500
This course studies God’s Word as it has been expressed and handed on in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition with a special focus on the central teachings of the Catholic faith (such as creation, fall and redemption, Trinity and Incarnation, the Church and the Holy Spirit). Emphasis is placed on reading primary sources, including principal Biblical texts, writings of Church Doctors and Fathers, major theologians, Magisterial documents and writings from the Franciscan tradition.
Is an introduction to the literature of the Old Testament: the Tetrateuch, the Deuteronomic corpus, the prophetic literature, the priestly writings, the wisdom literature, and the Deuterocanonical books. Students will be directed to read selections from the above categories. The theological-historical meaning of the Old Testament will be stressed.
Is an introduction to the literature of the New Testament: the Synoptic Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Johannine literature, the Pauline literature, the Letter to the Hebrews, and the "catholic epistles." The theological-historical meaning of the New Testament will be stressed.
Investigates the fundamental Christian mystery of the Trinity, that there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It considers both the immanentand economic missions of the three persons as they are revealed in the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Son and ministry and activity of the Holy Spirit, to save us from sin and raise us to heavenly glory. Relying primarily on the New Testament documents, the early creedal formulae, and the declarations of the Church Councils of the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries AD, this course will explore how the Church developed its core understanding of these doctrines during the patristic period, as well as how key members of the theological tradition have deepened our contemplation of them from that time to the present.
Examines the nature, history, and problems of the Christian community as understood in the Catholic tradition. Students undertake the task of investigating the biblical foundation of the Church, various branches of the Church, Christian authority, principles underlying church worship practices, church-state relationship, ecumenism, and other ecclesiological topics.
Elucidates the principles of morality that regulate Christian living. These principles are studied as they are found rooted in the New Testament documents and articulated throughout the history of the Christian community's lived existence, with a thorough look at the contemporary understanding of Christian moral theology as it is articulated by the magisterium of the Catholic Church and by theologians in union with the magisterium. Students will examine these principles as they apply to some perennial moral issues.
Presents a general theological consideration of the structure of the sacramental life of the Church and an historic-dogmatic analysis of the major theologies of the individual sacraments. Particular emphasis will be given to baptism and Eucharist. The course will include the Christian response to the sacramental life in filial, salvific social, communal, and ecclesial dimensions.
Provides an introduction to the history, methods, and contemporary practice in catechetics. The Church's catechetical documents are studied in depth, providing the necessary foundations for the other religious courses. Catechetical skills will be developed by analyzing specific doctrines in order to learn how to handle them in catechetical presentations, determining what is essential in presenting a catechesis that is systematic and organic. In addition, the students will be introduced to the life and educational practice of St. John Bosco.
This course offers a historico-dogmatic analysis of the Church and the seven sacraments, from their biblical foundations to contemporary magisterial teaching. It will consider such topics as authority, liturgy, communion ecclesiology, relations between Church and state, and ecumenism. There will be particular emphasis on Baptism and Eucharist.
This course introduces the student to the graduate study of sacred theology by examining the nature and mission of theology as an ecclesial vocation, in light of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1990 document, “Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian” (Donum Veritatis). The nature of theology is examined as a “science” in the classical sense, that is, an intellectual habit in which certitude is available through rational reflection, in the light of faith, on divine revelation. The student will be formed in the fundamental dispositions and tools requisite to the responsible and academic pursuit of graduate theological studies.