Year 1
Is there any place for God to appear within the phenomenological horizon? And if yes, what kind of "phenomenon" God might be? These questions will lead us to a journey that will take us from a reading of certain scriptural passages to a number of contemporary philosophies of God: phenomenology (Levinas, Marion); hermeneutics (Heidegger, Ricoeur) and deconstruction (Derrida and Caputo).
Students will study, from a psychological perspective (concepts, theories and methods), religion and religious phenomena. Topics will include: psychology of religious development, personality psychology and religion; social psychology of religion; clinical psychology of religion; interdisci0linarity between psychology, theology and sciences of religion.
Students will be introduced to an understanding of modernity, through the discussion of topics such as: the Renaissance; precursors of modernity; classic systems of the 18th century: rationalism and empiricism; the Enlightenment and the crisis of the European conscience; proposals and critiques of German Idealism.
This course introduces students to the general panorama of philosophical thought after Hegel. Students will study the philosophical thought and the most prominent philosophers of the 19th century, and of the 20th century, with particular emphasis on Phenomenology, the philosophy of Values, Hermeneutics; the philosophies of existence and the philosophy of sciences. Other topics include current versions of Personalism and Thomism.
This course introduces students to the theory and application of biblical interpretation methods. Students will come to understand and learn to use historical-critical method: form, redaction, source, feminist, and post-modern criticism along with other recent approaches. Internet resources for biblical studies and biblical studies software will be introduced and evaluated.
This course discusses the following topics: the concepts of revelation and tradition from an anthropological perspective; the importance of these categories in theology; the case for a foundational theology; religion and revelation in the history of religions; the Christian notion of revelation; history of the doctrine on revelation; today’s understanding of revelation; revelation in the Creation; revelation as promise and prophecy in the Old Testament; revelation as the fulfillment and the plenitude in Christ; the structures of revelation: fact and word; historicity and sacramentality; signs of credibility; permanence and transmission of revelation in the Church; tradition and witnessing.
This course is a basic introduction to the systems of beliefs, rituals and practices of the Christian community, with a focus on the varieties of scriptural interpretation, historical experience, doctrine, and behavior. A primary goal will be to attempt to understand each tradition from the point of view of those who are a part of that expression of Christianity.
This course explores the foundations of faith as it relates the issue of humanity as an issue of God. Other topics include: Faith and today’s world (secularization, atheism, religious indifference); faith and the meaning of life; faith and biblical witness; dialogic structures of faith; God’s gift and man’s free response; faith as an experience of salvation and as a process of liberation; growth and maturing of faith; the communitarian dimension of faith; faith as knowledge and as an attitude towards life; theology as a reflection of faith; theology as science and as wisdom; theological hermeneutics and faith inculturation; confession of faith, dogma and its interpretation; the plurality of theologies and the unity of faith; the ecumenical challenge; theological reflection in today’s world.
This course will discuss the relationship between liturgical theology and the various art forms which shape the larger context of the liturgical act (specifically music, dramatic elements, poetry, visual arts), and the ways in which various aesthetic theories and artistic making have affected (and have potential to affect) our understanding of Christian worship and theology. Special emphasis will be placed on experiences in China.
This course is a survey of Christian understandings of war, peace, and revolution from the time of Christ and the early church to the present. Emphasis will be placed on the way in which theological convictions in the areas of Christology, pneumatology, eschatology, ecclesiology, and so on, have shaped Christian Teaching on the nature of peace and the permissibility of using violence. Cases will be used to examine certain aspects of just war theory, with the purpose of addressing the question: is just war theory applicable to warfare in the era of the modern nation state? Other issues discussed will include the military chaplaincy, the role of Christian churches in mobilizing for war, and the use of violence in revolution. Texts will include: Reinhold Niebuhr, Moral man and immoral society; John Howard Yoder, Christian attitudes toward war, peace and revolution: A companion to Bainton; US Catholic Bishops, The challenge of peace, and others.
