyze critically and assess their contributions and liabilities; (3) offer a reasoned response to various proposals in light of tradition and current intellectual milieu; and (4) begin to formulate their own approach to doing systematic/constructive theology.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet once a week for a three-hour session for student presentations and critical discussion. Immediately after registration, the student must contact the professor for the syllabus and pre-seminar assignments (vmk@fuller.edu).

REQUIRED READING: Selections from the following texts:

Course Reader: “Essays on Theological Method.” ST829/529 (Moodle course website)

Cone, J. H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Twentieth Anniversary Edition. Orbis, 1990. ISBN: 978-0883446850, Pub. Price $22.00 [200 pp.].

OR Gutiérrez, G. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation. Orbis, 1973. 334 pp. ISBN: 978-0883445426, Pub. Price $24.00.

Grenz, S. J. & Franke, J. R. Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Society. Westminster John Knox, 2001. ISBN: 978-0664257699, Pub. Price $39.95 [296 pp.].

OR Murphy, N. Beyond Liberalism and Foundationalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set the Theological Agenda. Trinity Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-1563381768, Pub. Price $27.96. [192 pp.].

Johnson, E. She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse. Crossroad, 2002. ISBN: 978-0824519254, Pub. Price $29.99 [344 pp.].

OR McFague, S. Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Fortress, 1987. ISBN: 978-0800620516, Pub. Price $22.00 [244 pp.].

OR Kwok, P. Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology. Westminster John Knox, 2005. ISBN: 978-0664228835, Pub. Price $29.95 [256 pp.].

Kärkkäinen, V.-M. Christ and Reconciliation.AConstructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World, vol. 1. Eerdmans, 2013. ISBN: 978-0802868534, Pub. Price $40.00 [467pp.].

Lindbeck, G. A. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion & Theology in a Postliberal Age. Westminster John Knox, 1984. ISBN: 978-0664246181, Pub. Price $29.95 [144 pp.].

Moltmann, J., Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology. Fortress, 2000. ISBN: 978-0800632670, Pub. Price $30.00 [320 pp.].

Pannenberg, W. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1. Eerdmans, 1991. ISBN: 978-0802865038, Pub. Price $55.00 [486 pp.].

Smith, J. A. K. Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-Secular Theology. Baker Academic, 2004. ISBN: 978-0801027352, Pub. Price $28.00 [296 pp.]. OR

Shakespeare, S. Radical Orthodoxy: A Critical Introduction (London: SPCK, 2007)

Vanhoozer, K. J. The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Doctrine. Westminster John Knox, 2005. ISBN: 978-0664223274, Pub. Price $39.95 [485 pp.].

The following works are available (in the reserve shelf) for consultation for presentations:

Bevans, S. B. Models of Contextual Theology. Rev. ed. Orbis, 2002. ISBN: 978-1570754388, Pub. Price $30.00. [192 pp.].

Bloesch, D. A Theology of Word & Spirit: Authority & Method in Theology. InterVarsity Press, 1992. ISBN: 978-0830827510, Pub. Price $20.00 [336 pp.]

Frei, H. W. The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative. Yale University Press, 1980. ISBN: 978-0300026023, Pub. Price $25.00 [365 pp.].

Greene-McCreight, Kathryn. Feminist Reconstructions of Christian Doctrine: Narrative Analysis and Appraisal. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 978-0195128628, Pub. Price $95.00 [192 pp.]

Hart, Trevor. Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian Theology. Wipf & Stock, 2005.. ISBN: 978-1597520188, Pub. Price $27.00 [248 pp.].

Kaufman, G. D. The Theological Imagination: Constructing the Concept of God. Westminster John Knox, 1981. ISBN: 978-0664243937, Pub. Price $25.00 [312 pp.].

Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. Repr. University of Toronto Press, 1994. ISBN: 978-0802068095, Pub. Price $37.95.

Marion, J. L. God without Being: Hors-Texte. University of Chicago Press, 1995. ISBN: 978-0226505411, Pub. Price $21.00 [284 pp.].

Milbank, J., Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason, 2^nd ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2006. ISBN: 978-1405136846, Pub. Price $59.95 {480 pp.].

Milbank, J. & O. Simon, ed. The Radical Orthodoxy Reader. Routledge, 2009.. ISBN: 978-0415425131, Pub. Price $41.95 [420 pp.].

Moltmann, J.: Any of the volumes in his series “Contributions to Theology” from The Trinity and the Kingdom (1981) to the Coming of God (1996). Fortress Press.

Murphy, N. Anglo-American Postmodernity: Philosophical Perspectives on Science, Religion, and Ethics. Westview Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0813328690, Pub. Price $39.00 [240 pp.].

Pannenberg, W. Systematic Theology. Vol. 2. Eerdmans 1994. ISBN: 978-0802837073, Pub. Price $55.00 [515 pp.].

_______ Systematic Theology. Vol. 3. Eerdmans, 1997. ISBN: 978-0802864567, Pub. Price $55.00 [730 pp.].

Phan, P. Christianity with an Asian Face: Asian American Theology in the Making. Orbis, 2003. ISBN: 978-1570754661, Pub. Price $34.00 [256 pp.].

Phillips, T. T. & D. L. Okholm, eds. The Nature of Confession. Evangelicals & Postliberals in Conversation. InterVarsity Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0830818693, Pub. Price $12.55 [298 pp.].

Placher, W. An Unapologetic Theology: A Christian Voice in a Pluralistic Society. Westminster John Knox, 1989. ISBN: 978-0664250645, Pub. Price $29.95 [184 pp.].

Schreiter, R. J. Constructing Local Theologies. Orbis, 1985. ISBN: 978-0883441084, Pub. Price $26.00 [192 pp.].

Shults, F. L. The Postfoundationalist Task of Theology. Eerdmans, 1999.. ISBN: 978-0802846860, Pub. Price $29.00 [286 pp.].

Tanner, K. Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology. Fortress, 1997. ISBN: 978-0800630973, Pub. Price $21.00 [208 pp.].

Tracy, D. The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism. Crossroad, 1998. ISBN: 978-0824506940, Pub. Price $39.95 [480 pp.].

Vanhoozer, K. J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2003.. ISBN: 978-0521793957, Pub. Price $28.99 [312 pp.].

Ward, Graham, ed. The Postmodern God: A Theological Reader. Wiley-Blackwell, 1998. ISBN: 978-0631201410, Pub. Price $62.95 [416 pp.].

Wilson, M. M. Historical and Social Dimensions in African Christian Theology. Wipf & Stock, 2009. ISBN: 978-1606081242, Pub. Price $16.00 [118 pp.].

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. A careful reading of the required texts prior to class and active participation in class discussions (10%).

2. Class presentations (20%).

3. Short reflection paper on the theological method of the chosen theologian [5-7pp.] (10%).

4. Research paper of 25-30 pp. (60%).

Requirements will be adjusted appropriately for master’s level students.

PREREQUISITES: Master’s level students need written permission from the professor.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Required for PhD and ThM in Theology. MDiv/MA elective.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.