School of Theology and Religious Studies

Course Descriptions

Theology and Religious Studies (TRS)

To view the complete schedule of courses for
each semester, go to Cardinal Station.

TRS 101: Theology and Religious Studies

1.00 Credits

A one credit course for any student interested in becoming a Theology and Religious Studies major. Required for those planning to major in Theology and Religious Studies. Introduces students to the differences between Religious Studies and Theology and explores the many disciplines used within both fields. Will also examine the role of such study in preparing for pastoral ministry.

TRS 158: International Mission Experience

3.00 Credits

Ten-week course culminating in a twenty-one-day service learning experience. Presents students with the opportunity to address issues of poverty and social justice within academic and real-world settings. Addresses the historical, political, social, economic and religious issues facing those living in Central America. Invites students to live out Jesus' call to service through living with and working for the poor of rural areas in third world countries. Each student will be expected to raise funds to cover trip costs. Application and approval through campus ministry required. Note: This course does not satisfy a TRS distribution requirement and is taken as a free elective.

TRS 200: Introduction to the Old Testament

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the books and theologies of the Old Testament. Will cover Priestly history, Deuteronomic history, the Prophets, and Wisdom literature. Examines methods for interpreting the Old Testament, especially in light of the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Divine Revelation.

TRS 201: Faith Seeking Understanding

3.00 Credits

As a gateway course in theology, this course displays the life and thought of the Church over the course of two millennia with attention to the scriptures and the basic Trinitarian structure of Christian belief exemplified in the ancient symbol of the faith, the Creed. The whole of the Creed is a constant for theology, which is "faith seeking understanding," and thus it provides a coherent center for a historical understanding of theology. In this course, the three main sections of the creed are explored through texts from three major historical phases: the Old Testament, the New Testament and early Church, and the medieval and modern periods, respectively. Students will learn to read different genres of theological sources in the Christian tradition, and, through reading, discussing and writing about these texts, will gain an introductory grasp of the discipline of theology.

TRS 210: Introduction to the New Testament

3.00 Credits

Study of the writings of the New Testament with special focus on the Four Gospels, The Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline letters. Will cover the history and methods for interpreting the New Testament, especially in light of the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Divine Revelation.

TRS 220: Church Through the Ages: Paul to Luther

3.00 Credits

This course will examine the history of the Christian church from the Apostolic Age to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Six major themes will be followed: The governance of the Church by councils, popes, and bishops; the evolution of Christian ideas about war, social justice, and spirituality; the tension and conflicts between the secular state and the Church; the changing ideas about how a "Christian life" should be lived; the rise of Islam and the conflict between Muslims and Christians; and the role of the Church in shaping Christian society. Students will also study Christian art and architecture as an expression of Christian beliefs and spirituality.

TRS 221: Church Through the Ages:Trent to Vatican II

3.00 Credits

The Council of Trent (1545-1562) was convened by the Church to respond to the challenge of the Protestant Reforms. In many ways it defined a Catholic identity that was to endure to the 20th century. The course will study in its historical context the major aspects of "tridentine Catholicism": hierarchical structure, Roman centralization, definite faith, missionary zeal. It will consider the men and women who influenced this movement, their faith, their spirituality; as well as the ways in which such as identity as been challenged in the modern era, culminating with the changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council.

TRS 230: Character, Choice, and Community

3.00 Credits

A general introduction to ethics in the Christian tradition. Will consider ethical decision-making, moral development, and the place of community and Church in the moral life. Examines traditional sources for Christian ethics - Scripture, theological texts, and Church teachings - as well as the current work in the social sciences.

TRS 240: Christian Liturgy Prayer Sacrament

3.00 Credits

Introduction to the fundamentals of Christian Liturgy, including the meaning of assembly, ritual, symbol and gesture, proclamation of scripture and blessing prayers as central to liturgical celebration, and the relationship of liturgy to life.

TRS 251: The Dynamics of Christian Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Critically examines themes in Christian spirituality. Special attention will be given to love as it pertains to various human practices, experiences, and ideals, including friendship, family, sexuality, liturgy, and mystical experiences. Includes studies of classic texts.

TRS 260: Christianity and Culture

3.00 Credits

An introduction to Christian theology that focuses on the context and lived practices of Christians throughout the ages. Major figures and doctrines will be covered in relation to the cultural frameworks in which they arose. Beginning with Jesus and those of the first century who witnessed to him, the course will conclude with an examination of the Second Vatican Council and the questions that arise for authentic faith in contemporary culture.

TRS 261: Enduring Questions in Catholic Theology

3.00 Credits

An analysis of current questions on topics such as God, evolution, evil, revelation, Christ, Church, and sacrament. Examines Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterial teaching in an effort to engage the modern Catholic with classical answers to age-old questions.

TRS 280: The Religious Quest

3.00 Credits

This course will introduce students to the basic questions that underlie all religions and the quest for human meaning. It will then examine the methods by which one can come to understand a religion or set of practices that are not one's own. The contributions of the social sciences, and the theological issues raised by studying non-Christian traditions will be covered.

TRS 290: World Religions

3.00 Credits

This course is an introduction to several major religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, and Islam. We will approach these religions through their historical development, their major doctrinal and philosophical patterns, and their practices. Although the primary class format will be lecture, the instructor encourages all students to ask questions and engage in discussion freely.

TRS 291: Introduction to Christianity

3.00 Credits

An introduction to Christian beliefs and practices for students with little or no familiarity with Christian faith or Catholicism. Topics covered may include: Christian scriptures, the life and teaching of Jesus, the emergence of the early Church, basic Christian teachings, sacraments, and liturgies. Elements that distinguish the Roman Catholic tradition from other Christian denominations will be explained.

TRS 300: Narrative in the Old Testament

3.00 Credits

Narrative literature in general, its aims and procedures; Old Testament narrative tradition, overview and detailed analysis of selected narratives from historical, didactic, mythic, and apocalyptic traditions. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 301: Introduction to Biblical Archelogy

3.00 Credits

This course will discuss the insights into the world and material culture of the Old Testament that were gained during the past century. It will give an overview of the archaeology of ancient Israel, focus on new trends in recent research, and reflect on the relationship of the archaeological data and the Old Testament. Prerequisite: either TRS 200, TRS 210 or HSTR 101.

TRS 302: Women in the Bible

3.00 Credits

This course will examine the biblical women of Genesis, Judges, and Samuel, as well as the New Testament, using close readings of the biblical text as informed by intertestamental writings, early Church interpretations, and rabbinic midrash, as well as contemporary literary and analytic perspectives. Prerequisite: any 200-level TRS or HSTR course.

TRS 303: Creation in the Old Testament

3.00 Credits

This course examines how peoples of the Ancient Near East explained the origins of the world. This is done by reading primary texts from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Canaan alongside Genesis 1-3 and allusions to creation in Job, Psalms, Isaiah, etc. It focuses on interpreting the light that non-biblical texts shed on the Bible, science vs. "creationism" issues, and the theological meaning of the biblical creation texts read in dialogue with modern interpreters from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Benedict XVI. Prerequisites: Either TRS 200, 210 or HSTR 101.

TRS 304: The Psalms

3.00 Credits

A detailed study of the book of Psalms, including its interpretation in Jewish and Christian traditions and its use in worship and liturgy. The Psalms as a summary of the Bible and a school of prayer. Prerequisite: Either TRS 200, TRS 210, TRS 240, HSTR 101, or HSTR 102.

TRS 310: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark & Luke

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke; their origins and significance in the apostolic church. Includes an investigation of contemporary methods of New Testament interpretation: historical-critical and theological-ecclesial. Prerequisite: TRS 210

TRS 311: The Gospel of John

3.00 Credits

The structure of John: the Book of Signs, the Book of Glory. Jesus as incarnate Logos; Jesus as the source of Christian life. Religious symbol in John. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 312: The Letters of Paul

3.00 Credits

After a discussion of Paul's life and ministry as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, this course provides a close reading of several Pauline letters in light of the religious message they communicate. The course gives special attention to Paul's understanding Christ, sin and redemption, the Church, the moral life and hope of the believer. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 314: The New Testament & the Contemporary Church

3.00 Credits

Methods and perspectives for reading and understanding the New Testament; concepts of church, ministry, mission; current issues such as fundamentalism, feminism, war, and peace. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 315: Narrative in the Synoptic Gospels

3.00 Credits

The use of literary technique in the Synoptic Gospels. The importance for theological emphasis of structure, identification, gapping, and reader response. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 320: Reformation 1500-1648

3.00 Credits

An examination of the political, socioeconomic, intellectual, and religious backgrounds and the careers and teachings of the magisterial and radical reformers, both on the continent and in England. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 320A: Reform, Reformation, Renewal: 1500 - 1610

3.00 Credits

A study of ongoing reform in the Church from the healing of the Western Schism to the organized Roman response to the Protestant Reformation. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 321A: The Church in Africa

3.00 Credits

An analysis of the history and practices of the Catholic Church in Africa, with a particular focus on East Africa, the spiritual epicenter of Catholicism on that continent. The course will examine both the gifts and the challenges of African Catholicism. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 322: Christian Beginnings

3.00 Credits

A survey of the social and cultural history of the early Church: Christian literature and the canon, the challenge of Gnosticism, the life and organization of the early Church, baptism and the Eucharist, early Christian women, persecution and the Emperor Constantine, early Christian art, monasticism and the ascetical ideal, the beginnings of Christianity in various parts of the world. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 323: The History of the Church from Constantine to the Great Schism

3.00 Credits

This course examines the history of the Church and of Christianity from the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine, to the Great Schism and Conciliarism in the Fifteenth century. Topics covered will be monasticism and monastic orders, women in monasteries, the growth of papal power, the emergence of Libertas ecclesiae (Liberty of the Church) in the eleventh century, and the conflicts of Church and State in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 324: Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the life of the Catholic Church from the perspective of the Papacy. The course will make a critical use of the TV series Saints and Sinners, and of the book written in conjunction by Eamon Duffy (Yale University Press, 1997).

TRS 324A: Women in the Christian Tradition

3.00 Credits

This course examines the varieties of religious devotion that enabled women to achieve sanctity in the church, with particular attention to the practice of asceticism and mysticism among outstanding women of Ancient and Medieval times. Students will study writings by and about Christian women. Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 325: Amercn Catholicism Since 1945

3.00 Credits

An interdisciplinary approach to thematic issues in the American Catholic experience. Topics include Catholic ethnicity, devotional piety, assimilation, interest group conflict, and social movements, along with other social, cultural, and historical dynamics that have shaped Catholic identity in the United States. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 327: American Catholic History: Catholic Identities 1800-1970

3.00 Credits

With an emphasis upon religious thought, devotionalism, spirituality, ethnicity and public Catholicism, this course focuses on the formation of identities. Woven into the themes of this course are the various meanings of what constitutes being American and Catholic from the preimmigrant Church to the post-Vatican II era. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 328: Makers of Hispanic Catholic History

3.00 Credits

The historical origins of contemporary Hispanic/Latino Catholicism seen through representative "history makers": (1) La Reconquista and the Age of Discovery (Isabel and Fernando, Catherine of Aragón, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila); (2) La Conquista and Christianization (Bartolomé de las Casas, Sor Juana de la Cruz, Junípero Serra); (3) Independence and Immigration (Hidalgo, Varela); (4) Twentieth Century (Pro, Romero, Chávez, Elizondo). Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 329: Devotionalism in U.S. Catholicism, 1850-1970

3.00 Credits

With an emphasis on immigration, ethnicity, gender, and race, this course focuses on the devotionalism and spirituality of Catholic people in parishes and beyond, from the earliest immigration prior to the civil war to the profound changes in styles of prayer and liturgy in the 1950s and 60s. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 330: The Church and Social Issues

3.00 Credits

A review of the social teaching of the Church introduces a discussion of the grounds and limits of the Church's intervention in social and political issues. Specific problems focus the discussion. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 331: Foundations of Catholic Moral Thought

3.00 Credits

Provides a basic framework for thinking about moral questions and making informed judgments of conscience out of a Catholic faith tradition. Deals with such questions as: How does faith inform Catholic morality? How are the sources of faith , such as scripture, Christ, and the Church, integrated into thinking and the moral life? How does moral theology relate to daily living? Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 332: Contemporary Moral Issues & the Catholic Tradition

3.00 Credits

Examines moral problems such as racism, economic and social justice, abortion, and sexual ethics, in the light of contemporary culture and the Christian tradition. Focus on practical moral issues, as well as the challenge to moral life posed by contemporary assumptions of ethical relativism. This course includes a service learning component. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 333: BioMed and Health Care Issues

3.00 Credits

An analysis of the ethical dimensions of selected contemporary medico-moral problems, e.g., surgery, organ transplantation, time of death, human experimentation, contraception, sterilization, genetic manipulation, abortion, euthanasia, brain control. This course proceeds from the specific framework of Catholic moral theology, introducing students to how Catholic beliefs provide a framework for assessing bioethical issues such as those listed above, and including, but not limited to: the vulnerability of the human condition, autonomy, a technological imperative, health, health care, death, suffering, and the role and goals of medicine. Designed with the needs of nursing students in mind, and in light of the mission of the School of Nursing, it aims to provide students with opportunities to explore the impact of ethical issues on their personal and professional lives. Emphasis is placed on developing written and spoken skills in reflective moral thinking. Priority enrollment for nursing students; departmental approval required. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 334: War, Peace & Revolution: Christian Perspectives

3.00 Credits

Examines historical and contemporary perspectives on war, peace, and revolution in the Christian tradition, especially Roman Catholicism. Historical issues include biblical perspective on violence and nonviolence and the emergence and development of conceptions of just war in Christianity and Islam. Contemporary issues include terrorism, humanitarian intervention, and religious peacemaking. Required of students minoring in Peace and Justice Studies. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 335: Moral Dimensions of Family Life

3.00 Credits

Reviews theological, historical, and sociological views on the family. Examines various moral aspects of family life, and dilemmas that arise therein. Topics may include reproductive choices, parenting, gender roles, violence in family life, divorce and remarriage, elder care, and euthanasia. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 337: Church & State in Catholic Theology

3.00 Credits

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a body of classic material dealing with the relationship of the Christian to the political authority (i.e., the state). We will explore St. Augustine, St. Thomas, Luther, Calvin and the Radical Reformation answers to the difficult question of how a Christian lives in society. Sections of the class will be topical, focusing on issues like participation in war, law and public discourse, and punishment. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 337B: History of Christian Political Thought

3.00 Credits

An introduction to a body of classic material dealing with the relationship of the Christian to the political authority (i.e., the state). St. Augustine, St. Thomas, Luther, Calvin and the Radical Reformation answers to the difficult question of how a Christian lives in society will be explored. Sections of the class will be topical, focusing on issues like participation in war, law and public discourse, and punishment. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 338: War Ethics and Film

3.00 Credits

A exploration of the folowing questions surrounding the nexus of war, film, and morality. How do films convey ethical messages regarding their subjects? How do they convey religious meanings? How is moral judgment relevant to warfare? How has the development of modern warfare been bound up with visual media? What possibilities for moral commentary on war are afforded by different film genres such as documentaries, dramas, and comedies? Is it appropriate to make ethical assessments of artistic products such as films? Are there limits to the power of film to express the moral reality of combat or suffering? What commentary does the public reception of individual films provide on the ethical climate of a society? Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 340: Christian Celebration: The Mass

3.00 Credits

Considers the meaning of the Mass in the lives of Christians today. Studies the origin and history of the Mass, the revised rites, and contemporary practice. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 341: Sickness, Death and Christian Ritual

3.00 Credits

A liturgical theological study of "Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum" and the "Order of Christian Funerals" as well as an exploration of customs such as pilgrimage to shrines associated with healing and ritual practices accompanying death. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 342: The Sacraments of Initiation

3.00 Credits

A historical theological study of the present Rites of Initiation, particularly the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Selected pastoral questions connected with initiation will also be considered. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 343: Christian Feasts and Devotions

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the origin, development, and significance of feasts, seasons, and devotions in the life of the Christian community. Sunday observances, Easter and Lent, Christmas and Advent, devotion to the saints, Marian devotions, and Eucharistic devotions. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 344: Spiritualities and Liturgies of the Eastern Churches

3.00 Credits

This course consists of two parts. The first will be an introductory study of the Divine Liturgies of the various Eastern Church traditions. A comparison will be made of the various texts, and the theology of each tradition will be examined. The second part of the course will present an introduction into the spiritual traditions of the Syriac speaking and Byzantine Churches. It will study the writings of the major figures of each tradition with the view of developing the common themes that characterize the spirituality of the Eastern Churches. It will also provide the theological world-view out of which these spiritual writers developed their insights. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 345: Liturgical Art and Architecture

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 350: The Bible in Worship and Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Since the II Vatican Council wrote of "The Table of the Word" and "The Table of the Eucharist," the Church has opened for us as never before the riches of the Old and New Testaments. This course deals with the place of Scripture in the life of a Christian as it comes through the Sunday Liturgy by examining the liturgical year and, in its light, the composition of the Sunday readings. This will be followed with presentations on how one might interiorize and live out the Scriptures of each week. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 351: Contemporary Christian Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Survey of some significant Christian spiritual writers and movements of the twentieth century, addressing such issues as modern monasticism, inter-religious dialogue, martyrdom, service to the poor, lay spirituality, a spirituality of work, and Pentecostalism. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 352: Christian Marriage and Family Life

3.00 Credits

This course will explore marriage and family themes from the perspective of Christian church history, theology , and the current state of family life in the North American context. Attention will also be given the practices and skills necessary to build a healthy marriage and family. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 353: Religion and the Life Cycle

3.00 Credits

An examination of the foundations for religion in life experience and of the place and development of religion in the life span. Religion and adulthood. Religion and life crises. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 354: Religious Experience: Psychological and Theological Perspectives

3.00 Credits

Classic and contemporary interpretation of religious experience. Psychological and theological criteria for discerning authentic religious experience. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 355: The Mission of the Contemporary Catholic

3.00 Credits

The Second Vatican Council said that it was the mission of the lay faithful to witness, evangelize, and sanctify the world. This course will consider how today's Catholics fulfill this mission as they cling to the faith once delivered to the saints. We will look at scripture, prayer, the great spiritual writers of our age, the mission of the lay faithful and the cultural context of the American Church. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 356: Francis of Assisi: Prophet of Peace and of Creation

3.00 Credits

In the pursuit of peace and the preservation of the environment, Francis of Assisi is universally proposed as a patron, intercessor, and model. In addition to examining the life of Francis and the struggles of his times, this course will examine in depth the portrait of Francis written by St. Bonaventure, who understood Francis to be a model of every Christian called to be an instrument of peace and a catalyst in respecting creation. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 356A: Francis and Clare

3.00 Credits

Examines the life and writings of Francis and Clare of Assisi in order to understand their theological vision and its consequences for Christian life. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 357: Foundations for Religious Education

3.00 Credits

For TRS Majors/Minors and Pastoral MInistry Certification Program students preparing to teach in Catholic schools or in parish religious education programs. Examines some of the basic theological themes of the major religion textbook series, considers some of the contemporary approaches to the teaching of religion, and evaluates some of the current print and visual materials. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course. Department Consent Required.

