Fall 2014/Pasadena

CH516

Bradley

CH516: THEOLOGY AND POLITICS IN MODERN SOCIETY (4 Units: 222 Hours). James Bradley.

DESCRIPTION: This is a CATS graduate seminar, open to a small number of master’s level students. Despite the remarkable advance of democracy in the twentieth century, and despite democracy’s stunning success in the recent history of the West, the power of the modern state continues to expand and extend its sway. The state now rules in areas that were heretofore considered the responsibility of the Church, and while this means that opportunities for social justice are potentially enhanced, the putative omnicompetence of government brings with it substantial threat. At the same time, the church itself has rediscovered the political nature of its existence in the world. Christian leaders today must examine afresh the question of the foundations for modern political authority in relationship to the Kingdom of God. To that end, this seminar examines the political thought of leading twentieth-century theologians, including Barth, Bonhoeffer, Moltmann, Cone, and Segundo, with emphasis on questions of authority, human rights, equality, and liberation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Successful completion of the course will enable students to (1) demonstrate a knowledge of the important historical contexts and key developments of Protestant political theology in the late 19^th through the 20^th centuries; (2) demonstrate they understand the connections between the theology of the authors we study and the particular views of political authority and human rights and responsibilities they espouse, and how, in turn, these theologies and theories may influence the church today; and (3) demonstrate the skills in research and writing that are suited to the vocation of scholarship to which they are called.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for three-hour sessions 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. N.B. As CATS has no policy on the number of pages read per hour, this ECD assumes twenty pages an hour for calculating the structured hours. And since more is expected of M.A. level students who aspire to further graduate work, the minimum of 160 structured hours is, of necessity, exceeded.

REQUIRED READING: 2,239 pp. required.

Barth, Karl. Community, State and Church. Wipf & Stock, 2004. ISBN: 978-1592449231, Pub. Price $23.00 [202 pp.].

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison. Updated ed. Touchstone, 1997. ISBN: 978-0684838274, Pub. Price $16.00 [448 pp.].

Cone, James H. God of the Oppressed. Rev. ed. Orbis Books, 1997. ISBN: 978-1570751585, Pub. Price $20.00 [257 pp.].

Moltmann, Jürgen. Theology of Hope. Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0800628246, Pub. Price $29.00 [344 pp.].

______________. Creating a Just Future. SCM Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0334019091, Pub. Price $16.00 [114 pp.].

Segundo, Juan Luis. Faith and Ideologies. Wipf & Stock, 2006. ISBN: 978-1597528153, Pub. Price $35.00 [352 pp.].

Yoder, John Howard. Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World. Discipleship Resources, 1992. ISBN: 978-0836191608, Pub. Price $12.81 [90 pp.].

Articles and chapters on E-Reserves: [432 pp.].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 2,239 pp. of required reading [112 hours]. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1 and 2].

2. Directed learning activities for this course entail writing ten, two page responses to selected portions of the required readings (one a week). [The assignment will comprise 10% of the grade and is related to learning outcomes 2 and 3]. [10 hours].

3. Rigorous participation in the seminar discussions [The assignment will comprised 10% of the grade and is related to outcomes 1 and 2].

4. A major 6,000 word (twenty page) research paper. Students will be able to choose from a wide variety of specific topics for their papers. [This assignment will comprise 80% of the grade and is related to learning outcomes 2 and 3]. [70 hours].

PREREQUISITES: The course is open by permission of the professor to a limited number of MA and MDiv students who are planning advanced work in the fields of history or theology. Such students should have completed one or more survey courses in Modern Church History, American Church History, or Modern Theology.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective. Option to meet the TH4 requirement in the 120 MDiv program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.