Theological Synthesis/ Suffrng

Catalog description

Taught by JST. THEOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS FROM A SUFFERING WORLD begins from the multifaceted mystery of suffering to seek a Christian theological synthesis that speaks in our contemporary world to our suffering and our hope. The starting point is the reality and the mystery of suffering. In the first part of the course we probe suffering from a range of perspectives to understand better what it is and how we encounter God in terms of it. Preeminent among the distinctions that give rise to an effective Christian theological synthesis is the notion of historical suffering for which the methods of political, liberation, and feminist theologies will be especially relevant. The second part of the course is concerned with theological synthesis in terms of and speaking from the reality of suffering. Here we begin with theological anthropology, a biblically based theology of God, Christology, soteriology, eschatology and ecclesiology in a way that relates these classical Christian dogmas to one another, to spirituality, and to ministry. This course was designed with STL, MA, and advanced MDiv and MTS students in mind. [Faculty Consent required; 18 max enrollment]