TRS 357A: Jesus the Teacher: Parables, Proverbs and Metaphors

3.00 Credits

A course designed for and restricted to Education Majors. Explores the theological grounding of the teaching profession through the example of Jesus as Teacher as revealed in Scripture. The focus of the course is on Jesus' teachings in his pedagogical modes and methods as found in the three synoptic gospels and as placed on his lips by the evangelist John to expound the Church's faith in him. The course will also look at the texts and "sayings" of the Gospel of Thomas, with assistance from the works of Jeremias Davies, Lambrecht and Perrin on the question. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 359: Teenagers:The Church Today and Tomorrow

3.00 Credits

Structured according to the American Catholic Bishops' document, "Renewing the Vision," this course is designed to enable students to understand the principles of a comprehensive program of ministry to adolescents, to clarify the role of youth miniters, and to envision a comprehensive youth program for a contemporary parish. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 360: The Catholic Church Today

3.00 Credits

A discussion of opportunities and challenges facing the Catholic Church today both its internal life and in its relationships with and activities in the contemporary world. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 361: Vatican II: The Church in Council

3.00 Credits

Studies the 1962-65 ecumenical council as the Church's response to the challenges of modern culture; theology of the Church and Church's mission in the world; role of the laity; relation to other churches and to non-Christian religions. Post-conciliar tensions and developments. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 363: Jesus as the Christ: Contemporary Perspectives

3.00 Credits

The question of the "historical Jesus." OrigIn and meaning of belief in Jesus's resurrection. The christological process in the New Testament, classical dogma, and contemporary challenges. Prerequisites: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 364: The Catholic Church and Ecumenism

3.00 Credits

This course will discuss the involvement of the Catholic Church in the ecumenical movement from both an historical and a theological perspective. Attention will be given to the many dialogues the Catholic Church is now conducting, e.g. with the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists. What are the achievements, the problems and the prospects? Prerequisite: any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 365: The Triune God

3.00 Credits

What does it mean that Christians confess God to be Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How has this traditional faith changed the way human beings have thought about God? What significance should trinitarian faith have in the lives and prayers of Christians? Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 367A: Unity and Diversity: Theology in the Middle Ages

3.00 Credits

Covers the breadth of the medieval heritage, from its grounding in Augustine and Jerome, to its ecclesial, lay and scholastic forms in both East and West. Anselm, Bonaventure and Aquinas receive particular attention as do their contribution to our understanding of issues of theological method, Trinitarian theology, Christology, and Sacraments. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 369: The Protestant Experience

3.00 Credits

This course is a critical investigation of the ethos of Protestantism, with particular attention to its emergence in the 16th century and its subsequent development in North America. Key figures, themes, and denominational developments within Protestantism will be examined. Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 370: Theologies of Liberation

3.00 Credits

Designed to introduce students to a range of issues, texts, and literature associated with the dynamics of religious identity and the struggle for liberation on the cultural, economic, social, religious, and political. Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 371: Marriage & Annulments in the Catholic Church

3.00 Credits

The development of the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage and the canonical discipline based on that teaching from the New Testament to today. The origin of the Church's practice of declaring certain marriages invalid. The current law and procedure governing annulments. Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 373: Theology, Science and Technologies

3.00 Credits

Comparison and contrast of religious beliefs and practices, scientific methodologies and developments, and their technological impacts on world cultures. Current and historical issues. Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 375: The Creeds

3.00 Credits

The Bible is the holy text of the Church. Yet, our understanding of Christian Faith is more often formed by the Creeds. The Apostolic and Nicene Creeds are the two ancient Creeds still in use in the Church. The course will focus upon the origin and meaning of those Creeds, especially in their relation to Scripture and to modern challenges towards Christian Faith. Prerequisite: Any TRS or HSTR 200-level course.

TRS 376: Mary, Mother of God, Mother of the Church

3.00 Credits

The place of Mary in Christian doctrine and devotion across the centuries. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 377: John Henry Newman: Life and Writings

3.00 Credits

The life of Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) in relation to his vision of higher education (The Idea of a University), the role of the laity in the life of the Church (On Consulting the Faithful), and the primacy of conscience in the Christian life (Parochial and Plain Sermons). Pre-requisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 380: Religion in American Culture

3.00 Credits

An interdisciplinary thematic examination of religion in American society. Topics include Puritanism, religion and social reform, utopian perfectionism, popular piety, fundamentalism, new religious movements, religion and ethnicity, and other varieties of American religious experience. Prerequisites: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 381: Ways of Peace in World Religions

3.00 Credits

Explores the cultivation of peace in three dimensions: peace with self, society, and the divine. Course materials drawn from various world religions, including classical and contemporary discussion of the dynamics of peacemaking. Emphasis on native American, Taoist, Buddhist, Jain and Hindu traditions, with considerable discussion of practical spiritual techniques. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 382: Religion and Public Policy

3.00 Credits

Designed to provide an introduction to the relationship between religious values and public policy in the American context. Both historical aspects and contemporary issues will be examined. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 383: Issues in Religious Studies

3.00 Credits

Introduces students to the academic discipline of religious studies. From its initial break with theology in the 16th century, religious studies has grown to incorporate theories and perspectives from anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and hermeneutics. This course will survey significant themes and thinkers in all of these fields, including Sigmund Freud, David Hume, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and many others. The course will also examine how religious bodies themselves make use of theories of religion in their institutional life and practice. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 384: Sects/Cults/New Religious Movements

3.00 Credits

An interdisciplinary examination of the historical, social, cultural, and theological dynamics of select religious movements primarily, but not exclusively, in post-World War II American society. Topics include religious movements as social phenomena, conversion and recruitment controversies, Eastern religion in America, fundamentalism and Christian revivalism, New Age spirituality, and apocalyptic movements. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 385: Religion & Ecology

3.00 Credits

Examines interrelated issues pertaining to religion, ecology, science, and technology. Includes religious and ethical issues related to cosmology, nature, global environmental problems, and types of ecological spirituality and theology. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 386: Apocalypse:Religious & Cultural Meaning

3.00 Credits

Are we living in the "final days"? An interdisciplinary examination of "end times" prophecy belief in American thought and culture; also, origins and cultural consequences of biblical apocalyptic thinking in the American experience. Topics: theories of "dispensationalism", pre- and post-millennialism, the role of America in millennial prophecy literature, impact of the Cold War and Nuclear Age on apocalyptic thinking; millenarian thinking in new religious movements, environmental radicalism, American Catholicism, Fundamentalism, and Christian reconstructionism. Secular versions of apocalypticism in quasi-religious survivalist and militia movements. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 387: Playing God: Genetics, Ecology, and Religion

3.00 Credits

Explores contemporary issues in the philosophy of religion, focusing on the existence and nature of God; faith, language, and religious experience; and evil, ethics, and the afterlife. Readings include selections by contemporary religious and secular philosophers. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 390: Taoism & Confucianism

3.00 Credits

Explores the two major indigenous religious traditions of China through their canonical texts, core concepts, devotional practices, and historical development. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 391: Introduction to Buddhism

3.00 Credits

The course will survey the Buddhist tradition from its inception to the present. Beginning with the life and teachings of the historical Buddha in their social and religious milieu, the course will proceed to the development of the Buddhist order, advances in Indian Buddhist thought, the rise of the Mahayana movement, the spread of Buddhism into other parts of Asia (China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia), modern popular Buddhist movements, and the spread of Buddhism into North America and Europe. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 392: Hinduism: Religion and Art

3.00 Credits

Designed as an introduction to Hinduism, this course explores connecting points between religion, literature and the arts in the context of classical and modern Hindu cultures. Studies the stories, iconography, temples, and theologies of the gods and goddesses of India: Vishnu, Krishna, Shiva, and Devi. Introduces the students to Indian religious wisdom in the Bhagavadgita, the Upanishads, devotional literature, and Indian philosophy. Examines pilgrimages that link the mythological and artistic complex to the mountains, rivers, and cities of India. Familiarizes the students with culture and religious practices of contemporary Hindu communities in the Washington D.C. area. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 393: Classic Texts of World Religions

3.00 Credits

This course has two objectives: (1) to expose students to the classic texts of a variety of world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, and Confucianism in order to promote basic religious literacy; and (2) to explore the concept of "scripture" as a cross-cultural category in religious studies by comparing how texts become canonical, and what canonicity means in practice as a text is read and used within its own tradition. For concentrators and qualified advanced students; permission of STRS associate dean for undergraduate studies required. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 395: Christianity & Challenge of Islam

3.00 Credits

Surveys the growth of Islam within Jewish and Christian context. Presents the basic teachings of the Qu'ran and discusses Christian/Muslim dialogue in the modern world. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 396: Basic Jewish Texts

3.00 Credits

Surveys the texts, Biblical, Rabbinic, Medieval, and modern, which have shaped Jewish thought and the Jewish experience. Students will read texts with an understanding of the historical setting in which they were written and the issues which the writer seeks to address. Also presented will be texts supplementary to the source. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 397: Introduction to Judaism

3.00 Credits

Provides a survey of Jewish practices relating to the religious calendar, rites of passage within the religious community, and an overview of the belief system from which these practices emerge. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 398: Introduction to Islam

3.00 Credits

This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to Islam, as both a religion and a tradition consisting of various schools of thought. After examining the origin of Islam and the history and themes of the Quran as a main source of Islam, this course will give a general view of almost every important Islamic Issues such as Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), Islamic Law, and human rights. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 399: Islamic Thought: Selected Topics

3.00 Credits

Just as biblical themes and stories have permeated much of western civilization, so Islamic culture, both Arabic and non-Arabic, is imbued with quranic imagery. Through a close reading of a selection of writings from the Islamic word (in English translation), TRS 399 will explore the relationship between the quranic text and later Islamic civilization. Topics covered will include stories of the prophets, family law, and contemporary approaches to the Quran. Prerequisite: Any TRS 200-level or HSTR course.

TRS 400: Special Topics in Old Testament

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 410: Special Topics in New Testament

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 420: Special Topics in Church History

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 430: Special Topics in Moral Theology/Ethics

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 440: Special Topics in Liturgy/Sacraments

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 450: Internship in Pastoral Ministry

3.00 Credits

The internship is a seminar offered in connection with an approved internship in a pastoral ministry setting. This involves 10-12 hours at the assigned site each week. In addition to this time, students meet for a weekly reflection on their ministry through presentations, short written assignments and directed readings.

TRS 451: Special Topics in Religious Education

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 452: Special Topics in Spirituality

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 453: The Practice of Pastoral Ministry

3.00 Credits

This course is an introduction to the practice of ministry designed for students interested in being certified as pastoral ministers. The focus of the course will be on the development of pastoral skills necessary to engage in a variety of pastoral ministries. Lectures will be combined with role-play and case studies in order to explore communication skills, interpersonal dynamics and theological reflection pertaining to the student¿s emerging ministerial identity. Limited enrollment, consent required.

TRS 454: Introduction to Hispanic Ministry

3.00 Credits

Pastoral aspects of the Hispanic/Latino presence in the United States: mestizaje, comunidad, and religiosidad popular. The challenge of implementing the National Pastoral Plan. Field visits and guest speakers. (Knowledge of Spanish helpful, but not required.)

TRS 460: Special Topics in Theology

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 480: Special Topics in Religious Studies

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 490: Special Topics in World Religions

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 495: Capstone Seminar in Theology and Religious Studies

3.00 Credits

This is a seminar designed for, and required of, seniors who are majoring in Theology and Religious Studies. It will examine major methodological approaches to theology and religious studies, while focusing on a theme, author, or text(different each semester) such as creation narratives, the works of Augustine, the just war tradition, etc. A major research paper will be required.

TRS 499: Independent Study in Theology and Religious Studies

3.00 Credits

With special permission students can work on an independent topic of research approved by a professor willing to supervise their work. A formal agreement on a project must be approved early in the semester.

TRS 500A: Theological Latin

0.00 Credits

Knowledge of Latin is required for all STRS degrees except the D.Min. This course, which should be taken during the student's first fall semester of study, fulfills the Latin requirement for the M.A.,, S.T.B., and M.Div. degrees. Licentiate and doctoral students need to fulfill the Latin requirements of their program area.

TRS 500B: Spanish for Pastoral Ministry

3.00 Credits

Use of Spanish in sacramental practice and ministerial situations. Classes utilize role plays and didactic presentations; students are expected to choose site visits according to level of proficiency in Spanish. Prerequisite: One year of college Spanish or equivalent.

TRS 501: Theological German

0.00 Credits

Involves in-class translations, by the students, of German texts in the various areas of theology. A basic knowledge of German grammar is presupposed. (Previously THEO 504)

TRS 502: Greek for Theology

0.00 Credits

A basic introduction to the main elements of the grammar of New Testament Greek with an emphasis on reading passages from the Gospels.

TRS 503A: Elementary Biblical Greek

3.00 Credits

An intensive introduction to the phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary of New Testament Greek.

TRS 503B: Intermediate Biblical Greek

3.00 Credits

An intensive introduction to the phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary of New Testament Greek.

TRS 504A: Introduction to The Old Testament

3.00 Credits

This course will introduce students to the Old Testament and will explore its most significant theological concepts as well as follow up the complex process of its history of composition.

TRS 504B: Introduction to the New Testament

3.00 Credits

An overview of the New Testament books that provides essential background for understanding the texts of the New Testament. This course will examine the idea of the New Testament (canon), various methods of study of the New Testament, the Church's understanding as to how the New Testament is to be studied, and the theological notion of inspiration.

TRS 540: Introduction to Liturgy

3.00 Credits

Basic introduction to the history and theology of the liturgy of the Church; attention to constitutive elements of worship (word, language, music, environment, ritual); relationship of liturgy and spirituality.

TRS 560: Functions of Philosophy in Theology

3.00 Credits

Covers Christian faith and the place of philosophy in theological discourses; the relationship between natural reason and faith as reflected in early Church councils, the work of Anselm and Aquinas, and modern philosophy; hermeneutics and Christian experience; natural ethics and the theological virtues; philosophy as the exploration of natural necessities and theology as the thought about faith and revelation.

TRS 562A: Foundation in Catholicism

3.00 Credits

This two semester course introduces fundamental beliefs that constitute the Church's confession of faith. As an overview of Catholic faith, it seeks to ensure an appreciation of biblical revelation, the history and doctrine of the Church, Catholic heritage of prayer and spiritual tradition, liturgy and sacraments, Catholic ethics, social teaching and Catholic culture and piety.

TRS 562B: Foundation in Catholicism

3.00 Credits

This two semester course introduces fundamental beliefs that constitute the Church's confession of faith. As an overview of Catholic faith, it seeks to ensure an appreciation of biblical revelation, the history and doctrine of the Church, Catholic heritage of prayer and spiritual tradition, liturgy and sacraments, Catholic ethics, social teaching and Catholic culture and piety.

TRS 595: Independent Study

3.00 Credits

Permission of instructor and department required. Faculty.

TRS 596: Independent Study

3.00 Credits

Permission of instructor and department required. Faculty.

TRS 598A: STB Comps (with classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 598B: Master's Comps (with classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 598C: STL Comps (with classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 598D: Doctoral Comps (with classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 598E: STD Comps (with classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 599A: STB Comps (no classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 599B: Master's Comps (no classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 599C: STL Comps (no classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 599D: Doctoral Comps (no classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 599E: STD Comps (no classes)

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 600A: Advanced Biblical Greek I

3.00 Credits

Philological study of New Testament texts chosen to suit needs of students, including textual criticism, analysis of linguistic patterns, and problems of translation and Semitic interference.

TRS 600B: Advanced Biblical Greek II

3.00 Credits

Philological study of New Testament texts chosen to suit needs of students, including textual criticism, analysis of linguistic patterns, and problems of translation and Semitic interference.

TRS 601: Pentateuch

3.00 Credits

Studies the distinct theological traditions comprising the first five books of the Bible. Examines each of the four great traditions relative to its historical period, and the other traditions with which it was joined. Emphasis is on exegesis of selected passages in the Pentateuch.

TRS 602: The Psalms

3.00 Credits

Survey of the nature of Hebrew poetry, the titles of the Psalms, application of the form-critical and redaction-critical approaches to the Psalter and the Psalms in prayer and preaching. The focus of the course is a detailed study of selected representative psalms.

TRS 603: Prophecy in Israel

3.00 Credits

Presents general background information on the phenomenon of prophecy and then focuses on a more detailed study of selected prophetic books.

TRS 604: Wisdom Literature

3.00 Credits

After some preliminary notions concerning the phenomenon of "wisdom" in Israel and its environment, focuses on a study of the five Old Testament Wisdom Books: Proverbs, Sirach, Job, Qoheleth, and Wisdom.

TRS 605: Apocalyptic Literature

3.00 Credits

Orientation to the apocalyptic phenomenon and detailed study of selected apocalyptic texts.

TRS 607: The Synoptic Gospels

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After a discussion of the synoptic problem and the nature of the Gospel material, each Gospel is studied in terms of its historical setting and theology.

