Spring 2019/Pasadena

TC567/867

Callaway

TC567/867: THEOLOGY AND CULTURE IN A POST-SECULAR WORLD. (4 Units: 160 hours; 6 Units: 380 Hours). Kutter Callaway.

---

DESCRIPTION: In the late-modern West, atheism, secular humanism, and/or naturalism are now “live options” in ways that they have never been before. While the United States remains one of the most religious of Western countries, a significant (and growing) minority of the population is not simply abandoning religious practice or religious institutions under the guise of being “spiritual but not religious,” but consciously self-identifying as atheist/humanist/naturalist. This class explores the historical development of this (largely Western) phenomenon, and investigate the intellectual sources that fund the contemporary cultural imagination—sociological, psychological, philosophical, and, ultimately, theological. Although the broader concerns of the course have to do with the cultural significance of atheism, it will focus in particular on aesthetics. That is, it will take up the question of whether and how the aesthetic impulse imbedded within a/theism might prove instructive for developing a constructive Christian theology in the late-modern world.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: In completing this course students will have demonstrated their ability to: (1) Map in general terms the primary schools of thought that constitute the landscape of the post-secular West; (2) Critically examine these paradigms in terms of their aesthetic shape (or lack thereof); (3) Assess the ways in which these interpretive frameworks might be brought into a mutually enriching conversation with Christian theology; (4) Formulate the beginnings of a constructive theological framework of their own that accounts for the shifting metaphysics of the contemporary cultural imagination; and (5) Assess the potential apologetic and/or missional benefits of developing a “theopoetics,” i.e. an articulation of the Gospel that “figures forth” the Kingdom of God in a culture responding to the death of the death of god.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet weekly 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 MA students) or 10 hours of instructional hours (for PhD students) for a total of 40 instructional hours. It will have some lectures by the professor, but will be mostly seminar presentations and class discussions. Students will be expected—beyond assigned class readings—to do the necessary primary and secondary research for their presentations. The seminar will cover a broad swath of intellectual traditions, drawing from a diverse set of disciplines.

REQUIRED READING [1,400 pp. for TC567]:

Course Reader. (on eReserves found on Canvas) [178 pp. assigned, including work from Julie Exline, Mary Daly, Katherine Sarah Moody, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Erin Schendzielos, Simone Weil, Lisa McCullough, and Mother Theresa].

Callaway, Kutter and Taylor, Barry. The Aesthetics of Atheism. Fortress Press, 2019, Pub. Price $18.99 [forthcoming] [259 pp.].

Kahn, Jonathon S. and Lloyd,Vincent W. Eds. Race and Secularism in America. Columbia University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0231174916, Pub. Price $30.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [277 pp.]

Gray, John. Seven Types of Atheism. Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN: 978-0374261092, Pub. Price $25.00. [270 pp.]

Gungor, Lisa. The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen: Opening Your Eyes to Wonder. Zondervan, 2018. ISBN: 978-0310350439, Pub. Price $16.99 [224 pp.].

Sharpe, Christina. In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. Duke University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0822362944, Pub. Price $22.95. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [192 pp.].

REQUIRED READING [3,000 pp. for TC867]:

All of the above texts, plus the following:

Caputo, John D. The Folly of God: A Theology of the Unconditional. Polebridge Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-1598151718, Pub. Price $22.00 [148 pp.].

Critchley, Simon. The Faith of the Faithless: Experiments In Political Theology. Verso, 2014. ISBN: 978-1781681688, Pub. Price $18.95 [291 pp. assigned]

Halik, Tomas. Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing In Us. Translated by Gerald Turner. Doubleday Religion, 2009. ISBN: 978-0385524490, Pub. Price $23.95 [240 pp.].

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom). Neeland Media, 2010. ISBN: 978-0394719856, Pub. Price $13.95 [176 pp.].

Pinn, Anthony B. The End of God-Talk: An African American Humanist Theology. Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0195340839, Pub. Price $28.95. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [203 pp.].

Thacker, Eugene. In the Dust of This Planet: Horror of Philosophy Vol. 1. Zero Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-1846946769, Pub. Price $19.95 [171 pp.].

Warren, Calvin L. Ontological Terror: Blackness, Nihilism, and Emancipation. Duke University Press, 2018. ISBN: 978-0822370871, Pub. Price $24.95 [232 pp.]

Žižek, Slavoj. The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity. The MIT Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0262740258, Pub. Price $23.95. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [196 pp.].

*PLEASE NOTE: As a graduate level course that seeks a dialogue between theology and contemporary culture, this class may include visual, written, aural, and/or thematic content that might prove disturbing or offensive to some.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS:

TC567:

1. Completion of assigned readings, participation in class discussions and attendance. (20% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5.] [90 hours].
2. Submission of a seminar paper (approx. 1,500-2,000 words) in which the student offers a critical summary and assessment of a required reading for a given week, noting in particular how the author’s claims inform our theological understanding of contemporary atheism and its aesthetic shape (or lack thereof). (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4.] [15 hours, including 10 hours of DLAs].
3. One in-class presentation of a short (600-900 words) critical reflection paper on a concrete manifestation of the contemporary phenomenon of atheism, exploring how the chosen artifact might inform our approach toward Christian mission and Gospel articulation in the contemporary world, i.e. how it might aid our development of a “theopoetics.” (20% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #3-5.] [15 hours].
4. A final paper (3,500-4,000 words) in which the student engages in theological dialogue with a cultural phenomenon or artifact of their choice, interpreted in conversation with one of the primary readings in the class. Papers should explore in particular how the aesthetic impulse embodied in this artifact/phenomenon (or lack thereof) might serve as a resource for constructive theological work. The conversation moves in two directions. How might Christian theology account for the modern pursuit of aesthetic experiences in ways that atheism does not or cannot? Conversely, how might the aesthetics of atheism give new shape and direction to contemporary theological inquiry? (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5.] [40 hours].

TC867:

1. Completion of assigned readings, participation in class discussions and attendance. (10% of grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5.] [205 hours].

2. Presentation of one class lecture and submission of lecture outline, in which the student offers a critical summary and assessment of the required reading assigned to doctoral students for a given week, noting in particular how the author’s claims inform our theological understanding of contemporary atheism and its aesthetic shape (or lack thereof). Presenters will also be responsible for facilitating class discussion, which will take place in collaboration with the other student(s) presenting papers during that class session. (20% of grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4.] [40 hours].
3. Designing a syllabus for a class exploring Christian mission and Gospel articulation in the contemporary world, i.e. how it might aid our development of a “theopoetics.” (30% of grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #3-5.] [35 hours].
4. A final paper (7,000-7,500 words) that offers a constructive theology of a/theism that takes seriously the shifting metaphysics of the contemporary cultural imagination. Students will engage in theological dialogue with one of the primary readings in the class and a particular cultural artifact or phenomenon, exploring in particular how the aesthetic impulse embodied in this theoretical framework (or lack thereof) might serve as a resource for constructive theological work. The conversation moves in two directions. How might Christian theology account for the modern pursuit of aesthetic experiences in ways that atheism does not or cannot? Conversely, how might the aesthetics of atheism give new shape and direction to contemporary theological inquiry? (40% of grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5.] [100 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: TC567: Option to meet the TH5 or C2 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015). TC867: Meets Theology and Culture requirement.

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. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.