Fall 2008

FTX - Houston

PH504

Beals

DESCRIPTION:

Challenges to the Christian faith are grounded in alternative worldviews:  frameworks for beliefs about what is right, real and true.  These worldviews provide answers to fundamental questions about God’s existence and nature, human identity and purpose, and the meaning and obligations of life.  Such challenges call Christians to develop a clearer understanding of their own conception of reality and to consider major available options in order to articulate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of a biblically grounded world-and-life view.

This course will explore the nature and function of worldviews and contrast the Christian worldview with several significant alternatives offering challenges to the Christian Gospel.  We will examine the variety of orientations Christians take toward culture as well as the influences of the modern and postmodern worldviews on the theological task.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Upon completion of this course, students will have explored the nature and function of worldviews; contrasted the Christian worldview with several significant philosophical and religious alternatives; examined characteristics and themes of postmodernism; cultivated skills in critical thinking and academic writing; and developed confidence to engage in dialogue on intellectual problems.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:

This course is designed to equip persons preparing for various ministries—parish, parachurch, cross-cultural, counseling and teaching—to be more discerning about the intellectual currents that flow through the contexts in which they will minister.  People operate with worldviews—conceptions about the nature of reality, human nature in particular, the basic causes of human malfunctioning and the possibilities of correction and growth.  An understanding of these kinds of conceptions, and an ability to articulate a Christian perspective on such matters, is crucial for relevance and effectiveness in ministry.

COURSE FORMAT:

Class sessions will include interactive lectures, class discussions and small group projects which focus on lecture materials and reading assignments.

REQUIRED READING:

Mouw, Richard J.  Distorted Truth:  What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Battle for the Mind.  Pasadena:  Fuller Seminary Press, 1989.  ISBN 1881266133

Murphy, Nancey.  Theology In A Postmodern Age - The Nordenhaug Lectures 2003. International Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003.  ISBN 000050033x

Newbigin, Lesslie.  The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.   ISBN 0802804268

Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal (Pope Benedict XVI).  Values in a Time of Upheaval. Translated by Brian McNeil.  San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006.  ISBN 1586171402

Sire, James W. Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004.  ISBN 083082779x

ASSIGNMENTS:

Students will participate in group projects based on the reading assignments and lecture materials (20%), write critical responses for two of the required texts (30%) and a 15-page research paper contrasting significant elements of the Christian worldview with a topic within the scope of the course (50%).  Critical response and research paper formats are included in the syllabus.            

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets M.Div. core requirement in Philosophical Theology (PHIL); M.A.: PH;  MACL: Phil Theo.               

FINAL EXAMINATION: None