TRS 609: The Gospel According to John

3.00 Credits

Considers major introductory questions: author, literary history, and the time and circumstances that produced the canonical Gospel. Consideration of major passages. Special attention to an understanding of the narrative design of the Gospel and its contribution to the development of Christian understanding of God, the Christ, and the Christian community.

TRS 610: The Pauline Letters

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the canonical letters attributed to St. Paul. Lectures focus on the nature of Paul's letters, the circumstances which occasioned them, and the theology of Paul reflected in his writings.

TRS 620: Introduction to Patristic Theology

3.00 Credits

This course is an investigation of the main theological issues, theologians, theological controversies, and religious movements in the early church. It covers the period from the second to the fifth century, from Apostolic Fathers to Augustine, from Gnosticism to Pelagianism.

TRS 620A: The Writing of Church History

3.00 Credits

A survey of the major church historians, from Eusebius to H. Jedin, with particular attention to the context of their work, their sources, method, and analysis.

TRS 621A: History of the Early Church to 312 AD

3.00 Credits

A survey of the Church from its apostolic origins until the conversion of Constantine. Topics include martyrdom and persecution, the apologists, heresy and schism, and the development of Church offices.

TRS 621B: History of the Early Church 312-604 AD

3.00 Credits

A survey of the early Church from the reign of Constantine until the early Middle Ages. Topics include church-state relations, doctrinal controversies, paganism and Christianity, early monasticism, and the development of the papacy.

TRS 621C: Early and Modern Church History

3.00 Credits

A survey of the history of the Catholic Church from the Avignon Papacy to Vatican II.

TRS 622: Ancient and Medieval Church History

3.00 Credits

A survey of the history of Christianity from the first century to 1300. Topics include the rise of the episcopate, persecution, conversion of Constantine, doctrinal controversies, monasticism, Carolingian reform, growth of the papacy, investiture controversy, scholasticism, and medieval heresies.

TRS 623A: The Roman Catholic Missionary Experience of the 16th Century

3.00 Credits

A survey of the expansion of Christianity into Latin America, Africa, and the Orient, especially through the efforts of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Jesuit orders, with attention to the role of the Spanish and Portuguese governments and to the problems of cultural adaptation.

TRS 623B: Renewal of Religious Life in the Catholic Church of the 15th and 16th Centuries

3.00 Credits

A study of the reform of the monastic and mendicant orders and the origins of the Capuchins, Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life, Theatines, Barnabites, Somaschi, Jesuits, Oratorians, Ministers of the Sick, and Ursulines.

TRS 624C: Church and Society in France: 1750-1950

3.00 Credits

The Gallican Church, the Church and the French Revolution, liberal Catholicism, social Catholicism, anticlericalism, Ultramontanism, Catholic spirituality and life, First Ralliement, Christian democracy, separation of church and state, Modernism, Americanism, Second Ralliement, Action Francaise, Action Catholique, the Church during World War II, and the Church and the Fourth Republic.

TRS 624D: Church and Society in Spain: 1650-1875

3.00 Credits

The Church under the Habsburgs: church and state, religious controversies; the Church under the Bourbons: church and state, reactions to the Enlightenment, the case of the Jesuits, conflicts with the liberal movement, Concordat of 1851, the Revolution of 1851, and popular religion and spirituality.

TRS 626: The Holy See and Diplomacy

3.00 Credits

A survey of modern European international relations from the perspective of the papacy, centered on case studies of episodes and negotiations in major diplomatic relationships.

TRS 627: Catholics in a Non-Catholic World: Religious Identities, Anti-Catholicism, and Nativism

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the self-understandings of Catholics in a society characterized by religious pluralism, separation of church and state, and periodic hostility toward Catholics and immigrants. Emphasizes the dynamics involved in forming American-Catholic identities during particular periods and in social-religious contexts. The periodical press and the literature of various persons and movements will be the primary source materials for research papers

TRS 629A: American Catholic Identities 1800-1970

3.00 Credits

After an exploration of mission Catholicism in the Colonial period, focus is on the major developments in American Catholic History. Emphasizes the dynamics between religion and culture. The formation of religious identities is the organizing principles of lectures and class discussion: thus, the thematic thread unifying this introductory course in the question of what constitutes American and Catholic identities throughout the eveolution of Church and society.

TRS 630A: Foundations of Christian Moral Life

3.00 Credits

Examines the biblical foundations, historical development, and the contemporary debates with in Christian moral theology. The roles of scripture, natural law, church teaching, theological anthropology, and virtue theory as sources for moral decision making will be considered. Attention to the notions of sin, conscience, and conversion, as well as recent developments in the various branches of moral theology.

TRS 631: Christian Marriage and Family

3.00 Credits

Examines the biblical understanding of marriage and family, its development in the history of Christian thought, and contemporary debates concerning marital and sexual ethics. Special attention to the sacramentality of marriage, its indissolubility, full equality of spouses, and ethical questions concerning sexual activity and procreation. Issues treated within framework of a theology of marriage and family as covenant and a virtue based approach to sexual ethics.

TRS 632A: Christian Social Ethics

3.00 Credits

The course introduces students to the salient themes and important documents in the Catholic church's developing social thought. Primary emphasis is on the encyclical tradition, but every effort will be made to place these in historical and social context by reference to other literature.

TRS 632D: Biomedical Ethics

3.00 Credits

An introduction to biomedical ethics in theological perspective. Issues such as euthanasia and abortion, access to health care and related economic issues, identity of Catholic health care facilities and religious pluralism, ethics of research, reproductive technologies and genetic testing are considered in light of fundamental Christian convictions regarding health and sickness, suffering, death, and the purpose of medicine.

TRS 640: Foundations of Liturgy and Sacramental Theology

3.00 Credits

This overview and systematic study of constitutive elements of liturgical rites and sacramental theology analyzes the historical developments which facilitate understanding the contemporary praxis. This process demonstrates the relationship between lex orandi and lex credendi. Should be taken before any other course in sacraments or liturgy.

TRS 641A: Sacraments of Initiation

3.00 Credits

A historical and theological study of the rites of Christian initiation in both East and West from the New Testament to the present with a view to understanding more deeply the rites as reformed by order of the Second Vatican Council. Special attention will be given to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

TRS 641B: Eucharist

3.00 Credits

A historical, theological and liturgical study of the Eucharist, examining the development of the Church¿s understanding of this sacrament through four main periods: New Testament; patristic; scholastic; and modern. Recent ecumenical perspectives on the Eucharist are also considered, together with a number of aspects of contemporary discussion of this sacrament.

TRS 641C: Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing

3.00 Credits

A theological and historical study of the liturgical rite of sacramental reconciliation and of the anointing and pastoral care of the sick. Participants will distill the theological significance of these sacraments from the rites and euchological texts of their liturgical celebration. Students who are candidates for ordination will be given a confessional practicum in conjunction with this course. This course is best taken after 641A and 641B and after some study of Moral Theology.

TRS 641D: Ordained Ministries

3.00 Credits

A historical, theological and liturgical study of Ordained Ministries, examining the development of the Church's understanding of the sacrament of Holy Orders through four main periods: New Testament; patristic; scholastic; and modern. Recent ecumenical perspectives on Ordination are considered, together with canonical aspects, the relationship between Holy Orders and celibacy, and the relationship between Holy Orders and gender.

TRS 643A: Ministry of Liturgical Presider

1.00 Credits

Consideration of the Church's liturgical heritage, reflection the introductions to the Church's rites, and classroom experiences in presidential leadership combine to develop the students' abilities to preside at eucharistic and other sacramental liturgies. Limited enrollment.

TRS 644: Canon Law and Sacramental Ministry

3.00 Credits

Examines the canons on the seven sacraments in light of historical, doctrinal, and canonical developments. Particular attention to the norms reflecting current pastoral issues, especially regarding the sacrament of matrimony.

TRS 644A: Canon Law of Marriage

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 650A: Introduction to the History of Christian Spirituality

3.00 Credits

A consideration of Christian spirituality both as a lived experience and as an academic discipline. Focuses on the major figures and movements in the history of Christian spirituality. A number of texts by these figures will be studied, including some from the Protestant tradition.

TRS 650B: Modern Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Lecture examines the most important movements and figures in Christian spirituality in the past 100 years, with emphasis on the most recent decades within that time frame.

TRS 650C: Eastern Spirituality

3.00 Credits

This course presents an introduction into the spiritual traditions of the Syriac speaking and Byzantine Churches. It will study the writings of the major figures of each tradition with the view of developing the common themes that characterize the spirituality of the Eastern Churches. It will also provide the theological world-view out of which these spiritual writers developed their insights.

TRS 651A: Psychology and Religion

3.00 Credits

Psychology of religion in a historical perspective, with focus on such pioneer figures as James, Boisen, and Freud. An analysis of the dialogue between religion and psychology, with emphasis on such figures as Jung, Homans, and Browning. Contemporary perspectives of religion and psychology on selected topics such as mysticism, prayer, discernment, conversion, sin, and guilt.

TRS 651B: Personality and Religious Development

3.00 Credits

Examines the psychological foundations of religion in human development and the evolution of religion during the life cycle. An investigation of the contributions of Erikson, the object-relations theorists, Piaget, Kohlberg, Fowler, and adult developmental theorists. Implications of developmental psychology for religious education and spirituality are emphasized.

TRS 652A: Basic Supervised Ministry I

3.00 Credits

A two-semester course. A student spends a minimum of four hours each week at a designated ministerial placement and two hours in a supervision seminar. Through the use of verbatim presentations, the seminar explores communication skills, interpersonal dynamics, theological reflection on issues raised, and the student's emerging pastoral identity. Students receive a written evaluation at the end of each semester. Limited enrollment.

TRS 652B: Basic Supervised Ministry II

3.00 Credits

A two-semester course. Building on TRS 652A, the seminar explores how to communicate the gospel in an appropriate, pastoral, caring way. Through the use of verbatim, video and role-play, attention is given to the process of theological reflection on ministerial encounters. Students receive a written evaluation at the end of each semester. Limited enrollment.

TRS 652C: Extended Pastoral Supervision

3.00 Credits

Students engaged in long-term pastoral ministry away from the campus will engage in pastoral reflection with the instructor, based on their pastoral journal entries and/or pastoral incident reports and feedback from their onsite supervisor in fulfillment of their learning contract. The course will be taught online. Pre-requisite: TRS 652A and 652B, Basic Supervised Ministry Note: this course does not satisfy the M.Div. supervision requirement.

TRS 653A: Introduction to Liturgical Preaching

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the nature and purpose of preaching, the relationship between Word and Sacrament in the Catholic tradition, and the movement from biblical text to homily. Each student will preach four times during the semester. Prerequisite: TRS 607 or 609 or equivalent. Limited enrollment.

TRS 653C: Mystagogical Preaching

3.00 Credits

This course will explore and apply a mystagogical method of preaching at celebrations of the sacraments and other liturgical occasions. Each student will preach six times during the semester. Limited enrollment. Prerequisite: TRS 653A or equivalent.

TRS 654: Introduction to Hispanic Ministry

3.00 Credits

Pastoral ministry within the Hispanic/Latino community: demographics, cross-cultural experience, sacramental practice, mestizaje and religiosidad popular. Implementing the National Pastoral Plan. Field visits and guest speakers. (Knowledge of Spanish helpful, but not required.)

TRS 655: Ministry to Adolescents

3.00 Credits

The foundations, principles, and practices of effective ministry to adolescents. Modes of ministry include evangelization, catechesis, building community, fostering prayer and spirituality, and promoting social justice. Note: To successfully complete this course, students need internet access.

TRS 656: Pastoral Theology

3.00 Credits

Examines the nature, function, and developments of the discipline of Pastoral Theology. Engages students in the process of theological reflection on the act of ministry and on the implications of the American cultural context for ministry.

TRS 656A: Pastoral Counseling

3.00 Credits

Counseling theory and dynamics, the pastoral and theological dimensions of counseling, specific problem areas such as addiction, depression, faith struggles, transition, loss, etc. Didactic material and critiqued role-plays designed to refine student's style and method of pastoral counseling.

TRS 657A: The Art of Pastoral Leadership

3.00 Credits

The goal of this course is to enable students to develop and demonstrate pastoral leadership in a parish setting. Students will be engaged in the practice of parish ministry. The seminar addresses pastoral skills such as group facilitation (giving special attention to the dynamic of the capstone seminar group), pastoral planning, lay empowerment, the exercise of authority, the importance of boundaries, effective collaboration, conflict management, and pedagogy. Students will prepare a proposal for a parish project that they will implement in the second part of the capstone seminar.

TRS 657B: Pastoral Leadership: Reflection, Evaluation, and Integration

3.00 Credits

Reflection, Evaluation and Integration The goal of this course is the development and demonstration of pastoral leadership. Students will be engaged in the practice of parish ministry. Students develop a project for the parish community, which they will implement, or they will analyze and evaluate an existing program in which they are already engaged. Students will evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in terms of parish leadership with specific reference to the skills covered in TRS 657A and discuss ways in which they can hone their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. They will consider how ministry enhances and solidifies pastoral identity. They will engage in a process of theological reflection on their ministry, their identity as pastoral leaders, and the connection between ministry and spirituality and their project in ministry. Prerequisite: TRS 657A

TRS 658: Introduction to Pastoral Ministry and Supervision

3.00 Credits

This course is specifically designed for Doctor of Ministry students who have never had a supervised pastoral ministry course and need to fulfill the DMin prerequisite requirement. As a result of readings, discussions and verbatim reports students will develop new awareness both of themselves as ministers and of the needs of those to whom they offer pastoral care and ministry.

TRS 660: History and Method in Theoolgy

3.00 Credits

Historical survey outlining the development and differences of the basic categories, methods, criteria, and notions of theology throughout the history of Christian thought.

TRS 661: Christian Anthropology

3.00 Credits

Studies creation, the human person, and redemption in Jesus Christ in light of Scripture and the Catholic tradition. Addresses questions posed by modern and contemporary culture (e.g., belief, gender, the environment, etc.).

TRS 661A: Mariology

3.00 Credits

Historical, systematic and liturgical study of Mary as: the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, her role in salvation, and her continued presence in the theological and lived experience of Christians through the centuries. Course of study will include biblical foundations, patristic, medieval and modern periods accentuating dogmatic formulations, liturgical praxis, artistic expressions and devotional practices. Prerequisite: Christology, TRS 667A or equivalent.

TRS 662: Revelation and Faith

3.00 Credits

Biblical dimensions and theoretical models of revelation and faith in light of the teaching of the Vatican Councils, current theological discussion and pastoral practice.

TRS 663: Christian Eschatology

3.00 Credits

Studies the present and future implications of Jesus¿ preaching of the Kingdom of God in Scripture and the Catholic tradition. Attention to "the last things" (death, heaven, hell, purgatory) as well as current theological debates (political theology, resurrection in death, universal salvation, etc.).

TRS 664A: Theology of the Church

3.00 Credits

The nature, attributes, mission, and structure of the Church from a Roman Catholic perspective. Topics: history and method of ecclesiology, origins of the Church, local/universal Church, social mission, ecumenical concerns, papal and episcopal ministry, Mary and the Church. Lecture with some discussion.

TRS 665A: Basic Principles of Latin Canon Law

3.00 Credits

Examines the nature, history, and function of Latin Church law. Surveys the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law in the areas of general norms, the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful, Church structures, the teaching office of the Church, temporal goods, and sanctions.

TRS 665B: Introduction to Eastern Canon Law

3.00 Credits

Examines the development of Canon Law in the Eastern Church in light of their history and evolution. Surveys the sources, structure and norms of the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in the area of governance of and ascription to a Church sui iuris.

TRS 666: Theology of God

3.00 Credits

Situates the problem of God in the context of modern thought, and describes the tasks of theology in the face of contemporary atheism. Examines the possibility of human experience and knowledge of God with attention to the traditional arguments for God's existence and the problem of speaking about God. Investigates the revelation of God in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Studies the classical attempts to systematize the doctrine of the Trinity.

TRS 667A: Christology

3.00 Credits

A historical and systematic study of the person and work of Jesus Christ as object and foundation of Christian faith.

TRS 702: The Ethical Dimensions of the Prophets

3.00 Credits

"Ethical" is taken broadly to include all that relates to personal and communal response to the God of Israel as perceived by the prophets. Procedure includes investigation of the sources of prophets' ethical teaching, review of early and classical prophets, and synthesis in particular areas, including social justice and issues of war and peace.

TRS 703A: Three Covenants of Israel

3.00 Credits

The course begins with remarks on the treaty-texts of the Ancient Near East as a background for the covenantal material in the Old Testament. It then offers a detailed study of three key biblical covenants, i.e. those with Noah (Genesis 9), Abraham (Genesis 15 and 17) and with Israel at Sinai (Exodus 19-34).

TRS 703B: Messianism and Redemption

3.00 Credits

Studies the roots of messianism and redemption in Israel's experience. Surveys the development of future hope and eschatology in Israel's historical and prophetic writings and examines the transformation and fulfillment of messianic hope in the New Testament.

TRS 704: Spirituality of the Psalms

3.00 Credits

General introduction to the Psalter (principles of Hebrew poetry, literary forms of the Psalms, etc.); in-depth treatment of themes of praise, love, longing, hope, repentance, mercy, worship, as found in the Psalms, and of the concrete images in which such themes are embodied; Israel's liturgy.

TRS 705: Old Testament Prophecy

3.00 Credits

An overview of the historical and theological dimensions of Old Testament prophecy

TRS 705C: Theology of the Old Testament

3.00 Credits

After a consideration of the nature and method of Old Testament theology, the course considers some of the major theological themes of the Old Testament: revelation, the names and natures of God, eschatology, divine, creation and redemption, human beings and God, angelology, sin and forgiveness, the Decalogue and Wisdom.

TRS 707A: New Testament Christology

3.00 Credits

An examination of the Christologies found in the writings of the New Testament.

TRS 707B: New Testament Ecclesiology

3.00 Credits

An examination of the New Testament texts that contribute substantially to its various understandings of the church.

TRS 709A: New Testament Ethics

3.00 Credits

An examination of the moral teaching in the writings of the New Testament, with special attention to the Gospels and the Pauline Epistles.

