PM - Pastoral Ministry
This course develops students' capacity to think theologically about issues in church life and culture. The course begins with the development of the religious imagination, which facilitates empathy and invites students to think in non-traditional ways about the connection between religion and culture. The course continues with a survey of the Bible and its various narrative lines. The course concludes with an examination of the ways in which individuals construct their own identity and place as laity within church life and thought.
This course surveys the history of Christianity from the period after the close of the New Testament to Vatican II. The survey focuses on the development of Christianity principally within western Europe and then in the American experience. Among a variety of topics, students are introduced to the debate over in Americanism in Catholic circles during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Also, the survey focuses on the impact of various historical events on the development of Christian worship practices, especially its sacramental and liturgical practices.
This course surveys the two major fields of Christian ethics: fundamental and social. Fundamental ethics is concerned with the development and orientation of human life towards eudaimonia, a Greek concept loosely understood as "happiness." Social ethics is concerned with the structures of human life and society that constrict or facilitate a community's development and orientation towards eudaimonia. The course then examines one aspect in which these fields of ethics converge: marriage and family life. Students consider the extent to which marriage and families are key components of social life while also serving as the training ground in virtue for each individual.
This course explores philosophical questions that have emerged at various points in history from the Christian tradition: what is God, what is truth, and what is human life about? The course is expressly concerned with epistemology. Students will be introduced to key philosophers and key philosophical texts from late antiquity, the medieval period and from modern Europe.