A study of the intertestamental Judaic literature, noting the relationships between this literature and the Old Testament and New Testament and showing how this literature serves as an important background for the study of the New Testament documents.

Examination of conceptions held by ancient cultures and the Bible of the origin, composition, and functioning of the cosmos, and the question of natural or supernatural causality. Students will critically evaluate current models of how Scripture relates to modern scientific knowledge. Using key biblical passages, students will construct a theological model that embraces not only the aspects of science and nature that support the idea of purpose (teleology) but also those aspects that do not readily align with teleology.

Independent but guided research in a specialized area of interest to the student.

An analysis of the teachings on prayer and the devout life of Catholic spiritual writers whose teachings still enrich the life of the Church today: especially St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Bonaventure, St. Francis De Sales, St. Therese of Lisieux, and the Venerable John Henry Newman.

A survey and analysis of the main achievements of the ecumenical theological dialogue process among the Christian churches, and the significant challenges still facing that dialogue today. This course utilizes texts from Catholic, Protestant Evangelical, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican sources, and guest lecturers from Catholic, Evangelical, and Orthodox traditions.

An examination of key issues pertaining to suffering and belief in God. Topics include the problem of evil, arguments from suffering, original sin, everlasting suffering, and providence.

This course focuses on the theological, liturgical, and spiritual traditions that undergird the Catholic Church and which continue to form her self-understanding. Historically, this course explains and evaluates the development of the Catholic doctrine of the Church in terms of its roots in Scripture and Tradition, and with a particular emphasis on the Pauline understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ, and selected readings from the Church Fathers, as well as developments in Catholic understanding of the Church in different historical periods and social contexts.

Students are invited to investigate some of the most significant theologians and theologies of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries with a view toward how they influence Christianity today. The approach is both inter-confessional and international in scope and seeks to allow students to grapple with important theological issues in local, national, and global contexts.

A supervised short-term missions/cross-cultural internship/practicum.

A doctrinal study of the person and work of Jesus Christ, engaging the biblical material in forming a doctrine of Christology and soteriology.