Summer 2005/Pasadena
Two-week Intensive: August 15-26
ST501
Kärkkäinen
ST501: SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY 1: THEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY. Veli-Matti
Kärkkäinen.
DESCRIPTION:
- This course is designed to provide a foundational understanding of
Christian beliefs about revelation and Scripture, the triune God, creation and
providence, human beings as the image of God, and the fall, evil, and sin.
Corollary current issues, such as human beings as male and female, race,
suffering, ecology, and the relationship of Christian faith to other religions
will be discussed. On the basis of biblical and historical developments, a
contemporary Evangelical theology will be constructed in dialogue with
ecumenical, contextual/intercultural, and interreligious perspectives.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- This course aims at helping students to think theologically through
issues of faith and ministry as well as begin to develop one's own theology in
dialogue with diverse opinions and voices.
COURSE FORMAT: Class will meet daily for four hours for lectures, discussions,
& student presentations.
REQUIRED READING:
- Grenz, S.J. Theology for the Community of God. Eerdmans,
2000, pp. 1-242
- Kärkkäinen, V.-M. The Doctrine of God. A Global
Introduction. Baker, 2004.
- _______. An Introduction to the Theology of Religions. InterVarsity
Press, 2003 (relevant sections).
- Placher, W.C. ed. Essentials of Christian Theology. Westminster John
Knox, 2003, pp. 1-181, 297-328.
- Special topic, choose one:
- Bacote, L.C. et al., ed. Evangelicals &
Scripture: Tradition, Authority & Hermeneutics. IVP, 2004.
- Beilby, J.K. & P.R. Eddy. Divine Foreknowledge. Four Views.
InterVarsity Press, 2001.
- Bouma-Prediger, S. For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for
Creation Care. IVP, 2001
- Fiddes, P. Participating in God: A Pastoral Doctrine of the Trinity.
Westminster John Knox, 2001.
- Jewett, P.K. & Shuster, M. Who We Are: Our Dignity as Human.
Eerdmans, 1996.
- McKim, D.K. The Bible in Theology & Preaching.
Abingdon, 1985/Wipf & Stock, 1999.
- Pinnock, C. Most Moved Mover: A Theology of God's Openness. Baker,
2001.
- Plantinga, A. Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin.
Eerdmans, 1996.
- Sanders, J. The God Who Risks: A Theology of Providence.
InterVarsity Press, 1998.
- Schwarz, H. Creation. Eerdmans, 2002.
- Shuster, M. The Fall and Sin. What We Have Become as Sinners.
Eerdmans, 2003.
- Volf, M. Exclusion and Embrace. Abingdon, 1996.
- A contextual/intercultural/interreligious study (relevant sections)
choose one:
- Barr, W.R. Constructive Christian Theology in the
Worldwide Church. Eerdmans, 1997.
- Boff, L. Trinity and Society. Orbis, 1988.
- Cone, J.H. God of the Oppressed. Orbis, 1997.
- Evans, J. We Have Been Believers: An African American Systematic
Theology. Fortress, 1992.
- Gonzáles, J. Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic
Perspective. Abingdon, 1990.
- Kärkkäinen, V.-M. Trinity and Religious Pluralism.
Ashgate, 2004.
McDermott, G. R. Can Evangelicals Learn from World
Religions? InterVarsity Press, 2001.
- Parratt, J. Reinventing Christianity: African
Theology Today. Eerdmans, 1995.
- Parsons, S.F. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Theology.
Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002.
- Tennent, T. C. Christianity at the Religious Roundtable. Baker
Academic, 2002
ASSIGNMENTS:
- (1) 1,200 pages of required reading. (2) 15 pages of reading
responses. (3) A research paper, 10 pp. (4) Student presentations. (5) Final
exam: topics will be given at the beginning of the course.
- Students prepare by reading Placher and Grenz (assigned pages) before
the course.
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Systematic Theology
"A" (STA).
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.