Catalogue 2008 Book - Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

THEOLOGICAL-HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT
pluralism. Students write a concluding paper outlining their theological approach to pluralism.
Six credits. Mr. Jensen
TH.289 ESCHATOLOGY AND CHRISTIAN HOPE
In this course students explore multiple voices within the Christian tradition that speak of
the “last things,” eternal life, and the consummation of creation. This exploration is not
restricted to theological understandings of future events, but includes ways in which differing
articulations of hope and eschatology permeate all Christian understanding. Beginning with
patristic and medieval understandings of the doctrine, the course also highlights more recent
critiques of Christian eschatology and reformulations of the doctrine in light of them.
Mr. Jensen
TH.293 TALES OF MURDER, MAYHEM, AND BETRAYAL
This course explores Scriptural texts and interpretations of those texts that have been used
to explain evil and human tragedy. The class focuses on the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain
and Abel, the sacrifi ce of Isaac, Judas Iscariot and others, examining Jewish, Christian and
Islamic interpretation. This approach invites the class to read not only formal commentary,
but early and modern literature based on these stories. Authors may include: Milton, Dante,
Nawal el-Sâdawî, Naguib Mahfouz, Sören Kierkegaard, and others. Films and works of art
provide other avenues of interpretation. Six credits. Mr. Bodman
TH.295 POLITICAL IDEOLOGY AND THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN
CHURCH
One of the characteristics of the twentieth century was the rise of ideologies: Communism,
National Socialism, Fascism, nationalism, capitalism, totalitarianism, racism. In various ways
the church in America was affected by all of them, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly.
This course examines the relationship between the church and ideology in the twentieth
century and the degree to which ideology continues to shape the church in the twenty-fi rst
century. Six credits. Mr. Currie
TH.296 MORAL ISSUES
The goal of this course is twofold: to familiarize students with the various elements of
ethical analysis and to use these elements as they study particular moral issues. Among the
topics to be considered are: the making of commitments, truth telling and secrecy, ecology,
peacemaking, economic ethics, feminism, civil disobedience, and professional ethics. Students
are encouraged to propose topics that are important to them and that led them to this kind
of study. Six credits. Mr. García
TH.297 THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN AMERICAN CHURCH HISTORY
In this course we examine the contributions of the African American community to the
American religious fabric. Students explore, from the beginnings of the slave trade to the
present, the literature of African American spirituals, autobiographies, essays, sermons, and
analyses of the African American religious experience in America. Six credits. Mr. Currie
TH.305 CHRISTOLOGIES AND ATONEMENT
This course examines various approaches to christology and atonement theory, beginning
with the christological debates of the fourth and fi fth centuries and the basic approaches
to atonement developed through the scholastic period. Particular attention is given to
the exploration of the ways theologians have appropriated, rejected, or reconstrued the
Chalcedonian formulation and how their understandings of the fi gure of Jesus Christ have
affected both their assessments of the human condition and their understandings of atonement.
Readings for this course are drawn from the early creeds of the church, the teachers in the
early church, and contemporary authors, particularly feminist and liberationist authors.
Prerequisite: TH.104. Six credits. Ms. Rigby
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