TRS 709B: Human Sexuality According to the New Testament

3.00 Credits

A detailed historical-critical and literary study of the NT texts that speak of human sexuality. The significance of these for a biblically based contemporary Christian ethic will also be examined.

TRS 720A: Patristic Seminar: The Life and Thought of St. Augustine

3.00 Credits

A survey of the life of Augustine and the major controversies that helped shape his theology. Topics include the problem of evil, the holiness of the Church, grace and free will, and predestination. Students who wish to pursue further study of Augustine should take this course first.

TRS 720C: Augustine in the Roman World

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the thought and life of Augustine, particularly in light of his intellectual interactions with other schools of thought in the later Roman Empire. Particular attention will be paid to the way in which Augustine's thought develops in response to his readings of Virgil and Neoplatonic texts; and to the way Augustine interacts with other Christian groups who contest Catholic or Augustinian reading practices, such as Manichaeans, Donatists, and Pelagians.

TRS 720D: Augustine: The Confessions

3.00 Credits

'This is a course on Augustine's spiritual, intellectual, and moral autobiography. In the Confessions, Augustine tells his story in the form of various conversions (philosophical awakening, Manicheism, skepticism, neoplatonic philosophy, and Catholic Christianity). Students who wish to pursue further study of Augustine should take this course first.

TRS 720E: Augustine's Controversies

3.00 Credits

A course on Augustine's major theological controversies with Donatists, Homoeans, and Jovinianists. Topics include church and sacraments, grace and free will, predestination, Trinitarian theology, and asceticism.

TRS 721: Principles of Patristic Exegesis

3.00 Credits

A study of some important Latin patristic hermeneutical theories which inform and guide patristic biblical exegesis. The selected texts include the writings of Augustine, Tyconius, Jerome, Cassian, and Cassiodorus. Focus will be on their understanding of language, semiotics, communication, and on the recommended hermeneutical techniques.

TRS 721A: Patristic Thought and Emotion

3.00 Credits

A consideration of the emotions in patristic thought, including such authors as Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea, John Cassian, and Nemesios of Emessa. Contemporary theories of emotions will also be examined.

TRS 722: Trinity, Hierarchy, and Human Society in Early Christian Thought

3.00 Credits

A study of the ways in which early Christians understood the Kingship of Christ to extend, via the mediations of hierarchies celestial and ecclesiastical, into the human politeia.

TRS 722A: Jerome

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the life and work of Jerome, especially with regard to his contributions to Western ascetic thought and practice, his work in biblical translation and commentary, and his thought on the places of Rome and the Holy Land in the earl Christian cultural landscape

TRS 722C: Irenaeus and The Gnostics

3.00 Credits

An examination of the culture, historical context, and thought world of the second century theologian, Irenaeus of Lyon, including such topics as the confrontation with Valentianian Gnosticism, the interpretaiton of Scripture, eschatology, the Adam-Christ typology, the divine economy, baptism, salvation, and the spirit. The questions and directions he established for the future will also be considered.

TRS 723: Early Christian Asceticism

3.00 Credits

The background and formation, in various literary genres, of patristic thought concerning ascetic and monastic life from Origen through Maximus the Confessor.

TRS 723C: Topics in Greek Patristics I

3.00 Credits

Reading of selected Greek patristic authors in the original language. Permission of the instructor is required.

TRS 723D: Topics in Greek Patristics II

3.00 Credits

Reading of selected Greek patristic authors in the original language. Permission of the instructor is required.

TRS 724B: Alexandrian Christianity

3.00 Credits

Clement, Origen, Athanasius, Didymus the Blind, Synesius of Cyrene, and Cyril of Alexandria are the Alexandrian thinkers that this course will study. The reception of Platonism, doctrinal controversy and the formation of orthodoxy, Christology, soteriology, the interpretation of Scripture, ecclesiastical and conciliar history, and the developing office of the bishop are among the topics that will be explored.

TRS 725: Theology of the Second Century

3.00 Credits

The writings of the Apostolic Fathers, the Apologists, and Irenaeus, treated in their theological, polemical, and historical contexts.

TRS 726A: Hilary of Poitiers De Trinitate

3.00 Credits

A study of the fourth century Trinitarian theology and controversies in light of a significant treatise of a pro-Nicene Latin theologian Hilary of Poitiers. Latin Required.

TRS 727: Introduction to Medieval Theology

3.00 Credits

Introduces some of the key figures of Medieval Christian theology, their texts and historical context. The course will concentrate primarily on Western figures from the ninth through the fourteenth centuries.

TRS 727A: Christian Anthropology in Patrisitc Thought

3.00 Credits

A study of the human person in the patristic world according to such major thinkers as Irenaeus, Origen, Plotinus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Nemesios of Emessa, Boethius, and Evagrius Ponticus. The soul and its relationship to body will be considered in the light of the mind-body dualism that has been attributed to Christian texts. Memory, the passions and emotions, human action, perception, and the relationship of each of these to bodily processes will also be examined in order to develop a nuanced conception of the Christian self and to reassess the predominance of the dualist model.

TRS 727B: Formation of Orthodoxy

3.00 Credits

A history of the councils from Nicaea I to Nicaea II in the light of the relationship between church and state; the role of the emperor in ecclesiastical decision-making; the extent to which ecclesiastical politics shapes the formation of heresy and orthodoxy; the making of text and tradition; and the strategies by which compliance with orthodox belief is secured. The acts of the councils, including letters, doctrinal treatises, homilies, and minutes of conciliar meetings, as well as church histories, Vitae, and imperial documents will be studied.

TRS 727C: Bonaventure, Parisian Master: Context, Texts, Interpretation

3.00 Credits

Examines the context and thought of Saint Bonaventure during his Parisian period as a student and master of theology, c. 1248 - 1257. The course will also introduce the student to the many literary forms of scholastic theology, the key figures at the University of Paris who shaped Bonaventure's mind, including Alexander of Hales, and the hermeneutical challenges of interpreting Bonaventure due to the growth of medieval studies and the nineteenth century edition of his texts.

TRS 727D: Catholic Reformation: 1400 - 1540

3.00 Credits

A study of ongoing reform efforts in the Church from the healing of the Great Western Schism to the organized Roman response to the Protestant Reformation, treating such topics as conciliarism, observantism, mysticism, popular preaching, Devotio Moderna, Christian humanism, evangelism, and the careers of major reformers.

TRS 727E: Counter Reformation: 1540 - 1615

3.00 Credits

A study of the efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to deal with the Protestant Reformation and other changes in society with particular attention to diplomatic and theological responses, religious colloquies, Council of Trent, enforcement of its decrees, index and inquisition, liturgical reforms, religious art and music, clerical education, controversialist theology, religious orders and spirituality, popular piety, missionary and uniate efforts, and confessionalization.

TRS 728A: Medieval Church History

3.00 Credits

Readings and discussions on specialized topics in medieval church history.

TRS 728B: Christian Faith and Religious Mentalities

3.00 Credits

The religious life of men and women in seventeenth- to nineteenth-century Europe as perceived through the major themes of modern historical sociology, and interpreted in the inner context of faith and spirituality. Childhood and Education; Women; Marriage and Family; Feasts and Pilgrimages; the Poor, Aging and Death.

TRS 728C: Colloquium: Council of Trent

3.00 Credits

An in-depth study through readings, papers, and discussion of select topics dealing with the background, debates, contents, interpretation, and implementation of conciliar decrees on scripture and tradition, justification, sacraments, sacrifice of the Mass, preaching, episcopal duties, the lower clergy, seminaries, religious orders, sacred art and music, the Roman Catechism, Index of Forbidden Books, Congregation of the Council, etc.

TRS 728D: Early Modern Catholicism from Trent to the French Revolution

3.00 Credits

A survey of the Catholic renewal that developed from the Council of Trent to the French revolution. Based on recent historiography it will examine the main features of this movement, its strength and weaknesses, its successes and failures, as well as Catholic resistance and alternatives that were opposed to it.

TRS 728E: Modern Catholicism from the French Revolution to Vatican II

3.00 Credits

A survey of the history of the Catholic Church, from the end of the French Revolution to the Council of Vatican II.

TRS 728F: Colloquium: From Mission Territories to Young Churches

3.00 Credits

A study of the place of missions in the life of the Catholic Church, based primarily on documents presenting the foreign missions to the European public.

TRS 728G: Models of the Church fromTrent to Vatican I

3.00 Credits

A case study of the several visions of the Catholic Church that were presented between 1563 and 1870 as alternatives to the structure resulting from the Council of Trent. Will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the "Tridentine Model," the values and limitations of the adverse proposals, as well as their validity in the wider ecclesiological tradition.

TRS 728H: Public Catholicism and the US in the 20th Century

3.00 Credits

With an emphasis upon the Church's engagement with social, economic, political, and intellectual issues in American society this course will explore models or styles of public Catholicism. Besides consideration of the various documents related to the issues, the class will focus on historical scholarship that elucidates trends and suggests models. The principal periods are organized according to topics: war, depression, anti-communism, civil rights, the women's movement, Vatican II, renewal, reform, and reaction, and the progressivist-preservationist conflicts.

TRS 728I: The Laity in American Catholic Life

3.00 Credits

Case studies of men and women activists, lay organizations, and movements with an emphasis on social thought, social action, and the evolution of lay self-understanding in the context of the development of public Catholicism ca. 1800-1950.

TRS 728J: American Catholics and Social Reform, 1875-1975

3.00 Credits

A reading course that intends to discern historical models of reform. Focuses on Catholic leaders and organizations committed to promoting a wide range of social change. Explores the religious responses to industrialism, unionism, racism, the Depression, and the civil rights and women's movements. Class discussion based on books and articles that examine the historical significance of the social encyclicals, organized Catholic charities and social work, Daniel Rudd and the Black Catholic Congress, labor and lay movements, Father John A. Ryan and the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Dorothy Day, and many other topics. Concludes with a consideration of new models of social Catholicism originating in the post-Vatican II period.

TRS 728K: Vatican II: History and Theology

3.00 Credits

A study of the Second Vatican Council situating it in the historical and theological context of Roman Catholicism since the French Revolution. The council is examined both as an event and as a set of authoritative texts. Some attempt to interpret post-conciliar developments and trends.

TRS 729A: Sources of Canon Law

3.00 Credits

Readings in Gratian, the Decretals, the Glossa ordinaria, and the commentators before the Council of Trent. Explores the doctrines of canon law and the institutional norms established by canon law.

TRS 729B: History of Canon Law: Sources and Science, Selected Issues

3.00 Credits

Legal texts, church orders, Oriental collections, Dionysiana, Hispana, Pseudo-Isidorian forgeries, Decretum of Burchard, collections of Ivo of Chartres, the formation of the Corpus Iuris Canonici, developments after the Council of Trent. Church structures: the episcopate, presbyterate, patriate, papacy, councils, and the like.

TRS 730A: Virtue in Contemporary Theology

3.00 Credits

Examines the challenges posed by modernity for the concept of virtue in Christian tradition, then surveys some of the widely differing reappropriations of virtue in the current discussion: classical, communitarian, confessional, developmental, feminist, and transcendental (i.e. fundamental option theories).

TRS 730B: Moral Imagination

3.00 Credits

An inquiry into the moral dimensions of the imagination, exploring questions arising along the boundaries of ethical theory, literature, and hermeneutics. Issues include the role of narrative in morality, the social construction of agency, and relationships among virtue, character, and principle.

TRS 731A: History of Catholic Moral Theology

3.00 Credits

A survey of the history of Catholic moral theology. Topics include ethics in the early and patristic church, the rise of private auricular confession, moral syntheses of the medieval period, Trent and the Reformation, the manualist tradition and casuistry. Attention to the evolution of the discipline's self-understanding. Analysis of relationship between actions, laws, and virtues.

TRS 731C: Basic Concepts in Catholic Moral Theology

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 731D: The Sermon on the Mount and Moral Theology

3.00 Credits

St. Augustine called the Sermon on the Mount the "charter of the Christian life," a description affirmed by St. Thomas Aquinas. The purpose of this class is to explore how exactly the Sermon on the Mount has been understood in the Christian as a guide to a life of Christian discipleship. Thus the course, though rooted in Scripture, is primarily one of moral theology. Topics will include: variations in interpretation of the ethics of the Sermon throughout history, the role of Scripture in moral theology, the Scriptural warrant for a virtue approach to moral theology, and the roles of the commandments and the new law in the Christian life.

TRS 732A: Sexuality, the Person and Ethics

3.00 Credits

Brief examination of the contributions of sciences such as biology, genetics, ecology, psychology, and cultural anthropology to an understanding of human sexuality. This will be followed by an examination of various philosophical and theological accounts of sexuality in relation to the person and a consideration for their significance in regard to issues of gender and sexual ethics.

TRS 732B: Beginning of Life Issues

3.00 Credits

Examines issues at the beginning of life, including the moral status of the embryo, pre-natal testing, IVF and other reproductive technologies, contraception, abortion, cloning, and stem cell research. These issues will be examined in relation to contemporary attitudes in our society to and theological understandings of the place of children and childbearing.

TRS 732C: End of Life Issues

3.00 Credits

Examines key biomedical issues at the end of life and the distinctions and principles necessary for their moral evaluation. Issues analyzed will include euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, withdrawal of life support, informed consent, relief of pain and suffering, and the determination of death.

TRS 732F: Sex and Virtue

3.00 Credits

This course offers a virtue-based approach to issues of sexual ethics, attempting to bring the contemporary revival of interest in virtue theory to bear on an understanding of sexuality, sexual flourishing, and sexual morality. The intersection of virtue theory, psychology, and sexuality will be considered.

TRS 732G: The Human Person

3.00 Credits

This course will investigate the development of the notion of "Person." The theme is relevant both to systematic and moral theology. The historical sources of the notion will be explored. Particular attention will be given to the definition of Boethius and its adoption by St. Thomas. How may we understand the "person" in the doctrine of the Trinity? This classic definition is invoked in Catholic documents dealing with the moral status of the human embryo. The structure and adequacy of these arguments will be studied. Contemporary issues will also be dealt with, for example, what is the relationship between the modern notion of "self" and that of person. What is meant by "personalism?"

TRS 733C: Topics in War and Peace

3.00 Credits

The purpose of the course is to understand the rationale and meaning of the just war tradition. In particular, we shall understand, with von Clausewitz, that the just war is an extension of politics "by other means," and not the abrogation of the political. Thus, war is a rational activity. We shall investigate this in contact with pacifism, and with ancient and current conceptions of unlimited war in the form of "holy" war.

TRS 733D: Human Rights: Religious and Ethical Perspectives

3.00 Credits

The course is an inquiry into central quandaries in the theory and practice of human rights. Topics include the conceptual character of rights language, the historical relationship of human rights to natural rights and natural law, the universality and/or relativity of human rights, the relation between religion and human rights, the problem of conflicting rights claims, and the justification of humanitarian intervention. Selected case studies will be examined.

TRS 734B: Comparative Ethics

3.00 Credits

Combines a survey of diverse religious and moral traditions with a study of methodological issues in the comparative study of ethics. Comparative strategies include sociological, anthropological, conceptual, structuralist, ecumenical, and hagiographical approaches. Traditions addressed include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism.

TRS 734C: Theories of Justice

3.00 Credits

Theories of Justice: A survey of influential theories of justice, from Aristotle to Rawls and his interlocutors. Special attention will be paid to Catholic social thought and current debates regarding global justice and constitutive justice.

TRS 735A: Pastoral Ethics

3.00 Credits

This seminar offers students the opportunity to reflect on their ministerial experience in conversation with ethical resources from both the theological and secular world. These resources include foundational ideas in Christian ethics, including Catholic moral theology, as well as classic Western philosophical theories. They also include concrete case studies and the contemporary discussion of professional ethics considered in relation to ministerial practice. In the process, we will examine the often complex issues that arise during the practical tasks of Christian love.

TRS 736A: Fundamental Moral Theology of the Gift

3.00 Credits

The course offers an approach to moral theology of which the fundamental framework is the "Gift." It draws on contemporary philosophy and theology of the Gift (Derrida, Marion, Bruaire) as well as classic sources such as St. Thomas Aquinas.

TRS 737: The Body inTheology

3.00 Credits

This course surveys theological reflection concerning the significance of the body' its relation to the person, and its sexual dimension in the Christian tradition. Select patristic, medieval, and modern sources will guide the examination of both continuity and development in thought concerning the body.

TRS 737A: Ethics and Action (MT/E Core #1)

3.00 Credits

A seminar in methodology in moral theology, focusing on the nature of human action. Covers questions concerning human ends, practical rationality, choice, intention, object, and the relationship between these and questions of the self and narrative. Readings drawn from classical and contemporary commentators and theorists.

TRS 737B: The Virtues (MT/E Core #2)

3.00 Credits

Examines the challenges posed by modernity for the concept of virtue in the Christian tradition. This seminar explores selected ancient, patristic, and medieval treatments of the virtues, then surveys some of the widely differing re-appropriations of virtue in the current discussion: classical, communitarian, confessional, developmental, feminist, and transcendental (i.e. fundamental option theories).

TRS 737C: Law in Moral Theology (MT/E Core #3)

3.00 Credits

Part of the history of western philosophy is the periodic declaration of the death of the natural law, but as one commentator noticed, the natural law always "has risen livelier than ever and buried its undertakers." What some see as a weakness-the multiple forms of the natural law-others acknowledge as the genius of the system. Explores how the natural law may be newly justified in our age, a task made urgent by the fact that Western, and increasingly, global, culture presupposes the existence in law of a system of "natural" or human rights.

TRS 737D: Twentieth-Century Theological Ehtics (MT/E Core #4)

3.00 Credits

Part I of the course will present an historical, critical study of Christian ethics (Moral Theology) in the Catholic tradition. Topics will be: the moral theology manuals; the renewal of moral theology in the light of Vatican II; the new accounts of Thomistic moral theology; situationism and the problem of relativism; the meaning of "objective" in ethics; "physicalism;" the "New natural law" theory and its critics; proportionalism and its critics; personalist ethics; the ethics of "Gift." Part II of the course will study Christian ethics in other traditions; in particular the ethics of Karl Barth and Stanley Hauerwas. In the sphere of secular ethics, "discourse ethics¿ and procedural ethics will be explained and critiqued. Finally the search for a "common ethics" will be discussed.

