Fall 2016/Houston

HT501

Farris

HT501: THE CHURCH’S UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AND CHRIST IN ITS THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION (4 Units: 160 hours). Joshua Ryan Farris.

DESCRIPTION: HT501 is a survey of systematic and philosophical theology that focuses especially on the doctrine of God, The Trinity, Christology (comprising the person and work of Christ), and the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. The course reflects the historic Christian church's development of trinitarian and Christological theology and creeds in its dialogue with its opponents and with its cultural context. Related topics and themes to be addressed may include the development and articulation of the Christian doctrine of God including the divine perfections and nature, as well as the doctrine of the Trinity; the development and articulation of the person and work of Christ; and Pneumatology, the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who complete HT501 will demonstrate: (1) a basic critical theological knowledge of the conceptual and normative dimensions of the doctrines of God and Christ as those and other selected doctrines emerged in the early church and developed to this day; (2) a basic competence in interpreting historic and contemporary perorations of these doctrines and an ability to evaluate these theological issues and their historical and contemporary development; and (3) a critical and sympathetic appreciation for the breadth, unity, and diversity of the Christian church.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets for four weekends on Friday evening and Saturday for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: Appx. 1,200 pages required

St Athanasius. On The Incarnation . St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0881414271, Pub. Price $16.00. Also available online at: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/athanasius/incarnation [Read 110 pages]

Castelo, Daniel. Pneumatology: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Press, 2015.ISBN: 978-0567006806, Pub. Price $27.95.[Read pp. 1-135].

Crisp, Oliver D. and Fred Sanders (eds). Locating Atonement: Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics. Zondervan, 2015. ISBN: 978-0310521167, Pub. Price $26.99. [Read 150 pages].

Green, Gene L., Pardue, Stephen T. and Yeo, K.K. The Trinity among the Nations: The Doctrine of God in the Majority World. Eerdmans, 2015. ISBN: 978-0802872685. $20.00. [Read 150 pages].

Morris, Thomas V. Our Idea of God. University of Notre Dame Press, 1991 [Reprinted by Regent College Publishing, 1997]. ISBN: 978-1573831017, Pub. Price $24.95. [Read 192 pp.]

Plantinga, Richard J., Thomas R. Thompson, Matthew D. Lundberg. An Introduction to Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0521690379, Pub. Price $32.99 [300 pp.].

Tanner, Kathryn. Christ the Key. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780521732772. $34.99. [Read 162 pages].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1,200 pages of required reading and response papers (10 pages of writing) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3] [80 hours for reading; 10 hours of DLAs for writing].
2. A research/term paper [10-12 pages] (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3]. [25 hours].
3. A Theological Statement on Method in Theology Proper and Christology (5-6 pages) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3]. [10 hours].
4. Final Test (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-2]. [5 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH1 or TH4 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MAT Programs (Fall 2015). Option to meet the TH1 requirement in the 80 MATM and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the STA requirement in the 144 MDiv Program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.