Summer 2017/Pasadena
HT503
Bennett
HT503: THE CHURCH’S UNDERSTANDING OF CHURCH, HUMANITY, AND CHRISTIAN LIFE IN ITS THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION (4 Units: 160 hours). Thomas Andrew Bennett.
DESCRIPTION: HT503 is a survey of systematic and philosophical theology that focuses especially on revelation and scripture; creation and providence; theological anthropology (human identity and nature, the image of God, the fall, sin, and evil), soteriology (the election, calling, justification, regeneration, and sanctification of the Christian), and ecclesiology (the ministry and mission of the church). The course reflects the historic Christian church's development of these doctrines in dialogue with its opponents and with its cultural context. Related topics and themes to be addressed may include the development and articulation of the inspiration and authority of scripture, God's work in creation, human persons in relation to God, and the place of the church in the purposes of God.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who complete HT503 will demonstrate: (1) a basic critical theological knowledge of the conceptual and normative dimensions of the doctrines of revelation, creation and providence, anthropology, soteriology, and ecclesiology as those and other selected doctrines emerged in the early church and developed to this day; (2) a basic competence in interpreting historic and contemporary perorations of these doctrines and an ability to evaluate these theological issues 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 daily as a two-week intensive for four hour sessions for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.
REQUIRED READING: 1,100 pages of required reading.
Course Reader (available on Moodle and online) including essays and excerpts from historical and contemporary theology, including but not limited to: Irenaeus, Augustine, Anselm, Julian of Norwich, Calvin, Jürgen Moltmann, Colin Gunton, Leonardo Boff, David Bentley Hart, Miroslav Volf, et. al. [~300 pp.].
Kärkkäinen, V.-M. Creation and Humanity. A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World, vol. 3. Eerdmans, 2015. ISBN: 978-0802868558, Pub. Price $40.00 [315 pp.].
Plantinga, Richard J., Thomas R. Thompson, Matthew D. Lundberg. An Introduction to Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0521690379, Pub. Price $34.99 [330 pp.].
Student will choose one text from a list of texts provided on the syllabus, which will allow the student to explore an area of specific interest in more depth [200-250 selected pages]. Examples of potential selections:
Boff, Leonardo. Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church. Orbis, 1986. ISBN: 978-0883442142, Pub. Price: $22.00 [115 pp.].
Comblin, J. The Holy Spirit and Liberation. Wipf & Stock, 2004. ISBN: 978-1592445622, Pub. Price: $28.00 [232 pp.].
Cone, J.H. God of the Oppressed. Orbis, 1997. ISBN: 978-1570751585, Pub. Price: $20.00 [257 pp.].
Defranza, Meghan K. Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God. Eerdmans, 2015. ISBN: 978-0802869821, Pub. Price $24.00 [240 pp.].
Ellison, Marvin M. and Kelly Brown Douglas. Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection, 2nd Edition. Westminster John Knox, 2010. ISBN: 978-0664233662, Pub. Price $40.00 [424 pp.].
Gibbs, Eddie and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Baker Academic, 2005. ISBN: 978-0801027154, Pub. Price $28.00 [352 pp.].
Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997. ISBN: 978-0664257507, Pub. Price $30.00 [312 pp.].
Gunton, Colin. A Brief Theology of Revelation. Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2005. ISBN: 978-0567041111, Pub. Price $42.00 [144 pp.].
Hart, David Bentley. The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth. Eerdmans, 2004. ISBN: 978-0802829214, Pub. Price $42.00 [428 pp.].
Johnson, Adam J. God's Being in Reconciliation: The Theological Basis of the Unity and Diversity of the Atonement in the Theology of Karl Barth. T & T Clark, 2014. ISBN: 978-0567123459, Pub. Price $40.00 [240 pp.].
Johnson, Elizabeth A. Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit. Paulist Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0809134151, Pub. Price $7.95 [88 pp.].
Lee, Sang Hyun. From a Liminal Place: An Asian American Theology. Fortress Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0800696689, Pub. Price: $29.00 [216 pp.].
Middleton, Richard J. The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1. Brazos, 2005. ISBN: 978-1587431104, Pub. Price $28.00 [304 pp.].
Moltmann, Jürgen. God in Creation. Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0800628239, Pub. Price $29.00 [384 pp.].
Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802804266, Pub. Price $25.00 [264 pp.].
Peacore, L. The Role of Women’s Experience in Feminist Theologies of Atonement. Pickwick Publications, 2010. ISBN: 978-1556358036, Pub. Price: $30.00 [254 pp.].
Schmiechen, Peter. Saving Power: Theories of Atonement and Forms of the Church. Eerdmans, 2005. ISBN: 978-0802829856, Pub. Price $40.00 [384 pp.].
Thatcher, Adrian. God, Sex, and Gender: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. ISBN: 978-1405193702, Pub. Price $43.00 [288 pp.].
Volf, Miroslav. Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work. Reprint edition. Wipf & Stock, 2001. ISBN: 978-1579106416, Pub. Price $27.00 [268 pp.].
Walls, Jerry L. Purgatory: The Logic of Total Transformation. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0199732296, Pub. Price $39.00 [232 pp.].
Weaver, J. Denny. The Nonviolent Atonement. Eerdmans, 2001. ISBN: 978-0802849083, Pub. Price $28.00 [368 pp.].
Yong, Amos. The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802866127, Pub. Price $32.00 [256 pp.].
RECOMMENDED READING: Please see course syllabus for list of recommended reading.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH2 or TH4 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MAT Programs (Fall 2015). Option to meet the TH2 requirement in the 80 MATM and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the STB requirement in the 144 MDiv Program.
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.