Winter 2016/Pasadena

TH573

Crisp

TH573: THE THEOLOGY OF ANSELM OF CANTERBURY (4 Units: 165 hours). Oliver Crisp.

DESCRIPTION: Anselm of Canterbury was one of the fountainheads of western theology and a father of medieval scholasticism. His thought has also been very influential upon Protestantism. This course requires students to read through almost all his major texts in translation. It offers a chance to engage with the philosophical and theological issues Anselm’s work raises, from the existence and nature of God through the doctrines of Trinity, Incarnation and Atonement, to the vexed question of divine foreknowledge and human freedom.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who complete this course will demonstrate: (1) a basic critical theological knowledge of the conceptual and normative dimensions of Anselm’s thought; (2) a basic competence in interpreting historic and contemporary perorations of his thinking (in terms of “retrieval theology”) and an ability to evaluate the theological issues his works raises and their historical and contemporary development; and (3) a critical and sympathetic appreciation for the breadth, unity, and diversity of the Christian church.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets twice weekly for two hour sessions for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED READING: 1,079 total pp. required.

Anselm, Basic Writings, trans. Thomas Williams. Hackett, 2007. ISBN: 978-0872208957, Pub. Price $15.00 [422 pp. assigned].

Davies, Brian and Leftow, Brian eds. The Cambridge Companion to Anselm of Canterbury. Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0521002059, Pub. Price $39.99 [255 pp. assigned].

Evans, G. R. Anselm of Canterbury. Outstanding Christian Thinkers Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 1989. ISBN: 978-0826476579, Pub. Price $26.96 [110 pp. assigned].

Williams, Thomas and Visser, Sandra Anselm. Great Medieval Thinkers Series. Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0195309393, Pub. Price $31.95 [292 pp. assigned].