Students will learn and apply a variety of public presentation techniques useful for both individual presentations as well as participation in group discussions. An important aspect of the module is that it uses an active learning process whereby students learn a new skill and put it into practice. By the end of the module students will possess a number of public speaking strategies that will help them to prepare any range of public presentations, including proposals, as well as have the opportunity to participate in seminar organization and implementation.
The primary aim of this module is to assist students in preparing themselves for the type of writing required for themes, essay examinations, term papers, and lengthy reports. The principles of rhetorical organization and development are thoroughly presented within the context of each student's language and cultural background. Students will engage in problem solving and idea development through the combination of independent investigation, and consultation with peers.
Students will practice the process, purposes, and strategies of persuasive and explanatory writing. Students read and discuss works by both professional and student writers and explore techniques of argument and persuasion in writing a series of 5-6 essays. The module stresses revision, relies on frequent workshops of student writing, and aims finally to sharpen the student's ability to use evidence in a reasonable, convincing way.
This is an advanced interdisciplinary writing course module emphasizing critical reading and thinking, argumentative writing, library research, and documentation of sources in an academic setting. Practice and study of selected rhetorics of inquiry (for example, historical, cultural, empirical, and ethnographic) employed in academic disciplines, preparing students for different systems of writing in their academic lives. Throughout this course, students will: significantly improve their academic writing; develop an understanding of how members of a particular discipline conceive of and engage in the rhetorical practices of that discipline; demonstrate understanding of the key conversations, the forms, and the conventions of writing in a particular discipline; gain experience in the construction of knowledge within a discipline and practice using its discourse; read critically and analyze rhetorically writings from a particular discipline and use those lenses to frame their own discourses; write in the different forms and styles of a particular discipline; and develop techniques for conducting research on the Internet and with other electronic databases.
An intensive course in the fundamentals of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of the modern Greek language. There will be an extensive practice in listening, and graded reading.
This course will introduce students to classical Greek writers, translation of texts, and cultural aspects of Classical Greece and the Hellenic world. Students will also deepen their understanding of the grammar of Classical Greek.
Year 2
The module Theological English is especially catered to the students of the Faculty of Religious Studies (who are all non-native English speakers). It is an innovative program to introduce and equip our students to study theology in the English language. It tests students in the areas of academic reading, listening, speaking, and writing in theological English.
The objectives are:
• To understand advanced theological ideas in English;
• To improve skills in reading, understanding, and discussing theological texts in English
• To master common English theological terms and concepts
• To gain exposure to a variety of theological topics by reading and discussing the works of some theologians.
The module Theological English is especially catered to the students of the Faculty of Religious Studies (who are all non-native English speakers). It is an innovative program to introduce and equip our students to study theology in the English language. It tests students in the areas of academic reading, listening, speaking, and writing in theological English.
The objectives are:
• To understand advanced theological ideas in English;
• To improve skills in reading, understanding, and discussing theological texts in English
• To master common English theological terms and concepts
• To gain exposure to a variety of theological topics by reading and discussing the works of some theologians.
Students will explore issues and patterns of the sociology of religions, namely: macro-theoretical perspectives; definition and typology of religion; theories on the origin of religion; psycho-sociological dimensions: taxonomy of experience and of religious behavior, religious conversions to sects and churches, theories of the maintenance of religious behavior; macro-sociological dimension: religion and capitalism, religion and social integration, secularization; religious experiences in East Asia.
This course introduces students to the History of the early and medieval Church. Topics include: Judaism and the Christian faith; first Christian communities; the challenges of Christian expansion; persecutions; organization and Christian life; controversies and doctrinal development; the Church in the Roman Empire and changes under Constantine; monastic life; migrations and evangelization; the Church and feudal society; the Church in the West and in the East; Gregorian reform; the manifestations of Christianity: the crusades, administrative centralization, popular heresies and the inquisition, the medieval university; the decline of Christianity.
