Chapter 11: 2024-2025 JST-SCU Faculty Course Offerings

Below is a sample of courses offered by Jesuit School of Theology faculty this year.

CE-2016: FAMILY ETHICS

The course will engage Christian thinking on sex, gender, marriage, family, and children, with an emphasis on Catholic theological ethics. By taking family as its primary frame, the course carves out a space at the intersection of sexual ethics and social ethics. Questions include: Why (and how much) do Christians care about marriage and family? What is marriage? What is sex for and how does its telos shape Christian sexual ethics? What is gender and how much does it matter? What is the place of singleness in Christian life? What place does family hold in Catholic social thought? What does Catholic social thought contribute to the question of work-life balance? What does Christianity offer to families experiencing divorce, migration, incarceration, and poverty? What can Christians learn about family from those on the margins? Course material can be applied in a variety of pastoral settings.

CE-2056: FUNDAMENTAL MORAL THEOLOGY

This course explores Catholic moral theology in its foundations, history, and methods. It considers: a) sources and traditions of moral theological reflection; b) particular concepts, principles, and norms, including ecumenical, social, and contextual dimensions; c) historical development of Catholic moral teaching; d) contemporary questions, topics, and cases in dialogue with foundations. Topics include: theological and moral virtues; moral reasoning and discernment; role of the Holy Spirit, Scripture, prayer, and community; freedom; conscience; natural law; emotions and experience; moral action and human agency; moral norms; sin, personal and structural; authority.

CE-4017: CHRISTIAN ETHICS: MAJOR FIGURES

This course explores Christian ethics from the perspective of major figures that have shaped the field: historically, contextually, and in the contemporary period. It considers the thought, context, and reception of historical and contemporary figures; and engages in critical analysis and evaluation of their influence, for both foundational approaches and applied topics or issues.

FTLS-4725: CELEBRATIONAL RITES AND PRACTICE

This practicum course is designed to acquaint students preparing for presbyteral ordination in the Roman Catholic Church with the principle rites of the Church’s liturgy. Its goal is to develop prayerful leaders of communal worship and to develop in presiders the necessary skills for gathering the ecclesial body and celebrating the sacramental rites of the Church.

FTST-2336: CANON LAW: INTRO & MARRIAGE

This course is a combination of two aspects of the field of canon law. The first half of the course presents an overview of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, giving its origins and the legal traditions on which it is built. Special emphasis is on the pastoral application of the foundational principles of law and an examination of the rights and obligations of the Christian Faithful. The second half of the course covers the seven sacraments with an extended time on the sacrament of marriage. Both the celebration of marriage as the law prescribes and the work of marriage tribunals when a marriage ends in divorce are studied in detail.

LSST-4181: INCULTURATION AND LITURGY

Inculturation is a work of justice and liberation by which Christian communities grow into the richness of their mature identity and participate in the mission of the church. Today, it is essential that inculturation be deeply aligned with the church's move toward synodality as a constitutive dimension of the church of the present and future. In a unique timing, the course unfolds this year as the international Synod on Synodality will be meeting in Rome. Both inculturation and synodality flow from Vatican Council II's affirmation of cultural and racial diversity as essential to the church's life and liturgy. In a unique way, the option for synodality invites the voice, creativity, and expressiveness of all people, walking together, lay and ordained, responding to the Spirit's guidance regarding each community's unique mission of service in the Kingdom of God, and engaged in the necessary revision of structures of participation and decision-making within the local and larger church. Course readings and visual resources draw on emergent theologies from around the globe, key church documents, and narratives of communities engaged in inculturated worship. Discussion and reading will explore Asian, African, Latin American, Asian American, Latino, and African American perspectives and practices in light of the central themes of inculturation and synodality.

NT-3513: PAUL IN CONTEXT

This foundation course (a combination of lecture and seminar discussion) provides a historical and theological introduction to Pauline literature. The course locates Paul and Pauline literature in their ancient historical, cultural, and political contexts—within Second Temple Judaism, within the emerging Christian movement, and within the broader Roman Mediterranean—and attends to the development of Pauline texts and thought over time. Beyond ancient contexts, we engage long histories of Pauline reception and explore varied critical and theological approaches to reading Paul today. Students will study primary texts and practice a wide range of interpretive methods. They will also read selected Pauline scholarship.

NTHS-4800: EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND ENSLAVEMENT

This seminar offers a historical and theological investigation of enslavement in the Roman Mediterranean, with a particular focus on the entanglement of early Christianity with the practices and ideologies of Roman enslavement. Students will: (a) study the New Testament and other early Christian sources in their broader Mediterranean contexts; (b) engage major conversations in slavery studies; and (c) interrogate the destructive legacies of enslavement in Christian theologies and institutions. Student learning will be assessed on the basis of participation, short textual analyses, a critical book review, and a major project. An optional Greek reading section will be offered for one hour per week. The section will read early Christian texts and other relevant primary sources in Greek. Participation is strongly encouraged for students with previous study of ancient Greek. The Greek reading section will be required for ThM, STL, STD, and PhD students. Depending on student knowledge and interest, an optional Latin reading section may also be offered for one hour per week. The section will read early Christian texts and other relevant primary sources in Latin.

OT-2095: METHODS: PENTATEUCH & HISTORIES

A socio-historical and literary survey of the Pentateuch and Histories with attention to the effects of culture upon both the composition and reception of these writings in faith communities. The course provides a foundation in critical methodologies and in the theory and practice of exegesis. In addition, we will wrestle with pastoral dimensions of our study – i.e. what is the relationship of these biblical criticisms to the kinds of interpretations made of the Bible in pastoral places outside the academy; what kinds of ethical, social, and ideological impact does the Bible and its interpretation have in our world?

