DESCRIPTION: This doctoral seminar (open to a maximum of five advanced master's level students) studies Trinitarian traditions and developments at the international and ecumenical level as well as Trinitarian doctrines of some leading contemporary theologians.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated their ability (1) to understand and discern key biblical, historical, and systematic developments in the growth of the Trinitarian doctrine both in the East and West; (2) to reflect theologically on and analyze critically key contributions and challenges facing contemporary Trinitarian theology; and (3) to relate Trinity to key theological issues such as theological method, the church and her ministry, Christology and Pneumatology, sexism and society, as well as other religions.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: The fact that the Trinity is the most distinctive feature of Christian faith and that we live in the midst of a Trinitarian renaissance makes theological reflection on the Trinity and its relation to key theological issues an essential task for theologians and ministers.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet once a week for a three-hour session of theological discussion and reflection facilitated by students and occasional guest presenters.

REQUIRED READING:

Boff, L. Trinity and Society. Orbis, 1988. OR Holy Trinity, Perfect Community. Orbis, 2000.

Fiddes, P. Participating in God: A Pastoral Doctrine of the Trinity. Westminster John Knox, 2000.

Grenz, S. Rediscovering the Triune God: The Trinity in Contemporary Theology. Fortress, 2004.*

Heim, S. M. The Depth of the Riches: A Trinitarian Theology of Religious Ends. Eerdmans, 2001.
OR D'Costa, G. The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity. Orbis, 2000.

Johnson, E. She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse. Continuum, 1992.

Kärkkäinen, V.-M. Trinity: A Global Assessment. WJKP, 2006 (forthcoming; MS available in bookstore).*

Lee, J. Y. The Trinity in Asian Perspective. Abingdon, 1996. OR Miyahira, N. Towards a Theology of the Concord of God: A Japanese Perspective on the Trinity. Paternoster, 2000. OR Ogbonnaya, A. O. On Communitarian Divinity: An African Interpretation of the Trinity. Paragon House, 1994.

Moltmann, J. The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God. SCM, 1991.

Pannenberg, W. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1. Eerdmans, 1991 (relevant sections).

Zizioulas, J. Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. St.Vladimir's, 1985.

Bobrinskoy, B. The Mystery of the Trinity: Trinitarian Experience and Vision in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition. St. Vladimir's, 1999.

Davis, S. et al., eds. Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Trinity. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999.

Fox, P. God as Communion: John Zizioulas, Elizabeth Johnson, and the Retrieval of the Symbol of the Triune God. Liturgical Press, 2001.

Gunton, C. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Essays Toward a Fully Trinitarian Theology. T&T Clark, 2003.

Kärkkäinen, V.-M. The Trinity and Religious Pluralism. The Role of the Doctrine of the Trinity in Christian Theology of Religions. Ashgate, 2004.

Letham, R. The Holy Trinity in Scripture, History, Theology and Worship. P&R, 2004.

Peters, T. God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life. Westminster John Knox, 1993.