RELS 399 - Catholic Spirituality in the Modern World | 2024-2025

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.

RELS 387 - Christian Theology in Ecumenical Dialogue | 2024-2025

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.

RELS 382 - Catholic Church: Theology & Practice | 2024-2025

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.

RELS 381 - Contemporary Christianity | 2024-2025

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.

RELS 369 - Historical Theology | 2024-2025

A study of the history of Christian theology from the post-apostolic age to the present. Focus is on perennial issues in Christian theology and areas of convergence and divergence between the three Christian traditions: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Students will consider the role of the Bible, culture, and experience in order to understand the complexities involved in studying historical theology.