This course is an introduction to ancient Greek emphasizing the grammar and vocabulary of the New Testament. Substantial portions of the New Testament are read.
Students will learn about the contexts of the Reformation, the Protestant reforms, the Catholic reform and the Council of Trent, the European expansion and the missionary movement, as well as about other movements, such as Jansenism and regalism.
Participants will explore the foundation of Christian ethics, with a concentration on these and similar questions: On what basis do people decide how to make moral choices? Why do we take the moral stands we do on issues facing the churches and society? Do Christians have different ways of making decisions than people from other religious or secular traditions? The course examines philosophical, sociological and theological perspectives to these questions.
This course is a historical and systematic study of Christian faith in the God of Jesus Christ. This course will include discussions of the understanding of God in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, modern critiques of belief in God and Christian responses to these critiques. Participants will also address questions regarding God's relation to human suffering.
In today’s world, life seems too busy to pose the question. What does it mean to be human? we only need to be confronted with serious illness, face a death of a loved one, suffer economic reversals, or have our world shaken by catastrophic events-war or a terrorist attack for ultimate questions to arise. Christians raise the question of the meaning of being human in the context of understanding ourselves in relationship with God. We will draw upon essential theological concepts-grace, personhood, sin, salvation, and a God who desires to be in relationship with us- as shaped by theologians.
The history and faith of Israel are examined from the earliest beginnings through the reign of Solomon. The text is interpreted with regard to the cultural context of the Ancient Near East. The early prophetic tradition is explored in light of Torah and the historical writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. Special attention is given to the theological significance for Christian faith.
This course is an introduction to the Founding Fathers of the Church from the sub-apostolic period to the end of antiquity. The lives, writings, and doctrines of the great Early Church Fathers and ecclesiastical writers will be presented through readings, lectures, films, and discussions. The genius of the Church Fathers and their ongoing legacy will be shown.
Using the contributions of critical biblical scholarship, this course will first reconstruct, from the various Gospel accounts, the traces of what Jesus said and did during his ministry. The way Jesus seems to have faced death will be compared with the way his death and resurrection were interpreted by the early church. Moving through the Christological developments of the second to the eighth centuries, the course will finally consider how contemporary human experience impacts on current theological interpretations of Jesus and his meaning for our times.
This course explores the origins, structure and general character of Matthew, Mark and Luke with special emphasis on the theological thrusts of each gospel. Select pericopes, chosen to create an awareness of the difficulties and problems of New Testament interpretation, are taken for extensive exegesis.
An exegesis in light of the ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish world with attention to the exegesis of narrative, historical accuracy and context, theological themes, structure, and application.
This course is a thorough and rigorous introduction to biblical Hebrew, with emphasis on grammar, in preparation for translation of biblical prose. Daily preparation and active class participation are mandatory. Readings in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament will increase in complexity throughout the year.
Year 3
As an integral part of the Licenciate studies, all undergraduate students at USJ are required to prepare and present a portfolio of their work. The portfolio is assembled over the entire duration of their undergraduate studies, and is to consist of selected pieces of work that they have produced during their studies. A student’s portfolio may contain examples of assignment work, tests and examination answer scripts, presentations and project reports, and other work done by the student during his or her studies.
This course will attempt a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and the Church's history of social teaching. WAS LSW217
Liturgy is not a branch of aesthetics; it is the root of theology. We will explore the proposition that lex orandi establishes les credendi in three ways. First, we will examine the purpose and method of liturgical theology as expressed by various authors, but especially Schmemann, Kavanagh, and Taft. Second, we will examine the difference this approach makes when treating traditional theological subjects (e.g. worship, ecclesiology, eschatology, sacrifice, the relationship between church and world, etc.). Third, we will especially consider how liturgical theology bears on sacramentology. This course will be useful to students for a coherent understanding of sacraments expressing the life of the Church.
