Spring 2017/Pasadena

TH861/ST564

Crisp

TH861/ST564: CONTEMPORARY CHRISTOLOGY (6/4 Units: 390/265 Hours). Oliver Crisp.

DESCRIPTION: This is a 6-unit seminar designed for PhD and ThM students in the CATS program, also offered at the 500-level as a 4-unit course open to five MDiv/MA students by written permission. It is a critical examination of some of the central themes in contemporary philosophical-theological accounts of Christology, with an emphasis on articulating and defending a constructive theological understanding of the person of Christ.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated their ability to (1) identify key methodological choices and agendas in Christology; (2) analyze critically and assess the contribution of analytic philosophers and theologians to central aspects of Christology; (3) offer a reasoned response to various proposals offered by these philosophical theologians in light of tradition and current intellectual milieu; and (4) begin to formulate their own approach to doing systematic/constructive Christology.

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.

REQUIRED READING: 2,561 pages required (M-level students); 3,000 pages required (ThM/PhD-level students).

All students are strongly recommended to have read Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Christology: A Global Introduction, Second Edition. Baker Academic, 2016. ISBN: 978-0801030888. Pub. Price: $26.00. [230pp.] before the start of the course.

Adams, Marilyn McCord. Christ and Horrors. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0521686006. Pub. Price: $40.99. [240 pp. assigned.]

Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics IV/1. T&T Clark, 1979; reprinted Hendrickson, 2010. ISBN: 978-1598564426. Pub. Price: $ [§§ 57-59 = 280 pp. assigned.] NB: Also available electronically via Fuller Library.

Crisp, Oliver D. The Word Enfleshed: Exploring the Person and Work of Christ. Baker Academic, 2016. ISBN: 978-0801098093. Pub. Price: $26.00. [170 pp. assigned.]

Frei, Hans. The Identity of Jesus Christ: The Hermeneutical Bases of Dogmatic Theology. Wipf and Stock, 2013 [1975]. ISBN: 978-1625642806. Pub. Price: $33.00. [175 pp. assigned.]

Hick, John. The Metaphor of God Incarnate. Second Edition. Westminster John Knox Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0664230371. Pub. Price: $27.00. [188 pp. assigned.]

Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. Christ and Reconciliation: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World, vol. 1. Eerdmans, 2013. ISBN: 978-0802868534. Pub. Price: $40.00. [290 pp. assigned.]

Morris, Thomas V. The Logic of God Incarnate. Wipf & Stock 2001 [1986]. ISBN: 978-1579106294. Pub. Price: $26.00. [200 pp. assigned.]

Moltmann, Jürgen. The Way of Jesus Christ. Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0800628260. Pub. Price: $29.00. [341 pp. assigned.]

Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Jesus—God and Man. Second Edition. Westminster John Knox, 1977. ISBN: 978-0664244682. Pub. Price: $40.00. [376 pp. assigned.]

Tanner, Kathryn. Christ the Key. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0521732772. Pub. Price: $35.99. [301 pp. assigned.]

Additionally, for 800-level students

Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologiae III. Q. 1-26. (Various editions available, including editions online.)

St Cyril of Alexandria. On the Unity of Christ. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0881411331, Pub. Price $16.00. [81pp. assigned.]

Lombard, Peter. The Sentences, Book III, On the Incarnation of the Word, trans. Guilo Silano. PIMS, 2008. ISBN: 978-0888442956. Pub. Price: $35.95. [Distinctions 1-XXII = 100 pp. assigned.]

RECOMMENDED READING: See syllabus.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT: All members of the seminar are expected to have studied the set readings for the week, and to participate fully in class discussion. Each week designated members of the seminar will introduce discussion, giving a brief background of the readings, summarizing the key issues, and offering a reasoned response. Assignments are differentiated according to whether the student is taking the course at the 500-level (i.e. Masters degree students), or the 800-level (i.e. ThM and PhD candidates).

500-level (MDiv, MAT) assignments and assessments (265 hrs total = 26.5hrs p/w):

1. 2,561 pages of required reading. [170 hours].

2. Completion of two 5-page critical reflections on key primary texts (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2]. [20 hours].

3. Presentation and submission of a 20 minute seminar paper [2,500 words] (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2]. [15 hours].

4. A research essay on an assigned topic [3,000 words] (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3]. [30 hours].

800-level (ThM and PhD) assignments and assessments (390 total = 39hrs p/w):

1. c. 3,000 pages of required reading. [200 hours.]

2. Presentation and submission of a 20 minute seminar paper [2,500 words] (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2]. [50 hours.]

3. A research essay on an assigned topic [8,000 words] (70%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3]. The essay is the length of a journal article or book chapter. The aim is to write a piece of publishable-quality work. [110 hours.]

PREREQUISITES: For ST564, written permission of the professor.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH4 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MAT Programs (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.