THEO MINDS LLC
THEOLOGICAL REMINDERS
THINKING WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST
THEOLOGICAL REMINDERS
THINKING WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST
GREAT THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSIES:
RATIONALE
and
SYLLABUS
RATIONALE
and
SYLLABUS
This course is designed to enable participants to confront the primary texts of the Great Christian Thinkers over the last 20 centuries. The idea is to enter into the world’s great discussions by way of a close reading of primary texts and through a discussion of the ideas raised. In addition we will address the implications and applications of these ideas for the modern day world. Since the theological topics raised in the selected readings are still confronting the contemporary world and engaging the best minds in debate, what better way to help prepare participants for their entrance into the marketplace of ideas than to give them first-hand acquaintance with those who shaped the debates themselves?
The selected primary writings contained in the course text are presented from a variety of theological viewpoints. The focus is on engaging the participants in the history of ideas and in light of the Catholic Church’s doctrinal teaching. The writings that have been selected are short enough for participants to maintain their attention and serious enough to enable them to realize that theology is not a set of unsupported assertions but requires the strict logic of argument.
Methodology:
The class will be in the form of a seminar that will maximize an informed and directed discussion. The texts will be selected on the basis of the great theological controversies in which opposing viewpoints will be studied and debated. Lecture will be utilized to supply historical background to the ideas discussed and for clarification of ideas where needed. Essays are optional and I will comment on them should you decide to write them. You may want to write essays to put on your blog or guest blogging. Perhaps you would like to get your writings published, so, writing essays could be a good way to get a good first draft for publication. I will provide an essay format that I would like you to use to make the reading and commenting easier to do. After that, of course, you can use any format that would meet the needs of your blog or publication.
Spiritual Goals:
1. To see the Word of God reflected in the writings of the world’s great minds as they attempt to better know Him and by knowing Him, loving Him.
2. To practice the virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude in the give and take of the discussion of differing views where these virtues are necessity for learning and civil, mannerly dialogue.
3. To become aware of the great contributions that theology has provided to the development of human civilization and so, how the Holy Spirit permeates all that man has accomplished.
4. To recognize and appreciate the absolute importance of formulating and understanding true doctrinal propositions for the benefit of our growth in faith and increase in charity.
Course Goals:
1. That participants learn to be adept in the skill of reading a text closely and with careful consideration of its intended meaning.
2. That participants learn the intellectual skill of logical analysis of a text
3. That participants become practiced in the skill of intellectual discussion based on reason, textual evidence, and respect for truth as opposed to the simple bandying about of opinions, their typical modus operandi.
4. That participants are enabled to articulate their ideas in a coherent and civil manner.
5. That participants learn to listen attentively to the ideas of others for purposes of respect, civil discourse, and understanding.
6. That participants learn the great theological ideas contained in the texts studied and understand their importance in history and their relevance today.
7. That participants demonstrate orally and in writing their knowledge and understanding of the both the content of the primary texts studied and their historical sequence.
SYLLABUS
Chronological Sequence of Readings
Week One
Philosophical Background
Pre-Socratics:
Thales
Anaximander
Anaximenes
Pythagoras
Heraclitus
Parmenides/Melissus/Zeno
Week Two
Philosophical Background
Pre-Socratics:
Empedocles
Anaxagoras
Democritus/Leucippus
Socrates
Plato: The Sun, the Cave, and the Line
Week Three
Philosophical Background
Plato and Aristotle:
Plato: The Sun, the Cave, and the Line
Aristotle: The Physics
Week Four
Ante-Nicene Era
The Gnosticism Controversies:
The Gospel of Thomas
Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Trallians
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Romans
Week Five
Ante-Nicene Era
The Gnosticism Controversies:
Irenaeus: Against Heresies(1)
Eusebius: Church History
Irenaeus: Against Heresies (2)
The Teaching of the 12 Apostles
Week Six
Ante-Nicene Era
Pagan Philosophers vs. Christian Apologists
Revelation and Philosophy:
Plotinus, Porphyry, and Epictetus: selected writings
Tertullian: On Prescription Against Heretics
Tertullian: On the Flesh of Christ
Week Seven
Ante-Nicene Era
Pagan Philosophers vs Christian Apologists
Revelation and Philosophy:
Tertullian: Apology
Justin Martyr: First Apology
Clement of Alexandria: Exhortation to the Heathen
Origen: On First Principles
Week Eight
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
Trinitarian Controversies:
Irenaeus: Against Heresies (Ch. 18.6 ff.)