Students will explore the role played by Christian missions in global interactions from the XVIIth century through to the twentieth century, with a special emphasis on the West-East axis. It will examine the diversity of missionary strategies and the varied responses of non-Christians to evangelization. The role of Macau and the importance of China in these missionary efforts will be examined with specialcare.
This course studies the prophets of Israel and the world in which they lived, from the division of the Israelite kingdom to the Maccabean period, to understand their message as well as the nature of the prophetic tradition and its relevance for the church today.
Students will study in this course topics such as: the Church and the ideologies of the 18th century; the Church in the French Revolution; Church and Liberalism; aspects of Catholic life in the 19th century; new perspectives in the time of Leo XIII; the Church and the two World Wars; aspects of Catholic life in the 20th century; the Church of the II Vatican Council.
This course seeks to construct a theology of the Church, its nature, purpose, mission, and ministries. The role of memory, praxis and hope in the constituting and functioning of any faith community provides the framework for the exploration. Traditional marks and functions of the Church, its sacraments, etc., are re-visioned by examining what kinds of remembrance/celebration, love in action, and hope/anticipation make the Church a credible sign and instrument of God’s liberating and inclusive love, particularly in a context of continued oppression and fragmentation of human communities through exclusionary forces of racism, sexism, classism, etc.
The course explores the development of the wisdom tradition in ancient Israel and in the New Testament. Attention will also be given to the various adaptations of this important and wide-ranging theological tradition in post-biblical Judaism and in Gnosticism, as well as to different methodological approaches, such as historical, literary, and feminist.
This course will survey the topic of sin and redemption as it evolved from the Scriptures and early Church, through today. In addition to the New Testament, the first half of the course will consider authors such as Irinaeus, Athanasius, Augustine, Anselm, Abelard, Luther, etc. We will also explore the spiritual renewal harbored by Cardinal Cisneros and the catechism of Juan de Valdes, and how the encounter with Eastern religions may have influence Christian thinking in Asia.
This course provides a systematic introduction to the study of the Church as it has evolved over twenty centuries. Focusing upon both the idea and fact of the Church, special emphasis will be given to the Second Vatican Council and the conflicts of interpretation that have developed over it in post-Vatican II Catholic ecclesiology. Attention also will be given to the critiques and contributions of contextual theologies (Latin American, Asian, African and feminist) as well as the present state of the ecumenical movement regarding its goals, obstacles and promise for a united Christian Church.
Music has long played an important role in Christian liturgy as an artistic expression of the Church’s prayer and theology. Part I of this course will survey the historical development of Christian liturgy and its theological interpretation from the New Testament period forward, focusing in particular on the role of music and theology of music in liturgy. Part II will concentrate on the use of music in liturgy today, studying various official Church documents on music from Vatican II forward (including: Sacrosanctum Concilium, Musicam Sacram, Music in Catholic worship, and Liturgical Music Today), and drawing forth principles for determining theologically and pastorally what are the functions and appropriate uses of music in liturgy today.
The central topic of this course is an analysis of the authentic Pauline letters, the situation and conflicts which provoked them, and the theology in and behind them. Other letters attributed to Paul (the "deutero-Pauline" literature) will also be considered.
With consideration of the context of the historical situation of the community in which and for which the Johannine texts were written, this course offers an examination of the Gospel and Letters of John. Emphasis is given to the theology (Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Ethics) of the texts and their significance for contemporary Christian faith.
This course is designed to provide students with the skills necessary to read pointed Hebrew texts, with primary attention to the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. There four main objectives: (a) correct pronunciation of biblical Hebrew, (b) accurate translations into good English/Mandarin style, (3) facility with standard reference grammars and lexicons, and (d) mastery of Hebrew grammar. In addition to the ability to read pointed text, some translation from English/Mandarin into standard biblical Hebrew will be required.