OT-8210: CLAIMING THE PSALMS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

While historical considerations will be addressed, a literary assessment will be the primary approach in this study of the Old Testament Psalms. How these exquisite ancient verses can become more fully expressions of our prayerful sentiments addressing the topics and events of the contemporary era will be a consistent pursuit in this course.

OTBS-5000: THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

This course introduces PhD and advanced MA students to the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Weekly meetings are divided into two parts. The first part will consist of reading various texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls together in Hebrew. The second part of each meeting will function as a seminar discussion on the range of historical, literary, and theological themes encountered in the corpus.

RA-2220: COMPOSING SACRED SPACES

‘Art soothes pain! Art wakes up sleepers! Art fights against war & stupidity! ART SINGS HALLELUJA!’ - Peter Schumann, Bread and Puppet Theatre, Glover, VT 1984 Art within the context of a Christian worship space has the potential to be transformative and healing, inspirational and meditative, educational and democratizing. It can be a powerful way to bring us closer to God. The goal of this part-workshop, part-art history course is to prepare and empower students to make aesthetic decisions for their churches and worship spaces by providing historical background and practical tools for creating spaces for retreats, meditation, and prayer. We will consider the history and theology of church architecture, outdoor gardens, landscapes, and labyrinths in the context of environmental stewardship, home and community altars in cross-cultural contexts, and virtual sacred spaces that have arisen during the Covid-19 pandemic.

RS-2077: RELIGION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

How does one go about changing the world? What difference do religious ideas and values make in a society that so often seems resistant to them? How does one move beyond an ideal (and / or idealistic) vision in order to bring about a new social reality that is more propitious of human flourishing? These are the sorts of questions that animate this class. In responding, we will investigate, among other critical topics, the efficacy of religious ideas and constituencies with respect to understanding and challenging institutional power, engendering civic discourse and engagement, and contributing to social movement activism.

RS-2092: CULTURE, CONTEXT AND LIVED RELIGION

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the much-discussed (but less often understood) concept of culture and its implications for theological study and pastoral ministry today. After attending to more theoretical concerns, we will investigate the manner in which a nuanced construal of culture is essential for better understanding such things as secularization, religious change, and the salience of religiosity in shaping people’s perceptions, identities and strategies of action. By attending to these (and other) topics, students should acquire the theoretical and methodological tools necessary for becoming more sophisticated observers of religion as it is actually lived out as well as for deepening their studies in theology and ministry

RSST-3710: MISSION, CHURCH AND CULTURE

This course is an introduction to mission and world Christianity which seeks to contribute to a new missiology for our churches. We will survey Biblical, historical, cultural and theological resources for the theory and practice of mission, with particular emphasis on current concerns and perspectives. Among the issues to be treated are: the interaction between global and local mission; evangelism and witness; gospel and cultures; religious pluralism and inter-religious dialogue; mission and ecumenicity; justice, peace and liberation; and the spirituality of mission. The course will emphasize the critical interaction between theology and practice in mission.

SP-2492: EXPERIMENTS PRAYER & MEDITATION

To explore ways of prayer and meditation within the western Christian tradition. Through these experiments in prayer one hopes to develop his or her relationship to God and one's sensibility to the religious dimension of one's everyday life. The course aims to help people notice and articulate their religious experience as a ground and test of their theological reflection.

SP-2540: SPIRITUAL DIARIES OF THE FIRST COMPANIONS

This seminar will study the personal spiritual diaries written by Ignatius, Peter Faber, Francis Borja, Simon Rodriguez, Jerome Nadal, Peter Ribadeneira, and Luis Gonçalves da Câmara. These personal documents will help us discover the prayer, the spirituality, the mission and the construction of Jesuit identity in the beginning years of the Society of Jesus.

SP-4519: SUSTAINING A SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

As a concrete response to the Synod, this course is anchored in the pastoral skill of deep (contemplative) listening as presented in the first two weeks of the course. Participants will then practice contemplative listening as they discuss other elements that contribute to the long-term spiritual health of the pastoral minister: praying as a component of pastoral leadership (focusing on Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer); Gospel-based spirituality, Sabbath-keeping for those who work on Sundays; journaling as a complement of prayer; dealing with inevitable darkness and doubt; spiritual freedom using a Buddhist perspective; identity as a spiritual leader, and spiritual leadership in pastoral settings.

ST-2391: CHRISTOLOGY: ANCIENT & MODERN

The course offers a historical approach to the study of Christology. It will examine the formative developments of the Christological doctrine in the early centuries, from the New Testament to the more metaphysical debates leading to Chalcedon (451). We shall then explore the extent to which the definition of Chalcedon informed later development in Scholastic and Protestant Christologies. We will then turn to modern Christological approaches in the contemporary period, including feminist and liberationist contributions. The course will conclude with a discussion of non-Western perspectives, and expand the conversations to other religious believers, emphasizing the need to reinterpret the mystery of Jesus Christ in a global setting with its diverse cultural and religious contexts.

ST-4152: VATICAN II: THEOLOGICAL IMPORT

VATICAN II: HISTORY AND THEOLOGY. The seminar will study the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) with some historical background and evaluation. We will focus on the theological content of the documents and their implementation and current status of the issues. We will look at the impacts of Vatican II on modern ecclesiology, including the thoughts of Popes St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.