Winter 2011/Pasadena
ST829/529
Kärkkäinen
ST829/529: THEOLOGICAL METHOD. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen.
DESCRIPTION: This doctoral seminar, open to limited number of advanced master's
level students, is designed to investigate and discuss critically competing
methodologies and approaches in contemporary systematic/constructive theology
including their philosophical, hermeneutical, and cultural ramifications.
Approaches to be studied include mainline Protestant and Catholic,
post-liberal, postmodern, Radical Orthodox, postmetaphysical, post-colonial,
canonical-linguistic, and various types of Liberationist and other "contextual"
or "global" theologies, as well as Evangelical responses and constructive
proposals.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: In light of the fact that in current
theology there is no single "method" available, a careful consideration of
various proposals and methodological issues is necessary for the preparation
for independent academic work.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated their
ability to (1) identify key methodological choices and agendas in various
contemporary systematic theologies; (2) analyze critically and assess their
contributions and liabilities; (3) offer a reasoned response to various
proposals in light of tradition and current intellectual milieu; and (4) begin
to formulate their own approach to doing systematic/constructive theology.
COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet once a week for a three-hour session for
student presentations and critical discussion. Immediately after
registration, the student must contact the professor for the syllabus and
pre-seminar assignments (vmk@fuller.edu).
REQUIRED READING: Selections from the following texts:
- Course Reader: "Essays on Theological Method." ST829/529 (Moodle
course website)
- Cone, J. H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Twentieth Anniversary
Edition. Orbis, 1990. 200 pp. ISBN: 9780883446850. $22.00.
- OR Gutiérrez, G. A Theology of
Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation. Orbis, 1973. 334 pp.
ISBN: 9780883445426. $24.00.
- Grenz, S. J. & Franke, J. R. Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping
Theology in a Postmodern Society. Westminster John Knox, 2001. 296 pp.
ISBN: 9780664257699. $39.95.
- OR Murphy, N. Beyond Liberalism and
Fundamentalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set the Theological
Agenda. Trinity Press, 1996. 192 pp. ISBN: 1563381761.
$27.96.
- Hart, Trevor. Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian
Theology. Wipf & Stock, 2005. 248 pp. ISBN: 9781597520188.
$27.00.
- Johnson, E. She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological
Discourse. Crossroad, 2002. 344 pp. ISBN: 9780824519254. $29.99
(1992).
- OR McFague, S. Models of God: Theology for an
Ecological, Nuclear Age. Fortress, 1987. 244 pp. ISBN: 9780800620516.
$22.00.
- OR Kwok, P. Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology.
Westminster John Knox, 2005. 256 pp. ISBN: 9780664228835. $29.95.
- Lindbeck, G. A. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion & Theology
in a Postliberal Age. Westminster John Knox, 1984. 144 pp. ISBN:
9780664246181. $29.95.
- Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. Repr. University of Toronto
Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780802068095.
- Milbank, J., et. al., ed. Radical Orthodoxy: A New Theology.
Routledge, 1998.
- Moltmann, J., Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian
Theology. Fortress, 2000. 320 pp. ISBN: 9780800632670. $30.00.
- Pannenberg, W. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1. Eerdmans, 1991.
486 pp. ISBN: 9780802865038. $55.00.
- Placher, W. An Unapologetic Theology: A Christian Voice in a Pluralistic
Society. Westminster John Knox, 1989. 184 pp. ISBN: 9780664250645.
$29.95.
- Vanhoozer, K. J. The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach
to Christian Doctrine. Westminster John Knox, 2005. 485 pp. ISBN:
9780664223274. $39.95.
- Ward, Graham, ed. The Postmodern God: A Theological Reader.
Wiley-Blackwell, 1998. 416 pp. ISBN: 9780631201410. $62.95.
- The following works are available (in the reserve shelf) for
consultation for presentations:
- Bevans, S. B. Models of Contextual Theology. Rev. ed. Orbis,
2002. 192 pp. ISBN: 9781570754388. $30.00.
- Bloesch, D. A Theology of Word & Spirit: Authority & Method in
Theology. InterVarsity Press, 1992. 336 pp. ISBN: 9780830827510.
$20.00.
- Frei, H. W. The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative. Yale University
Press, 1980. 365 pp. ISBN: 9780300026023. $25.00.
- Greene-McCreight, Kathryn. Feminist Reconstructions of Christian
Doctrine: Narrative Analysis and Appraisal. Oxford University Press, 2000.
192 pp. ISBN: 9780195128628. $95.00.
- Kaufman, G. D. The Theological Imagination: Constructing the Concept of
God. Westminster John Knox, 1981. 312 pp. ISBN: 9780664243937.
- Marion, J. L. God without Being: Hors-Texte. University of Chicago
Press, 1995. 284 pp. ISBN: 9780226505411. $21.00.
- Milbank, J. & O. Simon, ed. The Radical Orthodoxy Reader.
Routledge, 2009. 420 pp. ISBN: 9780415425131. $41.95.
- Moltmann, J.: Any of the volumes in his series "Contributions to Theology"
from The Trinity and the Kingdom (1981) to the Coming of God
(1996). Fortress Press.
- Murphy, N. Anglo-American Postmodernity: Philosophical Perspectives on
Science, Religion, and Ethics. Westview Press, 1997. 240 pp. ISBN:
9780813328690. $39.00.
- Pannenberg, W. Systematic Theology. Vol. 2. Eerdmans 1994.
515 pp. ISBN: 9780802837073. $55.00.
- ------. Systematic Theology. Vol. 3. Eerdmans, 1997. 730 pp.
ISBN: 9780802864567. $55.00.
- Phan, P. Christianity with an Asian Face: Asian American Theology in the
Making. Orbis, 2003. 256 pp. ISBN: 9781570754661. $34.00.
- Phillips, T. T. & D. L. Okholm, eds. The Nature of Confession.
Evangelicals & Postliberals in Conversation. InterVarsity Press, 1996.
298 pp. 9780830818693. $12.55.
- Smith, J. A. K. Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-Secular
Theology. Baker Academic, 2004. 296 pp. ISBN: 9780801027352. $28.00.
- Schreiter, R. J. Constructing Local Theologies. Orbis, 1985.
192 pp. ISBN: 9780883441084. $26.00.
- Shults, F. L. The Postfoundationalist Task of Theology. Eerdmans,
1999. 286 pp. ISBN: 9780802846860. $29.00.
- Tanner, K. Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology. Fortress,
1997. 208 pp. ISBN: 9780800630973. $21.00.
- Tracy, D. The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture
of Pluralism. Crossroad, 1998. 480 pp. ISBN: 9780824506940. $39.95.
- Vanhoozer, K. J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern
Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2003. 312 pp. ISBN:
9780521793957. $28.99.
- Wilson, M. M. Historical and Social Dimensions in African Christian
Theology. Wipf & Stock, 2009. 118 pp. ISBN: 9781606081242.
$16.00.
ASSIGNMENTS: (1) A careful reading of the required texts prior to class and
active participation in class discussions, 10%; (2) Class presentations, 20%;
(3) Short reflection paper on the theological method of the chosen theologian,
5-7pp., 10%; (3) Research paper of 25-30 pp., 60%. Requirements will be
adjusted appropriately for master's level students.
PREREQUISITES: Master's level students need written permission from the
professor.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Required for PhD and ThM in Theology. MDiv/MA
elective.
This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (October 2010)