Year 4
This course is a theological exploration of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam and the relationship of Christianity to those religions. The goal of this exploration is specifically: (a) to set forth the essential characteristics of the world’s great religions; (b) to disengage the essential differences between Christianity and the other world religions; (c) to identify the distinctiveness of Catholicism within the family of Christian traditions; (d) to examine historically and systematically the Christian theological appraisal of other world religions. The ultimate goal of this course is to enable students to gain a deeper understanding of Christianity by passing over into and experiencing as well as appraising the different major religious traditions of the world. To enhance the learning experience, the course will make abundant use of films and fieldwork.
This course will explore the history of Christianity in China, with special emphasis on the various missionary strategies. Special emphasis will be placed on the successful inculturation experiments in relation to the more traditional acculturating efforts toward local populations.
This seminar will study the eschatological and apocalyptic aspects of Patristic, Scholastic, and contemporary Christian theology. The twentieth century theological efforts at developing the eschatological dimension of the Christianity will be analyzed and criticized in the light of political theology and the histories of suffering. The newly recovered contributions of Patristic and Scholastic eschatology will also be studied, especially in the light of a deeper understanding of historical consciousness with its critique of historicism.
This course is an exploration of current issues facing the Catholic Church and other Christian communities globally. Possible topics to be included are: north-south political and economic tensions, post-colonialism and globalization, religious and cultural pluralism, the environmental crisis, contextualization/inculturation, Christian unity and ecumenism. Contemporary debates and developments will be treated in view of their biblical, historical, and theological backgrounds. The realities of the Church in the Two-Thirds World will be considered. Voices from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific will be primary sources. Pastoral implications for Christian leadership with global perspective will be stressed.
The focus of this Marian Theology course is the Scriptural Christocentric and Ecclesiotypical Mariology emerging from Vatican II. This course will also study the contribution of the Fathers of the Church, and the rich legacy of some Marian writers prior to Vatican II, because an appreciation of the past is indispensable for an understanding of Marian Theology today. Future directions in Mariology will also be explored.
This course will discuss the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and contemporary Sacramental Theology. The course curriculum is divided into three sections. The first section considers the history of the sacraments and the development of sacramental theology from the Christian Scriptures (New Testament period) through the Second Vatican Council and current reflections on the renewal of the sacraments resulting from the council. The second section examines sacramental practice within the Catholic liturgy, and considers contemporary practice of sacraments in Christian faiths other than Catholicism, as well as the promises and challenges of an ecumenical perspective. The third section will explore the intimate role sacraments play in conversion and on-going conversion in Christian life.
This course will explore the Sacraments of Reconciliation and of Anointing of the Sick. Historical, theological, canonical, liturgical and pastoral dimensions are given appropriate attention so as to prepare the future priest celebrants.
The central issue for this course is the relationship between ethics and Christian faith. Among the issues we will study are the following: how Christian beliefs shape one’s ethical views; how different Christian theologies give rise to different understandings of the moral life; the tie between spirituality and ethics; and how the universal call to holiness gives rise to certain moral ways of being.
After reviewing the basic principles of the Revised Code of Canon Law, students will examine the sections of the Code which pertain most directly to parish ministry. These sections include regulations concerning the celebration of the sacraments, parish administration, pre-marriage requirements and canon law.
Drawing on the contributions of contemporary natural and social sciences, the course will provide a critical investigation of the historical and ideological understandings of human sexuality. Building upon the notion of human sexuality and love as dimensions of human holiness, attention will be given to considering Christian marriage as a sacramental event in contemporary theological reflection as well as in historical expression.
This course will explore changing views of Christian mission in the post-modern, post-colonial age. Different understanding of mission, including evangelism, development, social justice, presence, inter-religious dialogue, and church-growth will be considered in their historical contexts. Sources will include major western mission thinkers and voices from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific.
With the approval of the program director, a student can contract for a supervised ministry practicum. The ministry may be the student's regular employment or a temporary position. The student will outline goals for the experience, develop a reading list and propose a final project. A regular member of the faculty will serve as the practicum supervisor and evaluate the final project.