TRS 738: Ethics and The Environment

3.00 Credits

To be human is to be `placed' in the world, both in a `natural' and `built' environment. Our vision of what it means to be human shapes what we build, especially in relation to the natural environment. Our buildings, from the humblest shack to the grandest Cathedral, make moral statements. This course surveys historical and contemporary theories of how humans are to build, whether it be, e.g. homes, cities, monuments, or churches.

TRS 740: Liturgical Sources

3.00 Credits

A study of liturgical sources with attention to historical and theological method. Particular but not exclusive focus on sources of Western churches. Working knowledge of Latin required.

TRS 741A: Liturgy: Theological and Historical Perspectives

3.00 Credits

Theological, historical, and cultural considerations affecting the development of the traditions of public worship, East and West. An evaluation of the significance of these issues for the late twentieth century renewal of liturgical traditions.

TRS 741B: Liturgy and Culture

3.00 Credits

An investigation of the relationship between liturgy and culture from anthropological and theological perspectives. Topics include contemporary notions of culture, symbols and rituals as mediators of culture, liturgy as the symbolic, ritual action of local churches, issues which have emerged in the reception of Vatican II.

TRS 742A: The Liturgical Year

3.00 Credits

Liturgical theology of the annual celebration of major feasts and seasons of the church year in history and in the present reform. Attention to ecumenical comparisons as well as to catechesis, spirituality, and pastoral practice.

TRS 742B: Liturgy of Hours and Community Prayer

3.00 Credits

Theological foundations for Christian communal prayer. The historical and theological dimensions of the monastic and cathedral offices and popular forms of common prayer. Investigation and critique of the Roman Liturgy of the Hours and other models of contemporary community prayer.

TRS 743A: Liturgical Catechesis

3.00 Credits

Course focuses on the liturgy as a source of catechesis. Emphasis is placed on the mystagogy of the sacraments of initiation and other selected sacramental and liturgical rites.

TRS 743C: RCIA: Theological, Ecumenical, and Pastoral Perspectives

3.00 Credits

A study of the RCIA with a view to understanding its theological foundations and implications. This will include a discussion of the ecumenical implications of its adaptation for admitting baptized Christians to full communion.

TRS 743D: Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick

3.00 Credits

Study of the historical development of the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick with emphasis on the theological and pastoral implications of the tradition.

TRS 743E: Liturgies of Christian Marriage

3.00 Credits

A study of the scriptural origins, patristic enrichment, medieval development, Tridentine codification, and recent reform of the rites of marriage. Exploration of developments in both the Eastern and Western traditions. Foundations of a liturgical theology of marriage.

TRS 743F: Sacramental Theology and Liturgical Participation

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the correlation between Catholic sacramental theology and the liturgical vision of ¿full, conscious, and active participation.¿ After a lecture format introduction, the majority of class sessions will be seminar format, some led by students, where various questions will be explored from the assigned readings. A major focus of the discussions will center on the pastoral implications of how one¿s understanding of the Catholic principle of sacramentality influences one¿s understanding of the essence of liturgical action, and what that means in the actual celebrations of parish Sunday Eucharist and other sacramental liturgies.

TRS 744: Eucharist: A Liturgical Theology

3.00 Credits

Based on liturgical sources in early, medieval, reformed, as well as contemporary worship. These will be placed in their relation to social and cultural patterns.

TRS 744A: Death and Dying: A Liturgical Theology

3.00 Credits

The foundations of a liturgical theology of Christian death and dying developed by exploring the texts and contexts of the rites of the Church both East and West.

TRS 746: The Roman Missal

3.00 Credits

Evolution of the missal as a liturgical book. Postconciliar Missale Romanum 1970 and 2002 assessed with particular attention to liturgical structures, texts and translations. Evaluation of present revised missals now in use (e.g., Spanish, French, German, Italian and Ambrosian) especially in relation to the proposed ICEL Roman Missal translations as well as comparison with service books of other Christian churches.

TRS 747: Liturgical Spirituality: Christian Ritual and Transformation

3.00 Credits

Explores the dynamic between liturgical and personal spiritualities by engaging in critical reflection on the role of liturgy as mediator of conversion. Liturgy is studied as symbolic, ritual action and conversion as a process of transformation which is personal and social. Particular attention to initiation and eucharist.

TRS 747A: The Cult of Saints in Liturgical Practice

3.00 Credits

History of the rise of a Christian cult of the saints: martyrs, bishops, and confessors. The medieval expansion of the liturgical devotion to saints in East and West. The liturgical celebration of the saints today. A liturgical theology and spirituality of the saints.

TRS 748A: Byzantine Divine Liturgy

3.00 Credits

This historical study of the development of the Byzantine Liturgy analyzes the constitutive elements in order to understand their present form. It will address issues of cathedral and monastic influence. This historical study will conclude in an articulation of Byzantine liturgical theology.

TRS 749: The Holy Spirit in Liturgical Celebration

3.00 Credits

A theological study of the operation of the Holy Spirit in Christian liturgy based on the liturgical texts and rites of both East and West. Special attention will be given to the Eucharist and Initiation.

TRS 750A: Classics in Christian Spirituality I

3.00 Credits

Critical reading and discussion of classic texts from the second to the thirteenth centuries. Included will be works by such authors as some of the Apostolic Fathers, early monastic authors, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Hildegard of Bingen, and Francis and Clare of Assisi.

TRS 750B: Classics in Christian Spirituality II

3.00 Credits

Similar in format to Classics I, this course focuses on the classic texts in Western Christian spirituality from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries. Included will be works by such authors as Eckhart, Ruusbroec, Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Therese of Lisieux, and Thomas Merton.

TRS 750C: Major Authors in Christian Spirituality

3.00 Credits

This course will focus on writings by six important authors in the Christian spiritual tradition: two from the patristic era (Origen and Augustine), two from the medieval period (Meister Eckhart and Julian of Norwich), one from the early modern period (Teresa of Avila) and one from recent times (Thomas Merton).

TRS 751A: Teaching & Learning: Focus on Religious Education and Catechetics

3.00 Credits

This course will introduce theology/religious studies students to effective teaching practices. It will provide practical suggestions for planning, conducting and evaluating instruction. Finally, this course is intended to foster insight into the relationship between theory and practice through interaction with resource persons and observation experiences.

TRS 751B: History and Theory of Catechetics I

3.00 Credits

Examines selections from patristic and medieval writers on sacramental and moral catechesis. Special attention to St. Augustine's De Catechizandis Rudibus. Also readings from sixteenth-century catechisms. Faculty.

TRS 751C: History and Theory of Catechetics II

3.00 Credits

Readings in selected works of Bushnell, Coe, Jungmann, and contemporary writers in the fields of catechetics and religious education. Discussion of the nature and processes of religious development and socialization and the relationship of catechetics and theology. Faculty.

TRS 751D: Issues in Religious Education and Catechetics

3.00 Credits

Selected issues in current pastoral practice with attention to relevant documents, historical background, contemporary culture, and future implications.

TRS 751E: Pastoral Sacramental Issues

3.00 Credits

Focus is on questions connected with initiation and other sacraments, preparation programs for sacraments, Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest, communion services and other contemporary pastoral issues.

TRS 751F: Foundations of Religious Education/Catechetics

3.00 Credits

An overview of the history of catechesis in order to provide perspective on current developments. An introduction to the authors and sources in the field of catechetics/religious education.

TRS 751G: The Bible in Liturgy, Preaching and Spiritual Formation

3.00 Credits

The Bible as the church's book. Emergence of the New Testament writings, formation of the biblical canon as ecclesial events. Lectionary as "canon within the canon"; lectionary preaching, the liturgical homily; liturgical catechesis and mystagogy. Contemporary issues and critiques.

TRS 751H: Trinitarian Catechesis & Baptismal Creed

3.00 Credits

An in-depth study of the "economic Trinity" as presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Baptismal Creed as the centerpiece in adult catechesis.

TRS 751I: Adult Faith Formation

3.00 Credits

This course explores the historical, theological, developmental, social and cultural dimension of adult faith formation from within the framework of the Christian community. Following the spirit of Our Hearts Were Burning: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States, students identify resources for organizing, planning and evaluating sound faith formation programs for adults.

TRS 751K: Youth and Young Adults: Mentoring and Ministry

3.00 Credits

This course explores various elements of mentoring and ministry with adolescents and young adults from within the framework of USCCB documents, Renewing the Vision and Sons and Daughters of the Light.

TRS 751L: Jesus the Teacher: Parables, Proverbs & Metaphors

3.00 Credits

The Scripture will explore Jesus' teachings in his pedagogical modes and methods as found in the three synoptic gospels and as placed on his lips by the evangelist John to expound the Church's faith in him. The course will be working from the texts and the Sayings Gospel of Thomas, with assistance from the works of Jeremias Davies, Lambrecht and Perrin on the question.

TRS 751M: Catechesis and Evangelization

3.00 Credits

This course will explore the inter-relationship between the Church¿s ministries of evangelization and catechesis. Using Paul VI's apostolic exhortation evangelii nuntiandi as a point of departure, the course will involve a careful study of universal and national church documents that have shaped the contemporary Church's increasing awareness and direction for faith formation and missionary activity. Various authors will be consulted to surface relative issues, conflicts and agendas pursuant to where do we go from here?

TRS 752: Spirituality and Religion in a Scientific Age

3.00 Credits

Examines the effects of modern scientific and technological culture on the tradition of Christian spirituality and doctrine and the way in which leading theologians and spiritual writers have responded to the challenges and opportunities presented by that culture.

TRS 752A: Christian Spirituality: A Global View

3.00 Credits

This course will provide an overview of the Christian spiritual tradition, including developments in recent centuries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In addition to a basic textbook, readings will include books by authors prominent in the field of interfaith spirituality (e.g., Bede Griffiths), feminist spirituality (Sandra Schneiders), liberation spirituality (Gustavo Gutierrez), African spirituality (Desmond Tutu), and contemplative spirituality (Thomas Merton).

TRS 752B: Spirituality, Religion and Social Transformation

3.00 Credits

An examination of ways in which some major spiritual and religious authors have addressed issues of slavery, global poverty, environmental degradation, and ethnic violence. Readings will be drawn from books and articles by such authors as John Woolman, Hans Kung, Stephanie Kaza, Patricia Mische, Marc Gopin, John Paul Lederach, and Pope John Paul II.

TRS 753A: Dialogue Between Theology and Psychology

3.00 Credits

An examination of the evolving dialogue between theology and psychology, the theological uses of psychology, and prospects for the future of the dialogue. Implications for contemporary theological reflection and pastoral practice also will be considered.

TRS 753B: Faith Development / Conversion

3.00 Credits

Examines various issues in contemporary approaches to conversion, leading to understanding of how we can conceive of conversion today in a post-Enlightenment worldview, including (1) faith as emerging through different life stages, (2) human persons as "socially located" in diverse communities of meaning, and (3) social sin and conversion as well as individual transformation. Readings include social scientific studies of conversion, literature on faith development as well as articles on theologies of conversion in Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions. May also include various autobiographies and/or conversion and slave religion in the nineteenth century.

TRS 754: Mystical Theology

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the study of mysticism. Issues include the relationship of mystical experience and doctrine, the cross-cultural study of mysticism, and an analysis of various philosophical, theological, natural, and social scientific methods employed in the study of mysticism.

TRS 754B: Mystical Theology: Three Pivotal Texts of Bonaventure

3.00 Credits

An examination of the foundations of Christian Mysticism through the lens of Bonaventure¿s ¿summa mistica,¿ Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, De Triplici Via, and Soliloquium. Each of these texts relies on the writings of the earlier Christian tradition, especially those of Augustine, the Pseudo-Dionysius, Bernard of Clairvaux, the Victorines, and Francis of Assisi. Furthermore the first two of these texts influenced the subsequent tradition of mysticism. In order to grow sensitive to the nuances of these texts, a part of each class will be devoted to translation of a select Latin passage.

TRS 754C: Medieval Commentaries on the Song of Songs: The Cistercians

3.00 Credits

An examination of the Medieval Commentaries on the Song of Songs that Bernard of Clairvaux placed at the heart of his understanding of the Cistercian Reform. The course will examine the commentary of Origen that became the basis of Bernard's approach, Bernard's own commentaries, and those of William of St. Thierrey, Gilbert of Hoyland, and John of Ford.

TRS 754D: The Franciscan Tradition of Spirituality

3.00 Credits

This course examines the Franciscan theological tradition in its historical context through the use of different genres of texts. Figures to be explored include: Francis, Clare, Alexander of Hales, Bonaventure, Peter of John Olivi, Scotus, Ockham.

TRS 755A: Hispanic/Latino Theology

3.00 Credits

Historical and cultural aspects of the Hispanic/Latino community in the United States. The development of Hispanic/Latino theology in the North American context by representative theologians (Aquino, De La Torre, Elizondo, Espín, Díaz, Goizueta, Isasi-Díaz, Pedraja, et al.).

TRS 756: Pastoral Approach to Adult Spiritual Formation

3.00 Credits

Using a participative approach, this course examines the characteristics of adult learning and explores the use of Scriptures, spiritual classics, methods of prayer, and spiritual direction in ongoing adult formation.

TRS 756B: Catholic Social Teaching in Religious Education

3.00 Credits

This course examines the historical development and current state of Catholic social thought with attention to key papal, conciliar and episcopal documents for the purpose of understanding their relationship to and enhancement of Catholic higher education, religious education and parish ministries. Methods of social analysis and theological reflection will be considered as well as current trends in service learning programs. Additionally, opportunities for exploring and creating innovative approaches to sharing CST at all levels of education are offered.

TRS 757: Interfaith Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Examines the sometimes controversial ways in which the understanding and practice of Christian spirituality has been affected by currents coming from other religious traditions. Readings will be drawn from ecclesial documents and from authors such as Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths, Sara Grant, Raimon Panikkar, Diana Eck, and William Johnston.

TRS 759: The Spirituality of Pastoral Leadership

3.00 Credits

Pastoral leadership is done in many ways--- through preaching, presiding at prayer, spiritual guidance and the witness of our lives. This course will begin with exploring the intersection between leadership and faith. It will go on to explore the spiritual foundations of pastoral leadership, including the virtues of humility and gentleness, evangelical counsels, discernment, issues of transparency and vulnerability, and spiritual self-care. The course will be taught in seminary style, with a combination of lecture presentations and discussion.

TRS 760A: Theological Foundations

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the practice of Christian theology as human performance. Key moments in the genesis of theology as a discipline; its foundations, tasks, and purpose. Faculty.

TRS 760B: Theology, Culture and Hermeneutic

3.00 Credits

Starting with theories about reading texts, the course explores how contemporary theologians appropriate hermeneutical approaches, deconstructive and reconstructive, to Christian tradition in relation to questions that arise from cultural settings and cultural transitions. This includes the study of writings on reading texts chosen from authors such as Booth, Greimas and Iser, on hermeneutical appropriation chosen from authors such as Caputo, Gadamer, Habermas, Ricoeur and Vattimo, and on theological hermeneutics chosen from authors such as Chopp, Milbank, Lafont, Mveng, Pieris, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Tracy and Von Balthasar.

TRS 760C: Theology, Culture, and Language

3.00 Credits

Christian theology has always attended to the significance of language, and its ability to refer truly to God. Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Aquinas are examined before turning to Wittgenstein's influence upon modern Thomists, with consequences for the relation of Church and culture.

TRS 761B: Theological Anthropology in Cross-Cultural Perspective

3.00 Credits

This course explores the issues raised by and for theological anthropology in cross-cultural perspective. It aims to examine, critique, and enlarge Christian anthropologies in light of the emerging world church, of developments in cultural and indigenous psychologies, and of post-colonial critiques. It gives participants an opportunity to explore issues in their own theological anthropologies

TRS 761C: Trinitarian Theology Today

3.00 Credits

The course offers a system of coordinates to deal with the increasing number of Trinitarian Theologies developed after the Second Vatican Council. The focus is to systematize the different approaches found in contemporary Trinitarian Theology and to reveal the hidden agendas in the discussion of the central phrases of the doctrine.

TRS 761D: Character of God

3.00 Credits

Studies the differences between classical and contemporary treatments of the divine attributes and character. In dialogue with feminist theology and process thought, investigates questions concerning how God is appropriately named, and whether God changes or suffers, in an approach which affirms both the transcendence and immanence of God.

TRS 761E: New Atheism and the Christian God

3.00 Credits

Dawkins, Harris, Dennett and others have recently accused religious beliefs of being unjustified and illusionary. Their attack questions the value of religion in general and the monotheistic concept of God. The course is meant to discuss the challenges coming from New Atheism and to explore the deeper sides of the Christian concept of God. Along the lines it will be necessary to deal with a Christian response to evolution, intelligent design, religious diversity, religiously motivated violence and the problem of superstition.

TRS 763A: Soteriology

3.00 Credits

The soteriological theme: Christ's "work" and its effect. Scriptural data and patristic elaboration of biblical imagery. Anselm, satisfaction, and the Thomist synthesis. The modern problematic, Lonergan, and the Law of the Cross.

TRS 764A: The Local Church

3.00 Credits

The local or particular Church from historical, systematic, ecumenical, and pastoral perspectives. Use of Vatican II. The local Church and the universal Church, the Eucharist, the local Church of Rome, the theology of the parish as related to the local Church. Seminar format: lecture and discussion.

TRS 764B: The Church as Communion

3.00 Credits

A study of the important concept of koinonia/communio: scriptural and historical background and ecclesiological application: communion of saints, local/universal Church, catholicity, collegiality, communication, and current ecumenical dialogues. Format: lecture and discussion.

TRS 764C: The Church as Gift and Task

3.00 Credits

Reflections in view of a critical systematic theology: method in ecclesiology; ecclesiology and social theory; the divine and the human in the Church; the Church as effect and instrument of salvation.

