Courses

Basic grammar. An introduction to Aramaic literature by reading passages of the Aramaic sections of Daniel and Ezra and selections from post-biblical Aramaic.

A study of the nature and methods of defending the Christian faith including an examination of the evidence for and the arguments against a Christian worldview.

A study of the history of the Christian Church from the turn of the first century to the eve of the sixteenth century Reformation with attention to the persons, events, and issues involved in the major developments of Christianity.

An examination of the development of the Christian Church from the late medieval period through to the early twenty-first century. Key topics include: the Protestant and Catholic Reformations; the Great Awakenings and the rise of modern Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, and the growth of modern missionary movements, along with a consideration of significant individuals, changes in theology, institutions, devotional practices, gender roles, and attempts to engage and shape culture.

The growth of Christianity in the non-Western world from the first century to the present. Attention is given to critiquing those factors that hindered or enhanced the development of Christianity during specific eras.

Moral theology reflects upon the goodness and evil of human acts, and of the person who performs them, in the light of Divine Revelation and human reason. This course offers an introduction both to mainstream Catholic and evangelical moral theology and contemporary moral issues, emphasizing their common ground and supplementary insights as well as explaining their continuing points of divergence. The course is taught by a Catholic professor, utilizing both Catholic and protestant texts. Specific moral issues to be discussed include abortion, homosexuality, just war, contraception, divorce, euthanasia, poverty and hunger, and the nature and role of the family.

This course reviews the roots and evolution of the modern secular approaches to anthropology and human sexuality and contrast them with those of Christ. This course examines recent developments in theological reflection on the body (John Paul II's theology of the body) and provides a general introduction to Christian anthropology, with particular attention to themes such as creation in the imago Dei, fall and redemption, nature and grace, freedom and rationality, gender and vocation. Due note of convergent and divergent doctrinal positions held by various Christian traditions of the themes are reviewed.

Examines key events in the history of the Catholic Church to posit how Catholic theology might shape one’s view of history, to consider how an understanding of history might be relevant to faith, and to investigate how the Catholic Church has developed and adapted as a protagonist in history. Topics. include the ecumenical councils, monasticism, Holy Roman empire, Crusades, East-West schism, inquisition, Reformation, Council of Trent, the effects of the French Revolution, rise of nationalism, Vatican II, and globalism.

An examination of European life during the sixteenth century reformations. This course includes discussions of sin and wholeness, of religion and secular power, of toleration and social order, and of efforts to reform the church and society, and an examination of the place of ritual in social life, life in the family, and attitudes to gender.