DESCRIPTION:

This course introduces students to the doctrines of the persons and work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as these are relevant to the faith and practices of the Church. The course explores biblical, classical, contemporary, and liturgical expressions and implications of christology, pneumatology, and soteriology as various Christian traditions and theologians have appreciated them.

Christology, pneumatology, and soteriology order the very fabric of Christian life from the creeds to the Church's history to the shape of the liturgical year. These doctrines developed in response to fundamental needs in the Church and fundamentally shaped the various Christian traditions, and they continue to be essential to our lives in Christ and to our ministries within the Church and the wider world.

Class will meet once each week for a three-hour class meeting for lecture and discussion. An optional additional weekly discussion session with the instructor will be scheduled once the course has begun.

Aslanoff, Catherine, ed. The Incarnate God. St. Vladimir's, 1995. (selections)

McClendon, James. Doctrine. Abingdon, 1994. (selections)

McGrath, Alister. Christian Theology: An Introduction. Blackwell, 1994. (selections)

O'Collins, Gerald. Interpreting Jesus. Paulist, 1983.

Wiles, Maurice and Mark Santer, eds. Documents in Early Christian Thought. Cambridge, 1975. (selections)

Ferguson, Sinclair B. and Wright, David F., eds. New Dictionary of Theology. InterVarsity Press, 1988.

Richardon, Alan and Bowden, John. Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology. Westminster, 1983.

Students will also write a brief review of a text such as the following:

Allison, C. FitzSimons. The Cruelty of Heresy. Morehouse, 1994.

Athanasius. On the Incarnation of the Word. St. Vladimir's, 1953.

Dunn, James D. G. Christology in the Making. 2nd ed. Eerdmans, 1996.

Gunton, Colin E. The Actuality of the Atonement. Eerdmans, 1989.

Moltmann, Jürgen. The Way of Jesus Christ. HarperSanFrancisco, 1990.

Schreiter, Robert J., ed. Faces of Jesus in Africa. Orbis, 1991.

Wainwright, Geoffrey, For our Salvation: Two Approaches to the Work of Christ. Eerdmans, 1997.

A 7-page paper on a major theme in the required texts, a 7-page review of one of the recommended readings, and a final exam on the required texts and lecture material.

None, but Church History A-B are recommended.

Meets M.Div. core requirement in Systematic Theology "b" (STB).

Yes.