TRS 764D: The Church as Catholic and Global

3.00 Credits

This course examines the shape of catholicity in a Church increasingly aware of its local and global character. Topics include: Vatican II as the emergence of a ¿World Church,¿ the relationship of evangelization and inculturation, and Christianity¿s enduring Greco-Roman-European heritage.

TRS 765A: History and Theology of the Ecumenical Movement

3.00 Credits

The origin and development of the World Council of Churches. The Faith and Order Commission: Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. The Consultation on Church Union and Churches Uniting in Christ. Vatican II, the Decree on Ecumenism. National and international bilateral conversations. Ecumenism at the local level.

TRS 765B: Ecumenical Theology

3.00 Credits

Ecumenical dialogue on all levels has been taking place for the last forty years. Although substantial agreements have been reached, intricate theological problems remain to be solved, including the nature of consensus and the idea of Church unity itself. This course surveys a number of dialogues in which the Catholic Church is involved at an international level. Texts will be studied and analyzed and outstanding issues discussed.

TRS 766B: Introduction to Eastern Orthodox Theology

3.00 Credits

The Orthodox Church plays an important role in the ecumenical movement, not least through the impact of its own distinctive theology on the western churches. Eastern Orthodox theology builds upon the Greek Fathers and the Byzantine tradition. Yet, the 20th century has experienced a certain renewal of orthodox theology, due not least to Russian exile theologians. This course surveys main themes of today's orthodox theology and introduces authors like Lossky, Meyendorff, Staniloae and Zizioulas.

TRS 766C: Catholic/Orthodox Dialogue

3.00 Credits

Catholic-Orthodox relations entered a new phase with the lifting in 1965 of the mutual anathemas dating back to 1054, which precipitated the great schism. Recent decades have subsequently seen a concerted effort at reconciliation by means of a dialogue of charity and a dialogue of truth. This course examines the strategy and major achievements of this dialogue, particularly the agreed statements that have been reached by the international and the north American theological dialogue commissions, respectively. It also considers the problems that have arisen and the issues still outstanding on the path towards the restoration of full eucharistic communion.

TRS 768: Theology of Liberation

3.00 Credits

Origins, main themes, and critique of liberation theology. Readings from Gutierrez, Segundo, Boff, Freire, Cone. Discussion and pastoral application of several issues: theological, socioeconomic, racial, political, feminist. Format: lecture and discussion.

TRS 768A: Rome & Constantinople

3.00 Credits

A survey of the relation and the main theological differences between Eastern and Western Christianity. Interpretation of historical texts and texts of contemporary ecumenical dialogues.

TRS 769A: Crucifixion of Jesus in Contemporary Theology

3.00 Credits

A study of the interpretation of the theological significance of the crucifixion of Jesus, by major contemporary theologians, including Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jurgen Moltmann, Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Raymund Schwager.

TRS 769B: The Resurrection of Jesus in Contemporary Theology

3.00 Credits

A study of the treatment of Jesus' resurrection by major contemporary exegetes and systematic theologians, including Gerd Ludemann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Rudolf Pesch, Karl Rahner, and Edward Schillebeeckx.

TRS 769D: Two Contemporary Christologies

3.00 Credits

A study of the recent Christological writings of Roger Haight and Raymund Schwager.

TRS 769E: Christology and Cultures

3.00 Credits

The course aims to assess Christological movements in the world church and to evaluate critically the development of christologies within cultural processes.

TRS 770A: Contemporary Theological Methods

3.00 Credits

Historical survey outlining the development and differences of the basic categories, methods, criteria, and notions of theology throughout the history of Christian thought.

TRS 770B: Spiritual Theology of John Henry Newman

3.00 Credits

This seminar traces Newman's spiritual journey as described in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua and examine his spiritual theology as presented in his sermons, conferences, and correspondence. Students enrolled in the seminar are expected to prepare and present a research paper on one aspect of Newman's spirituality.

TRS 770C: Theology of Karl Rahner

3.00 Credits

Examines the theological method and basic ideas of Karl Rahner (1904-1984). Particular attention to his metaphysics of knowledge and transcendental anthropology as well as to his teachings on God, Christ, church, sacraments, and eschatology.

TRS 770D: Theology Hans Urs Von Balthasar

3.00 Credits

An introduction to von Balthasar's approach to systematic theology, drawing equally from his theological aesthetics, theo-drama, and theo-logic.

TRS 770E: The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg

3.00 Credits

A study of the thought of Wolfhart Pannenberg, with particular attention to his recent Systematic Theology.

TRS 770F: Theology of Edward Schillebeeckx

3.00 Credits

Study of the systematic theology of Edward Schillebeeckx, with particular attention to his writings on Christology.

TRS 770G: Political Theology

3.00 Credits

An exploration of theology in the context of the "Second Enlightenment," focused through reading and discussion of such authors as J.B. Metz, J. Moltmann, D. Soelle, B. Lonergan, M. Lamb.

TRS 780A: Introduction to the Study of Religion

3.00 Credits

This course is intended to provide a foundation for further graduate studies in religion by acquainting students with theories and methods from a variety of historical and social-scientific approaches, as well as with issues relating to their application in research. Topics include the development of the discipline of religious studies, anthropology of religion, psychology of religion, sociology of religion, and others. Faculty

TRS 780B: Hermeneutics and Religion

3.00 Credits

Through lectures, audiovisual presentations, and discussions, religious forms (e.g., prayer, metaphors, narrative, and law) and interpreters (e.g., Bal, Bultmann, Gadamer, Habermas, Ricoeur, Said, Tracy, and others) will be studied.

TRS 781A: Mission in the World Church

3.00 Credits

As Christianity has made its way into many cultures and regions of the world, the critical study of the cross cultural process of Christianity and its accompanying theologies of mission are of great interest for future reflection on cross-cultural communication and appropriation of Christian faith. The course examines various stages in Christianity's cross cultural history, studies significant changes in theologies of mission and inculturation, and explores recent proposals of cross-cultural theology for to reclaim mission in the World Church of today.

TRS 781B: Models and Methods in Comparative Theology

3.00 Credits

This course aims to (1) outline the fundamentals of the emerging discipline of Comparative Theology by (2) employing various historical and systematic models as hermeneutical tools by which to (3) reconstruct and interpret historical and systematic theological case studies as background against which to (4) appreciate the importance of the larger world religious scene as the context in which Christian theologians must learn to do their work in this century.

TRS 782B: Interreligious Dialogue

3.00 Credits

This course examines the nature and history of interreligious dialogue and ways it is being conducted today on the local, national, and international levels. Topics include theological and sociological perspectives on religious diversity and cultural developments influencing interreligious dialogue. Students will study representative works by persons active in such dialogue.

TRS 782C: Dialogue Between Christians and Jews

3.00 Credits

Modern Jews seek dialogue with Christians concerning sociological and political but not religious matters; Christians think religious dialogue should be easy because the religious traditions share the first Testament. Studies the outreach and repentance of the churches, together with the priority of personal contact over documentary interaction.

TRS 782D: Practical Issues Between Muslims and Christians

3.00 Credits

An examination of three areas of shared concern between Muslim and Christian communities in the United States: 1) spiritual resources in the respective traditions to sustain individual believers during their transitions from birth through maturity to death; 2) authority and responsibility of leaders in the respective communities of believers; 3) relations of the community of believers to society at large, including participating in civic life and bearing witness. Enrollment is open to Christians, Muslims, and others. In a setting of free inquiry, mutual respect, and honest exchange between instructors and students, the course studies and compares Muslim and Christian practices.

TRS 783: Theology and Science

3.00 Credits

Examines the interaction of these two disciplines, including their cooperative and contentious history, philosophical foundations, methods, and worldviews. Studies such specific issues as the cosmological argument and evolution, with the goal of understanding how these two forms of scholarship are autonomous yet interrelated.

TRS 784: Religion and Modern American Society

3.00 Credits

Examines religious and spiritual dynamics in post-World War II American society. Topics covered include religion and therapeutic culture; the decline of mainline religion; the rise of the Charismatic Movement, the New Religious Right, the New Age Movement; the "spiritual seeker" syndrome; the mega-Church phenomenon; religious pluralism; and the success of "new paradigm" and evangelical churches.

TRS 784A: Understanding Fundamentalism and "Strong" Religion

3.00 Credits

This course explores characteristics of 'strong religion', its relationship to fundamentalism, to religious organizational vitality, and to other forms of religious identity. The class is organized thematically around 'strong religion' by way of classical church/sect theory; theories of fundamentalism; social movement theories; rational choice theory; and secularization theories.

TRS 786: God and Goddess in Hinduism

3.00 Credits

This course explores the many ways in which Hindus visualize and talk about the divine, and its manifestations in the world, using mythic stories, the images used in worship, explanations of the nature of the soul and the body in relation to the divine, and the belief in living, human embodiments of God in Hindu holy men and women. Topics addressed include: the religious meanings of masculine and feminine in the divine; the idea of local, family, and "chosen" divinities; and forms of Hindu devotion for women and men. Finally, ways of reasoning about God(s) and Goddesses in "Hindu Theology" are explored.

TRS 791: Mahayana Buddhism

3.00 Credits

This course will introduce the genesis, history, and major schools of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism, beginning with its origins in northern India during the first century B.C., to its elaborations into philosophical schools, Zen, Pure Land, esoteric/tantra, and others.

TRS 793B: Core Theological Texts and Motifs of World Religions

3.00 Credits

An intensive course, in English translation, of key primary texts and philosophical - theological - religious ideas of (A) Judaism, Islam, and Eastern / Arabic Christianity, or (B) Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Indo-Persian / Asian Islam, or (C) Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism. Particularly well suited to students of doctoral degree programs. Advanced master's students with permission of instructor only. Prerequisites: A World Religions course or/and an introductory course in one of the religions under study.

TRS 801: Genesis I - XI

3.00 Credits

Primeval history as prologue to redemptive history, transformation of ancient traditions in the light of Israel's exodus faith, problems of history and myth, cosmic aspects of sin and redemption. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 801A: The Book of Exodus

3.00 Credits

A analysis of the Moses traditions in the Old Testament as reflected in the Book of Exodus. Treatment of Historical Criticism, literary criticism, form criticism, and tradition-history will open onto questions of the compositional history of the Pentateuch, the nature of ancient authorship and redaction, and the contribution of reading individual pericopes as examples of inner-biblical exegesis to the understanding of such passages.

TRS 802A: Deuteronomistic History

3.00 Credits

Involves an intensive examination of, as well as an attempt to evaluate, the major theories concerning the composition history of the deuteronomistic history from Noth (1943) to the present. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 802B: The Chronistic History

3.00 Credits

Following an opening survey of contemporary questions in the study of the Chronistic History, concentrates on a detailed study of selected texts in the parallel material of Chronicles and the Deuteronomistic History with a view to discerning how and why the Chronist adapts the latter work as he does. Prerequisite: Hebrew.

TRS 802D: Israel & Judah in Iron Age

3.00 Credits

The seminar will cover archaeological theories about the emergence of Biblical Israel as well as the period of the Israelite and Judean Monarchies until their demise at the beginning of the Assyrian/Babylonian Exile. Working with results of recent archaeological research the course will explore the significance of the material culture of the Israelites for the interpretation of Old Testament texts. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 802E: Exodus Traditions in the Hebrew Bible

3.00 Credits

Israel's exodus from Egypt stands at the heart of Old Testament theology. The experience of having been freed from foreign oppression by God's act of grace was reflected, reconsidered and rephrased throughout the literary development of the Hebrew Bible. The seminar will trace this process of theological interpretation, taking its point of departure in the Book of Exodus, continuing into the Prophets and the Psalms, and end with a brief exploration of the significance of the topic for Judaism and Early Christianity. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 802F: 1 and 2 Samuel

3.00 Credits

A close study of the Books of Samuel with particular attention to the relationships among textual criticism, source analysis, redaction criticism, and narrative approaches. The course will include readings on King David and the archeology and historiography of the 10th century.

TRS 803: Book of Tobit

3.00 Credits

The book's original language, structure, Greek recensions, historical framework, literary forms. Exegesis of selected passages and discussion of theological themes. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 804A: The Book of Wisdom

3.00 Credits

Original language, authorship, place and date of composition. The thought-world and literary forms. Jewish versus Hellenistic values. Cosmosoteriology. Personal immortality. Exegesis of the midrash on the Exodus (chaps. 11-19). Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 804B: Wisdom of Ben Sira

3.00 Credits

The book's original language, Hebrew fragments, Greek recensions, canonical history, literary forms. Exegesis of selected passages on theological themes. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Latin.

TRS 804C: The Psalms

3.00 Credits

This seminar emphasizes the form-critical study of the Psalms, the determination and elements of specific genres, and the search for Sitz im Leben especially within the ritual life of Israel. Significant attention is also given to poetic features of the Psalms and the redactional and canonical shaping of the Psalter as a whole.

TRS 804D: Prophets of the Late Pre-Exilic Period

3.00 Credits

The seminar will concentrate on the historical-critical exegesis of selected texts from the Book of Amos. These texts will be considered in their canonical context, with a special focus on the theology of the prophet and the editor(s) of the book.

TRS 804E: The Book of Amos

3.00 Credits

This course begins with an overview of Amos¿ person and times, the book attributed to him, and its place within the Book of the 12 Prophets. It will then focus on a close reading of selected texts of the Book of Amos.

TRS 804F: The Book of Jeremiah

3.00 Credits

The course will begin with an orientation to the questions surrounding the person, times book, text and message of Jeremiah. It will then continue with a presentation and discussion of student papers concerning the various kinds of texts found in the Book of Jeremiah.

TRS 804G: The Book of Ezekiel

3.00 Credits

The course will begin with an orientation to the questions surrounding the person, times book, text and message of Ezekiel. It will then continue with a presentation and discussion of student papers concerning the various kinds of texts found in the Book of Ezekiel.

TRS 805A: Theology and Exegesis I Isaiah

3.00 Credits

Historical background of the period; treatment of major themes of the teaching of Isaiah; special attention to disputed questions of his relationship to Davidic, Zion, and holy-war traditions and to the wisdom movement; detailed exegesis of selected passages. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Greek.

TRS 806: Book of Daniel

3.00 Credits

The book's composition, unity, literary forms, historical framework. The languages in MT, the deuterocanonical sections. Detailed exegesis. Theological questions: Son of Man, angelology, eschatology, problem of evil. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek.

TRS 806A: The Megilloth

3.00 Credits

Study of selected texts from the Megilloth, or Festival Scrolls (Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther) with evaluation of various approaches to biblical interpretation applied to the Scrolls. These books individually and as a collection within the Jewish canon present a number of particular issues of canonicity and interpretation. The course will integrate close reading of selected passages from the Megilloth and directed readings in scholarly discussion of biblical interpretive approaches.

TRS 808A: Textual Criticism of the Old Testament

3.00 Credits

The principles and methods of textual criticism. The history of the Hebrew text. The critical use of the ancient versions. Practical exercises on selected texts. Prerequisites: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Syriac, Latin.

TRS 808B: Old Testament Theology

3.00 Credits

The problem and method of Old Testament theology. Detailed study of select ideas: covenant, names and nature of God, priesthood, kingship, eschatology, divine revelation, creation and redemption, human beings and God, angelology, sin and forgiveness. Prerequisites: At least two semesters of doctoral level Old Testament exegesis, Hebrew and Greek.

TRS 809B: New Testament Theology

3.00 Credits

An investigation of the origin, nature, and method of New Testament theology. A critical discussion of the major works on New Testament theology. An exegetical study of selected topics: God, Christ, Church, the moral life. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 810B: The Parables of Jesus

3.00 Credits

Historical Jesus research has focused strongly upon the parables of Jesus, as they are recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, and in some parallel non-canonical literature, as perhaps the best evidence of Jesus' original teaching. However, they have been modified and used within the literary and theological agendas of the Synoptic Gospels. Within the parables the reader of the Gospels is also in close touch with the social setting of the birth of Christianity. The course will select from the parables of Jesus and analyze them under these major concerns of contemporary New Testament studies. Prerequisites Biblical Greek.

TRS 810C: Source and Redaction Criticism in the Synoptic Gospels

3.00 Credits

This seminar surveys the history of source critical theories proposed for solving the Synoptic Problem and the consequences of these theories for redaction criticism. Students will engage source theories that remain current today by considering how these theories explain the literary relationship of the Synoptic Gospel. They will then test two theories in addition to the currently dominant Two-Source Theory, by writing redaction-critical papers on specific Synoptic passages.

TRS 810D: Passion Narratives

3.00 Credits

This course is a doctoral seminar that studies the Passion Narratives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in terms of their historical setting, their theological meaning, and their literary relationships to each other. After a series of working sessions on the Markan Passion Narrative, each member of the seminar will present an exegetical study of a particular passage from one of the Passion Narratives.

