Winter 2014/Pasadena

PH514

Murphy

PH514: TOPICS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Nancey Murphy.

DESCRIPTION: An examination of a cluster of related issues in philosophy of religion, including the rationality of Christian belief and the nature of theological method; the nature of the human person; the relation between Christian theology and science; and world religions.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: The issues that we deal with in class will also be issues of concern for many church members; this will be an opportunity for students to begin to prepare to address them.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Knowledge: to introduce students to some of the major philosophical problems facing Christian believers and to some of the strategies that have been used to address them; (2) skills: to improve students’ skills in reasoning about their faith and in academic writing; and (3) attitudes: to promote confidence in the student’s own abilities to address intellectual problems as well as sympathetic appreciation for scholars who have struggled with difficult issues and have arrived at conclusions different from those of the student.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet twice weekly for two-hour sessions. This will be the reverse of a typical lecture course. While the instructor will provide some brief introductory remarks and responses, the majority of class time will be spent sharing and discussing responses to Murphy’s forthcoming philosophy of religion textbook.

REQUIRED READING: (total pages of reading will depend on students’ choice of secondary texts)

Murphy, Nancey. A Christian Philosophy of Religion for the Twenty-First Century. To be published by SPCK, (however © N. Murphy). Posted on Moodle. [estimated pp. 430].

In addition, students should select a second text (compare alternatives in the library, bookstore, Amazon), purchase one, and insofar as possible read chapters parallel to the ones assigned in Murphy.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Depending on the size of the class, approximately four students will be assigned for each class session to mark up the text of the chapter for that week using Track Changes (e.g., indicating passages that are not clear) and also write a 1-2 page (300-600 word) assessment of the chapter as a whole (35% of the grade).

  2. In addition a 15 page (4500 word) paper will be due on Friday, Mar. 14, at 5:00 pm in the Academic Advising Office. (Final paper 65% of final grade).

Note that writing assignments will be designed to demonstrate mastery of assigned reading as well as critical reflection.

PREREQUISITES: It is strongly advised that students NOT take this class in their first year of seminary.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Philosophy/Philosophical Theology (PHIL).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.


NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change.