TRS 811A: The Gospel According to Matthew

3.00 Credits

After a presentation of Matthew as the traditional "Gospel of the Church" and contemporary Matthean scholarship, the overall structure and message of the Gospel will be discussed. Detailed analysis of selected passages of the Gospel of Matthew, devoting particular attention to the contribution made by this Gospel to the development of early Church christology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 811B: The Gospel According to Mark

3.00 Credits

After a consideration of recent research on the Gospel of Mark, the participants of this seminar course will conduct an exegetical analysis of the Greek text, including the shorter and longer ending of the Gospel. Each student will be expected to lead the discussion of a seminar session, as well as write and present an exegetical paper. Each paper will then be revised in light of the critiques offered by the participants of the seminar. Prerequiste: Biblical Greek

TRS 811C: The Gospel According to Luke

3.00 Credits

An introduction to the contemporary study of the Gospel of Luke: the use of the Gospel of Mark, the Q Source, the possibility of a "proto-Luke," and the literary and theological unity of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The overall structure and message of Luke-Acts. Detailed analysis of select passages from the Gospel of Luke, devoting special attention to the unique contribution of this Gospel to the early Church's Christology and Soteriology. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 812A: The Gospel According to John

3.00 Credits

Surveys major issues in both the classical and contemporary study of the Fourth Gospel, especially its literary unity and the theological point of view of its author(s). A discrete literary section of the Gospel will be subjected to detailed exegetical analysis, devoting detailed attention to the contribution of this Gospel to emerging Christian thought. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 812E: The Joannine Epistles

3.00 Credits

Considers the emergence of the Catholic Epistles (James, 1-2 Peter, Jude, 1-3 John) within the Christian Canon; and the origin, order, and authorship of 1-3 John. Key pericopes of 1 John and the whole of 2 and 3 John are exegeted in detail. Particular attention to the place of the Johannine Epistles within the Johannine tradition, and their relationship to the Fourth Gospel. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 813: Acts of the Apostles

3.00 Credits

A survey of exegetical and theological approaches to the interpretation of Acts; exegesis of selected passages. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814A: Pauline Theology

3.00 Credits

A study of the teachings of Paul in his seven uncontested letters, with a consideration of the teachings in the Deutero-Pauline epistles (Colossians, Ephesians, and 2 Thessalonians). Prerequisite: An introductory course in Pauline writings. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814B: The Thessalonian Correspondence

3.00 Credits

After a study of the Hellenistic letter, a detailed exegesis of portions of 1 Thessalonians as the oldest of Paul's letters and 2 Thessalonians as an example of early Christian pseudepigraphy will be made. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814C: First Corinthians

3.00 Credits

After an introduction to problems related to the unity of the letter and the situation at Corinth, exegesis of individual passages will aid in discerning the nature of the struggles within the community and the apostle's response them. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814E: Second Corinthians

3.00 Credits

An investigation of the letter's historical background in light of Paul's dealings with the church at Corinth; a consideration of the letter's literary integrity; an exegetical study of major texts. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814F: Epistle to the Romans

3.00 Credits

After an introduction to the circumstances of composition and the literary structure of the epistle, key pericopes are exegeted with a view to grasping Paul's mature theology. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814G: Galatians and Philipppians

3.00 Credits

An exegetical study that focuses upon the Pauline concepts of law, justification, and righteousness. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814H: Colossians and Ephesians

3.00 Credits

A detailed exegetical study of the Greek text of Colossians and Ephesians, concentrating on their relation to the rest of the Pauline corpus and their specific theological teaching. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814K: Pastoral Epistles

3.00 Credits

An introduction into the problems of authenticity, place, and time of composition; the texts of the three Pastoral Epistles are exegeted in order. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814L: The Letter to the Ephesians

3.00 Credits

A detailed exegetical study of the Greek text of Ephesians, concentrating on it relation to the rest of the Pauline corpus and its specific theological teaching.

TRS 814M: Epistle to the Hebrews

3.00 Credits

After a consideration of recent research on the Letter to the Hebrews, particularly with regard to its literary structure, the participants of this seminar course will conduct an exegetical analysis of the Greek text. Each student will be expected to lead the discussion of a seminar session, as well as write and present an exegetical paper. Each paper will then be revised in light of the critiques offered by the participants of the seminar. Prerequisite: Biblical Greek.

TRS 814N: Philemon, Colossians and Philippians

3.00 Credits

After a consideration of recent research on Paul¿s Letters to Philemon, to the Colossians, and to the Philippians, particularly with regard to their literary structures, the Seminar will conduct an exegetical analysis these three letters. Students will write and present exegetical papers, which they will revise in light of the critiques offered by the participants of the Seminar.

TRS 816A: The Book of Revelation

3.00 Credits

After a consideration of recent research on the Book of Revelation, particularly with regard to its literary structure, the seminar participants will conduct an exegetical analysis of the Greek text. Each student will be expected to lead the discussion of a seminar session, as well as write and present an exegetical paper. Each paper will then be revised in light of the critiques offered by the participants of the seminar.

TRS 820: Western Doctors of the Church

3.00 Credits

Explores selected works of Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great, with occasional attention to other western fathers. Examines classic texts and controversies. Knowledge of Latin required.

TRS 821A: Selected Issues in the North African Church Fathers

3.00 Credits

Based on the writings of Tertullian, Cyprian, Optatus, and Augustine, explores the topics of martyrdom and persecution, the Donatist controversy, church-state relations, the See of Peter, and relations with Judaism.

TRS 821C: Topics in Latin Patristics

3.00 Credits

Intensive study of a single theme or set of texts within Latin Patristics, with extensive use of the original languages. Topics may include: Platonism in Latin Christian Thought, Sermons of Augustine, Ambrose De officiis, Commentaries of Marius Victorinus, Cyprian and the North African Church, or similar themes and texts.

TRS 821D: Latin Patristic Commentaries on Creed(s)

3.00 Credits

This seminar studies the works of several authors, such as Augustine, Ambrose, presbyter Rufinus, Rufinus of Aquileia, and Quodvultdeus on various early Christian creeds. Latin required.

TRS 822A: Evagrius, the Monastic Theologian

3.00 Credits

An examination of the life and works of this speculative thinker, and of his opponents and influence in the late fourth and fifth centuries. Greek required. Offered with the Program in Early Christian Studies.

TRS 822B: The Cappadocian Theologians

3.00 Credits

The thought and culture of the Cappadocians, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa, including such topics as the divine economy, neo-Arianism, and the Trinitarian controversy, Christian anthropology, the progress and dissemination of monasticism, the limits of theological language, and the reception of classical antiquity.

TRS 822D: Irenaeus and the Gnostics

3.00 Credits

An examination of the culture, historical context, and thought world of the second century theologian, Irenaeus of Lyon, including the confrontation with Valentianian Gnosticism, the interpretation of Scripture, eschatology, the Adam-Christ typology, the divine economy, baptism, salvation, and the spirit. The questions and directions he established for the future will also be considered.

TRS 823A: Studies in Patristic Christology Before Chalcedon

3.00 Credits

Third- through fifth-century texts. Greek and Latin required.

TRS 823B: Christology After Chalcedon

3.00 Credits

The formulation of the Chalcedonian definition, its reception, and the further development of Christology into Monophysite, Neo-Chalcedonian, and Nestorian schools. Greek and Latin required.

TRS 824A: Origen

3.00 Credits

Selected themes and texts; development of thought; controversial positions. Greek and Latin required.

TRS 824D: Alexandrian Theology

3.00 Credits

Selected themes in the works of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Anthony, Athanasius and Didymus the Blind. Greek and Latin required.

TRS 824E: The Spiritual Senses

3.00 Credits

The possibilities and limits of recovering the spiritual senses, from interpretation in the New Testament through ancient and medieval authors concluding with Rahner, de Lubac, and von Balthasar. Critical engagement with contemporary exegetical practice (historical-critical, hermeneutical, realistic narrative, post-structuralist). Open to students in systematic theology, historical theology, Early Christian Studies, and Medieval and Byzantine Studies.

TRS 825B: The Catholic Reformation

3.00 Credits

Topics: The Papacy and the Renaissance; The Papacy and the Reformation; Issues in Controversialist Theology.

TRS 825G: Power in the Church, Gallican Model

3.00 Credits

Until the end of the nineteenth century, Gallican ecclesiology, although it offered a different "model" of the Church, was a tolerated alterative to the Roman perspective. How could these two different conceptions of authority, of "power in the Church," coexist for such a long time and why was the Gallican one finally condemned? Addresses these questions with a study based on major documents and the practices of that period.

TRS 825H: Aspects of Jansenism

3.00 Credits

Jansenism is a generic term used to describe a certain type of religious principles and social behavior in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The usual chronological presentation suggests a coherent movement, evolving from mysticism to revolt and from resistance to organized revolution. The purpose of the seminar is to approach the question from a different angle, by reconstructing the different aspects of Jansenism as they can be observed in the religious history of the period.

TRS 825L: Americanism and Modernism

3.00 Credits

These late nineteenth-century developments were unified by the drive to construct a synthesis of religion and culture according to the dominant intellectual, social, and religious trends of the times. The historical topography of these isms will be explored with particular attention to the major and minor participants in the movements of reform and reaction, ca. 1870-1910.

TRS 825O: Selected Topics in Bonaventure

3.00 Credits

An investigation of Bonaventure's De triplici via, a compendium of medieval mystical theology centered on his theology of the spiritual life as a threefold process of maturation rooted in the practice of lectio divina and concomitant with medieval exegesis. Placing the text in the context of Bonaventure's Itinerarium mentis in Deum IV and the Prologue to his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, the seminar will proceed to examine in detail his De triplici via. Knowledge of Medieval Latin will be helpful.

TRS 826: Sources of American Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Aimed at discerning the distinctively American manifestations of spirituality and devotionalism. Examines a wide variety of sources ranging from correspondence of prominent persons to fiction and material culture. With a focus on the Catholic experience of ultimate meanings, students' research papers will reflect the significance of contexts shaped by ethnicity, race, class, and gender.

TRS 826A: Patristic Seminar: Hilary of Poitiers De Trinitate

3.00 Credits

A study of the fourth century Trinitarian theology and controversies in light of a significant treatise of a pro-Nicene Latin theologian Hilary of Poitiers. Latin and a major research paper required.

TRS 827C: Bonaventure, Parisian Master: Context, Texts, Interpretation

3.00 Credits

Examines the context and thought of Saint Bonaventure during his Parisian period as a student and master of theology, c. 1248 - 1257. The course will also introduce the student to the many literary forms of scholastic theology, the key figures at the University of Paris who shaped Bonaventure's mind, including Alexander of Hales, and the hermeneutical challenges of interpreting Bonaventure due to the growth of medieval studies and the nineteenth century edition of his texts.

TRS 828C: Seminar: Council of Trent

3.00 Credits

An in-depth study through readings, papers, and discussion of select topics dealing with the background, debates, contents, interpretation, and implementation of conciliar decrees on scripture and tradition, justification, sacraments, sacrifice of the Mass, preaching, episcopal duties, the lower clergy, seminaries, religious orders, sacred art and music, the Roman Catechism, Index of Forbidden Books, Congregation of the Council, etc.

TRS 830D: An Abridged History of Christian Political Thought

3.00 Credits

Through a reading of primary texts, introduces students to many of the classic texts of Christian political analysis. Beginning with Jeremiah and moving through Saints Augustine and Thomas, concludes with the most recent papal encyclicals. Topical concerns include capital punishment, development of religious liberty and separation of church and state, conscientious objection, and other issues.

TRS 831: Ethics and Social Theory

3.00 Credits

This course provides a primer in classical and contemporary social theory with an eye to its significance for ethics. How do accounts of ethics conceive of the character and workings of human society? How do conceptions of social dynamics reflect the ethical concerns of their authors? Several traditions of social thought (e.g. critical theory, pragmatism) will be addressed, along with central concepts (e.g. agency, practices) and issues (e.g. postmodernism, globalization) arising at the intersection of ethics and social theory.

TRS 832: Thomistic Moral Theologies

3.00 Credits

An analysis of contemporary interpretations of the ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas. Goals of the course include a) to further understanding of the context, contours, and content of Aquinas' account of moral theology, and b) to gain insight into contemporary debates in moral theology, with regard to both methodological and issue-oriented question.

TRS 833A: Advance Topics in: Sexual and Familial Ethics

3.00 Credits

An in-depth study of a selected topic or topics in sexual and familial ethics. Please consult the individual instructor for more details.

TRS 833B: Advance Topics in Biomedical Ethics

3.00 Credits

An in-depth study of a selected topic or topics in biomedical ethics. Please consult the individual instructor for more details.

TRS 833C: Advanced Topics in Social Ethics

3.00 Credits

An in-depth study of a selected topic or topics in social ethics. Please consult the individual instructor for more details.

TRS 833D: The Theology of Gift

3.00 Credits

The aim of this course is to offer to the students a new approach to moral theology/Christian ethics. In the past Catholic theology often engaged philosophical traditions so as to articulate the beliefs which Christians accepted from their faith tradition. For example, St. Thomas Aquinas invoked Aristotle, Karl Rahner drew on the transcendental method. This approach will seek to dialogue with the contemporary philosophers of "Gift." This does not mean abandoning the Thomist tradition, as will become clear in the development of the argument. Particular attention will be given to the philosophy of Jean-Luc Marion, a French philosopher who has made a notable contribution to contemporary philosophy.

TRS 834: The Philosophy and Theology of Slavery

3.00 Credits

Many commentators note the ambiguous status of the slave. That ambiguous status is captured in Roman law, which simultaneously identified the slave as a human being (persona) and a thing (res). The social status of the slave becomes complicated by the adoption of the term in early Christianity, from the Gospels forward, where Christians willingly refer to themselves as slaves. The history of the Christian west reflects the ambiguity of the slave's status and the embrace of slavery rhetoric in the Christian scriptures. In this course we will study some of the philosophical and theological approaches to the institution of slavery looking to identify two things: an adequate notion of slavery, and the theological resources to construct a "theology of slavery" that adequately addresses this relationship of man to man.

TRS 834A: Morality and Emotion

3.00 Credits

An examination of the role of the emotions in the moral life. Particular topics include the nature of emotion (or "passion"), the similarities and differences between human and animal emotional responses, the relationship between the emotions and distinctively human powers of rationality, the impact of emotions on moral decision-making, and the human capacity to shape not just actions arising out of emotion but emotional responses themselves. Sources for the course include Christian and non-Christian texts in the Western tradition, beginning with Greek and Roman thinkers, continuing through giants in the Christian tradition such as Augustine and Aquinas, and concluding with contemporary philosophical, theological and some neurobiological research.

TRS 835B: The Moral Theology of St. Thomas

3.00 Credits

An examination of original texts, with special attention to questions of fundamental moral theology.

TRS 836: Catholicism & The Marketplace

3.00 Credits

The course has as its purpose the introduction of students to significant themes in theological analysis of economic thought. The course briefly engages the history of economic thought, focusing some attention on scholastic economic reflection. The bulk of the course, however, will be applying that reflection to contemporary debates about the strengths and weaknesses of neoliberal economic and social policies.

TRS 840: Liturgical Theology

3.00 Credits

A review and critique of representative contemporary attempts to recover the classic dictum lex orandi, lex credendi in light of its earliest formulation and use in mystagogy and theology. Special attention will be given to questions of methodology.

TRS 841B: Contemporary Sacramental Method

3.00 Credits

Presentation, assessment, and critique of significant contemporary approaches to sacramental theology, including Louis-Marie Chauvet, Herbert Vorgrimler, Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, and others.

TRS 841C: Sacramental Treatises

3.00 Credits

A study of selections from classical treatises on the sacraments from authors such as Tertullian, Augustine, Cyril of Jerusalem and Thomas Aquinas. Requirements include background reading for each text, the texts themselves, discussion of the texts in class and a final term paper.

TRS 842A: Interpreting the Ritual Event

3.00 Credits

In this seminar the work of selected ritual theorists will be used to explore various approaches to interpreting ritual events. The approaches can be useful in the study of liturgy or other religious rituals. Students will be expected to produce a research paper of 25-35 pages and to present their papers in the seminar.

TRS 842B: The Body in Ritual Studies

3.00 Credits

This seminar will explore the topic of "the body" in ritual from a variety of perspectives (e.g. biological, social, cultural, religious). Students will be expected to produce a research paper of 25-35 pages and to present their papers in the seminar.

TRS 843: Liturgical Life in Jerusalem

3.00 Credits

An analysis of the 4th to 10th Century liturgical practices in Jerusalem as seen through the following documents: Egeria, Catechesis of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Armenian Lectionary, the homelies of Hesychius of Jerusalem, the Georgian Lectionary, and the Anastasis Typikon. The course will deal with principles of interpretation as well as demonstrating the changes and development through the centuries.

TRS 844: Penance in the First Millennium

3.00 Credits

The reconciliation of penitents will be examined as it appears in various types of source literature, both Greek and Latin, through the first millennium. This study focuses on the ritual acts of reconciliation leading to an elaboration of their theological meaning.

TRS 845: Sources of the Ordo Missae

3.00 Credits

A seminar studying the origins of the current ordo missae of the Roman Rite from scriptural and patristic origins to the medieval processes that led to the formation of the 1570 Missale Romanum.

TRS 846: Liturgies of Death and Dying

3.00 Credits

A seminar exploring the texts and rubrics of various medieval and modern liturgies of death and dying in the Christian East and West.

TRS 847: Liturgical Celebration of the Word of God

3.00 Credits

Origins of celebrating the word in scriptural and patristic witness, medieval development of the lectionary system in East and West, Tridentine codification of the lectionary, and recent reform of the liturgy of the word. Primary focus on the Word within the Eucharist. Foundations of a liturgical theology of the Word of God proclaimed.

TRS 848: Mystagogy

3.00 Credits

This course will chart the various meanings, methodologies and praxis of mystagogia within the history of the Christian tradition beginning with the early Church witnesses. Contemporary scholars and liturgical/catechetical practices will also be studied so as to explore the possibilities for a twenty-first century understanding of mystagogy in faith formation and liturgical theology.

TRS 850: Doctor of Ministry Pastoral Supervision

3.00 Credits

Doctor of Ministry Pastoral Supervision: A supervised ministry experience. Students negotiate pastoral placements. Individual and group supervision of verbatims and case studies. Emphasis on student's initiative and creative efforts to integrate pastoral theological learning, theological reflection, and pastoral care. Enrollment restricted to Doctor of Ministry students

TRS 850A: Doctor of Ministry Pastoral Supervision I

3.00 Credits

A two-semester supervised ministry experience. Students negotiate pastoral placements. Individual and group supervision of verbatims and case studies. Emphasis on student's initiative and creative efforts to integrate pastoral theological learning, theological reflection, and pastoral care. Enrollment restricted to Doctor of Ministry students.

TRS 850B: Doctor of Ministry Pastoral Supervision II

3.00 Credits

A two-semester supervised ministry experience. Students negotiate pastoral placements. Individual and group supervision of verbatims and case studies. Emphasis on student's initiative and creative efforts to integrate pastoral theological learning, theological reflection, and pastoral care. Enrollment restricted to Doctor of Ministry students.

TRS 851A: Pastoral Counseling

3.00 Credits

Didactic material and critiqued videotape role-plays designed to refine student's style and method of pastoral counseling. Counseling theory and dynamics, the pastoral and theological dimensions of counseling, specific problem areas such as addiction, depression, faith struggles, transition, loss, etc.

TRS 851B: Caring Conversations for Effective Pastoral Ministry

3.00 Credits

Course designed to refine and further develop the pastoral minister's style and method of pastoral care and counseling conversations. Lecture and class discussion of assigned readings will be combined with critiqued video taped role plays in order to deepen communication skills, interpersonal dynamics and theological reflection in the practice of ministry.

TRS 851C: The Art of Pastoral Listening

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the art of pastoral listening, looking at ourselves as listeners as well as developing skills for listening in one-on-one settings, group settings, and in difficult conversations. It will explore listening in pastoral settings and in theological reflection. Participants can expect to engage in a variety of activities to learn how they listen and what difference it can make in their ministry.

TRS 852: Pastoral Theology for Doctor of Ministry Students

3.00 Credits

Examines the nature, function, and development of the discipline of Pastoral Theology. Engages students in the process of theological reflection and cultural analysis.

TRS 852A: Theology of Lay Ministry

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the development of the role of laity serving in the contemporary Church as lay ecclesial ministers. The course will focus on the ecclesial documents, professional standards, lived reality, skills and gifts needed for effective ministry.

TRS 853: Men and Ministry

3.00 Credits

Seminar analyzes current perspectives on masculinity, ministry, and male spirituality. Examines the influences of family of origin, gender, intimacy, power, and spirituality on the exercise of pastoral care.

TRS 853A: Evangelization and the Mission of the Parish

3.00 Credits

This course seeks to examine the Church¿s mission of evangelization in light of the mission of the parish and to examine successful programs and potential models for both the ministry of evangelization and the formation of evangelizers.

TRS 854A: Use of Small Groups in Parish Ministry

3.00 Credits

Focuses on the theory and experience of utilizing small groups in pastoral work. Didactic and experiential, using the case study method to understand group process, structure and function, as well as styles of leadership and authority, decision making, conflict resolution, and change.

TRS 854B: Family Systems Theory and Pastoral Ministry

3.00 Credits

Correlates family systems theory with the practice of ministry. Students gain an understanding of and an ability to use genograms, family of origin themes, and leadership models in parish ministry.

TRS 854C: Canon Law for the Pastoral Minister

3.00 Credits

Examines the nature, history, and function of Church law or canon law. Surveys the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law in the areas of general norms, the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful, sacraments, Church structures, the teaching office of the Church, temporal goods, and sanctions. Particular attention to the norms reflecting current pastoral issues.

TRS 855: Ministry of Spiritual Direction

3.00 Credits

Examines the history, principles, and practice of spiritual direction. This ministry is compared and contrasted with helping processes such as counseling and psychotherapy. The director's role and the dynamics and discernment are investigated as well as theological and psychological perspectives on the process. Scriptural and theological foundations for direction are considered. Pastoral guidelines for doing spiritual direction are presented.

TRS 855B: Ministry of Spiritual Direction II

3.00 Credits

Examines the history, principles, and practice of spiritual direction. This ministry is compared and contrasted with helping processes such as counseling and psychotherapy. The director's role and the dynamics and discernment are investigated as well as theological and psychological perspectives on the process. Scriptural and theological foundations for direction are considered. Pastoral guidelines for doing spiritual direction are presented.

TRS 855C: Principles and Practices of Adult Religious Education

2.00 Credits

Although open to other doctoral and masters level students, this course is specifically designed for students in the Doctor of Ministry program. Explores the basic principles of adult education and adult faith formation, theories of understanding and techniques of effective education, including on-line learning. The course will also provide practical application and the tools needed to create and implement units and courses in Adult Religious Education.

TRS 855D: Pastoral Planning: Spirituality and Praxis

2.00 Credits

This course will present participants with a long-term, systematic process of assessing needs, establishing goals and implementing a plan of action in ecclesial organizations. Participants will study the dynamics and application of a model for strategic planning and decision making. An essential component of the course will be spiritual reflection on how pastoral planning furthers the mission of the Church and is integral for leadership and development of staff personnel in organizations.

TRS 855E: Doctor of Ministry Seminar

2.00 Credits

The Doctor of Ministry Seminar will focus on identifying and describing a significant issue in pastoral ministry, and then designing a practical project to address the issue, identifying the project's purpose, underlying research, design and implementation, evaluation and the contribution it will make to ministry. The goal of the course is to develop a Project in Ministry Proposal that is ready to present to the Doctor of Ministry Committee.

TRS 856C: Spiritual Practices

3.00 Credits

This seminar will investigate some traditional spiritual practices as a means of shaping and forming a religious and virtuous self. Contributions of Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, Talal Assad, and others on the important role of spiritual practices will provide a theoretical perspective.

TRS 857: Sources of American Spirituality

3.00 Credits

Aimed at discerning the distinctively American manifestations of spirituality and devotionalism. Examines a wide variety of sources ranging from correspondence of prominent persons to fiction and material culture. With a focus on the Catholic experience of ultimate meanings, students' research papers will reflect the significance of contexts shaped by ethnicity, race, class, and gender.

TRS 858A: The Self: Theological and Psychological Perspectives

3.00 Credits

An investigation of the self as a focus of both psychological and spiritual development. Attention is given to both the spiritual traditions of the East and West on the self and of contemporary efforts to integrate insights of depth psychology and theology.

TRS 858B: Religion and Feelings

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the role of affectivity in religion along with considerations of recent contributions to the psychology of emotion and of studies on the way emotions shape personalities and cultures and guide behavior.

TRS 858C: Spiritual Practices

3.00 Credits

A study of some of the traditional spiritual practices as a means of shaping and forming a religious and virtuous self. Contributions of Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, Talal Assad, and others on the important role of practices will provide a theoretical perspective.

TRS 859: Method in Christian Spirituality

3.00 Credits

This seminar will examine the recent discussions about definitions of, approaches to, and the teaching of Christian spirituality. Participants will be expected to write and present a major seminar paper from one of the major perspectives on spirituality proposed by contemporary scholars and to participate actively in presentations by other students.

TRS 859A: The Spirituality of Aquinas and Eckhart

3.00 Credits

The Spirituality of Aquinas and Eckhart: A study of the spiritual teaching of Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart, with special attention to their similarities and differences and their subsequent influence.

TRS 860C: Theology, Culture and Language

3.00 Credits

Christian theology has always attended to the significance of language, and its ability to refer truly. This seminar takes the linguistic turn, in modern philosophical and theological thought (e.g., Mohler, Wittgenstein, Barth, Lindbeck), as a starting point for examining how an attentiveness to language has shaped modern Thomist thought. Students will read Thomas Aquinas and his English Dominican interpreters such as Conrad Peppler, Cornelius Ernst, Victor White, Herbert McCabe, and Fergus Kerr.

TRS 862A: Contemporary Problems in Ecclesiology

3.00 Credits

Selected questions in current ecclesiology: methodology, local/universal Church, ecumenism, salvation, evangelization, collegiality, and teaching authority. Seminar format: lecture and discussion.

TRS 862B: Being a Missionary Church

3.00 Credits

The purpose of this course is to envision the Church of Christ as a body of believers which is missionary in its witness, in its word, in its action, and in its being. This mission is to proclaim the loving and saving presence of the Triune God in a changing and divided world. This requires the Church to attend to the realities of globalization, multiculturalism, ecumenical sharing, interreligous dialogue, and the promotion of justice, peace, and respect for the environment.

TRS 862C: Eucharist and Church

3.00 Credits

A doctoral seminar to explore and analyse aspects of the relationship between the Eucharist and the Church, with particular attention to eucharistic ecclesiology, i.e. a eucharistic approach to understanding the Church. The scriptural and patristic roots of such an ecclesiology are examined, as well as the major development of this approach to the Church in modern times and its considerable ecumenical importance. Various issues, such as the ability of eucharistic ecclesiology to incorporate an adequate reference to Baptism, the Word, and primacy in the Church, are examined.

TRS 862D: Method in Ecclesiology

3.00 Credits

An exploration of the distinct problems in conceiving and implementing a method for the study of the Church, with examples drawn from Augustine and Aquinas, but with the primary focus on recent discussions: e.g., the 20th-century revival of ecclesiology; the relationship between theological and sociological treatments of the Church, theory and practice in ecclesiology.

TRS 863A: Revelation and Faith: Vatican I to Vatican II

3.00 Credits

This doctoral seminar examines the theology of revelation and faith as presented by the First Vatican Council: Dei Filius (1870); postconciliar manualist presentations; preconciliar ressourcement; Second Vatican Council: Dei Verbum (1965); and postconciliar theologies. Students enrolled in the seminar are expected to prepare and present a research paper on some aspect of revelation and faith.

TRS 863B: Magisterium and Infallibility

3.00 Credits

This doctoral seminar considers the historical context and provides a systematic analysis of the teaching of Pastor Aeternus (Vatican I) and Lumen Gentium (Vatican II) as background for the contemporary discussion on magisterium, papal primacy, and infallibility. Students enrolled in the seminar are expected to prepare and present a research paper on some aspect of magisterium and infallibility.

TRS 863C: Hermeneutics of Tradition

3.00 Credits

The theme of Tradition is of central importance for Catholic theology, both systematic and moral. The notion of Tradition, however, has not been adequately investigated. The aim of this course is to study the development of the concept in Catholic theology and to propose a theory of tradition. Such a theory would contribute to the interpretation of the historical tradition and provide criteria for discerning genuine developments in doctrine and theology in both systematic and moral theology. The scope of the course will include Classic theology, especially that of St. Thomas Aquinas, Post-Tridentine theology, Newman, Blondel, Möhler, the changes brought by Vatican II and contemporary challenges to Tradition from post-modern thinkers.

TRS 864B: The Character of God

3.00 Credits

Studies the differences between classical and contemporary treatments of the divine attributes and character. In dialogue with feminist theology and process thought, investigates questions concerning how God is appropriately named, and whether God changes or suffers, in an approach which affirms both the transcendence and immanence of God.

TRS 864C: Muslim God, Christian God

3.00 Credits

Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Why do they so often seem to talk past each other when it comes to the nature of God and how God is revealed in the world? The course seeks to explore the vital differences in the Muslim and Christian concepts of God, and how to address them in a mutually fruitful dialogue of faiths.

TRS 864D: Theology and Ecology

3.00 Credits

In these times of ecological crisis, what resources does the Christian tradition have to offer to current debate? This seminar considers a range of material from the last half-century, with particular attention to contributions from Christian East and West, and to the ecological discussion that has taken place under the auspices of the World Council of Churches.

TRS 864E: New Atheism and the Christian God

3.00 Credits

Dawkins, Harris, Dennett and others have recently accused religious beliefs of being unjustified and illusionary. Their attack questions the value of religion in general and the monotheistic concept of God. The course is meant to discuss the challenges coming from New Atheism and to explore the deeper sides of the Christian concept of God. Along the lines it will be necessary to deal with a Christian response to evolution, intelligent design, religious diversity, religiously motivated violence and the problem of superstition.

TRS 865: The Trinity in the Western Tradition

3.00 Credits

A survey and discussion of important Trinitarian texts in the Western branch of the Christian tradition, from such authors as Tertullian, Hilary, Augustine, and Aquinas, in the light of contemporary assessment of this heritage and concern for a renewed theology of the Trinity.

TRS 866B: Rome and Constantinople: From Schism to Dialogue

3.00 Credits

A survey of the relation between and the main theological differences between Eastern and Western Christianity. Interpretation of historical texts and texts of contemporary ecumenical dialogues.

TRS 866C: Catholic - Orthodox Dialogue

3.00 Credits

The international Catholic-Orthodox dialogue restarted in 2005. This course aims to study both historically and theologically the relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, with particular attention to the dialogue of charity initiated in the 1960s, the four agreed statements that were achieved between 1982 and 1993, and the issues facing the dialogue today. The complementarity of West and East is an important theme throughout and we reflect upon the challenge of being the same but different.

TRS 867A: Chalcedon: Classical Dogma and Contemporary Interpretation

3.00 Credits

Emergence of the Christological formula of the Council of Chalcedon in its historical context. Contemporary hermeneutical issues and a conflict of interpretations among such authors as K. Rahner, P. Schoonenberg, R. Haight, B. Lonergan.

TRS 867C: Anselm and Aquinas on Redemption

3.00 Credits

Biblical and patristic background. Anselm, satisfaction, and the turn to theory. Aquinas, systematic context and integration with tradition.

TRS 867D: Aquinas on the Incarnation and Passion of Christ

3.00 Credits

The Life of Jesus in the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. An investigation of the Pars Tertia focused on what Christ did and suffered.

TRS 867E: Aquinas on Doctrine

3.00 Credits

This graduate seminar examines some of the major doctrines of the Christian faith as they have been expounded by St. Thomas Aquinas. Employing primary and secondary sources, such doctrines will include: revelation, creation, the Trinity, the Incarnation, soteriology, grace, sacraments and eschatology. Each student will be expected to present two short seminar papers and a final paper of twenty-five pages.

TRS 868A: Theology of God in Thomas Aquinas

3.00 Credits

Shows how, for St. Thomas, God is the object of the life of faith and the center and organizing principle of the task of theology. Readings draw from his major theological works, scriptural commentaries, and preaching. With consideration given to contemporary criticisms, argument will be made for the ongoing relevance of his theological achievement.

TRS 868B: Theology of St. Bonaventure

3.00 Credits

The course will offer an introduction to the systematic thought of St. Bonaventure. Reading knowledge of Latin Recommended.

TRS 868C: Spiritual Theology of John Henry Newman

3.00 Credits

This doctoral seminar traces Newman's spiritual journey as described in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua and examine his spiritual theology as presented in his sermons, conferences, and correspondence. Students enrolled in the seminar are expected to prepare and present a research paper on one aspect of Newman's spirituality.

TRS 868D: Newman's Theological Writings

3.00 Credits

This doctoral seminar examine Newman's theological principles as presented in his Grammar of Assent, Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, and Idea of a University. Students enrolled in the seminar are expected to prepare and present a research paper on one aspect of Newman's theology

TRS 868H: La Nouvelle Theologie

3.00 Credits

A study of the theological and ecclesial renewal in France in the mid-1950s. Led by such figures as Henri de Lubac, Jean Daniélou, Henri Bouillard, M.-D. Chenu, Yves Congar, and Hans Urs von Balthasar, it was stigmatized as a "new theology" and was considered to have been censured by Pope Pius XII in the encyclical "Humani generis."

TRS 869A: The Theology of Joseph Ratzinger

3.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 880: Catholic Identity

3.00 Credits

Covers issues relating to the social and cultural sources of Catholic identity; how the boundaries of Catholic identity have been transformed over time; how cohort effect, salience and life-course experience impact Catholic identity; the role of ethnic and multi-cultural dynamics in expressing Catholic identity; Catholic identity as interest group conflict; issues of Catholic identity formation in a postmodern culture of choice.

TRS 881: Religion and Social Change

3.00 Credits

Examines the role of religion as both a catalyst and an impediment to social change. Topics covered include religiously inspired liberation movements, peace movements; fundamentalism and religious extremism; religious privatization; and dynamics surrounding the cultural commodification of religion.

TRS 881A: Translating God(s): Comparative Theological Seminar

3.00 Credits

Advanced reading and research in Comparative Theology as a new field in historical and systematic theology. Emphasis is given to comparative projects on the Indic, Islamic and Christian theological traditions. Focus varies on topics and motifs such as God(s)/ultimate reality, tradition, revelation, scripture, nature, human condition, gender, sacred life, love, religious truth, etc. The course is required for students taking comparative theology as their Minor Area for the Ph.D. comprehensive examinations in Historical and Systematic Theology. Prerequisites: a course on method in comparative theology and evidence of closer study of one particular world religion.

TRS 882: Spiritual Questing in Modern American Society

3.00 Credits

Thematic and interdisciplinary approach to spiritual questing in the post WWII era. Topics examined include the uncoupling of "spirituality" from "religion"; the relationship between emergent spiritualities and America's therapeutic culture; links between health, happiness and spiritual strategies; the influence of Eastern esoteric philosophies, psychologies and religious traditions on spirituality in America; New Age and "alternative" spiritualities; and issues surrounding the discernment of spiritual authenticity.

TRS 882A: Secularity and Its Discontents

3.00 Credits

Secularity and Its Discontents: An examination of how the recent global resurgence of religion has influenced understandings of secularity, secularism, and secularization. Accounts of post-secularity by such thinkers as Charles Taylor, Juergen Habermas, John Caputo, John Milbank, and Gianni Vattimo will be considered.

TRS 883: Philosophy of Religion Religious Epistemology

3.00 Credits

Philosophers belonging to nearly every religious tradition have offered arguments in support of their traditions' most basic religious doctrines. In this course we will consider, in detail, some of the epistemological frameworks within which these arguments have been (and continue to be) offered. More specifically, we will discuss (1) Reformed Epistemology; (2) Virtue Epistemology; (3) The Epistemology of Religious Experience; (4) Proper Function, (5) Islamic, (6) Hindu, and (7) Jaina Epistemologies.

TRS 891: Seminar in Zen

3.00 Credits

This seminar will explore the historical development of the tradition that was to become known as Zen Buddhism, making use of critical scholarship, primary texts in translation, and in-class discussion. Students will learn about the origins of the tradition in China, its development in other parts of East Asia, and its dissemination to the west. Jones.

TRS 892: Advanced Topics in Buddist Thought: Madhyamika & Yogacara

3.00 Credits

This seminar will examine the two major streams of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, usingboth primary texts and secondary scholarship. While the stress will be on understandingthese traditions in their own right, applications in comparative and interreligious contextswill also be explored.

TRS 895: Directed Readings

2.00 Credits

no description

TRS 897: Directed Research

3.00 Credits

no description

TRS 993: S.T.L. Thesis Guidance

0.00 Credits

no description

TRS 995: Thesis - Masters

0.00 Credits

no description

TRS 996: Dissertation - STD

0.00 Credits

no description available

TRS 997: Dissertation - Doctoral

0.00 Credits

no description

TRS 997A: Doctor of Ministry Project Guidance

0.00 Credits

no description available