Athanasius: On the Incarnation of the Word
Arius: Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia
The Nicene Creed
Athanasius: First Discourse Against the Arians
Week Nine
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon -
The Trinitarian Controversies:
Basil of Caesarea: Letters
Gregory of Nazianzus: The Third Theological Oration
Gregory of Nyssa: On ‘Not Three Gods’
Week Ten
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
The Christological Controversies:
Apollinaris of Laodicea: On the Union in Christ of the Body with the Godhead
Theodore of Mopsuestia: On the Nicene Creed
Nestorius: First Sermon Against the Theotokos
Week Eleven
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
The Christological Controversies:
Cyril of Alexandria: First Letter to Nestorius
Pope Leo I: The Tome of Leo
The Definition of Chalcedon
Week Twelve
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Era
St. Augustine and His Debate with the Pelagians:
On Free Will
On the Grace of Christ
Week Thirteen
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Era
St. Augustine: Miscellaneous Writings:
Concerning the Correction of the Donatists
In Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist
The City of God
Confessions
Week Fourteen
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Era
The Iconoclastic and Eucharistic Controversies:
Theodore the Studite: First Refutation of the Iconoclasts
Ratramnus: Christ’s Body and Blood
Paschasius Radbertus: The Lord’s Body andBlood
Week Fifteen
Medieval Era
Atonement Theologies:
Anselm of Canterbury: Why God Became Man
Peter Abailard: Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans
Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
Week Sixteen
Medieval Era
Faith and Reason: Opposed or United:
Anselm of Canterbury: Proslogion
Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
William of Ockham: Philosophical Writings
Week Seventeen
Medieval Era
Pre-Reformation Scuffle: Grace and Free Will:
Robert Holcot: Lectures on the Wisdom of Solomon
Thomas Bradwardine: The Cause of God Against the Pelagians
Week Eighteen
Reform or Revolt?
On Faith and Works: Catholicism vs. Lutheranism
Martin Luther: The Freedom of a Christian
Thomas de Vio aka Cardinal Cajetan: Faith and Works - Against the Lutherans
Week Nineteen
Reform or Revolt?
Faith and Works: Catholicism vs. Lutheranism:
The Augsburg Confession
The Formula of Concord
The Council of Trent: Decree on Justification
Week Twenty
Reform or Revolt?
Ecclesiology: Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism:
John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion
Ignatius of Loyola: Rules for Thinking with the Church
The Five Arminian Articles
Week Twenty-One
Theology in the Age of Enlightenment
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone vs. Fideism:
Rene Descartes: Meditations
Blaise Pascal: Pensees
John Locke: The Reasonableness of Christianity
Week Twenty-Two
Theology in the Age of Enlightenment
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone vs. Fideism:
Matthew Tindal: Christianity as Old as Creation
David Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Immanuel Kant: Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone
Week Twenty-Three
Theology in the Age of Enlightenment
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone vs. Fideism:
Immanuel Kant: Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone
Philip Jacob Spener: Pia Desideria
John Wesley: The Scripture Way of Salvation - Predestination Calmly Considered
Week Twenty-Four
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
Gotthold Lessing: On Proof of the Spirit and the Power
Friedrich Schleiermacher: On Religion: Speeches to its
Cultures Despisers
Week Twenty-Five
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
David Friedrich Strauss: The Life of Jesus Critically Examined
Ludwig Feuerbach: Lectures on the Essence of Religion
Soren Kierkegaard: Attack Upon “Christendom
Week Twenty-Six
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
Adolf Harnack: What is Christianity
John Henry Newman: Apologia Pro Vita Sua
Week Twenty-Seven
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
Albert Schweitzer: The Quest of the Historical Jesus
Ernst Troeltsch: The Place of Christianity Among the World Religions
First Vatican Council: First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ
Week Twenty-Eight
Theology Done the American Way
Puritanism, Deism and Transcendentalism:
John Winthrop: A Model of Christian Charity
Thomas Hooker: The Activity of Faith; or Abraham’s Imitators
Jonathan Edwards: Personal Narrative
David Walker: Our Wretchedness in Consequence of the Preachers of Jesus Christ
Week Twenty-Nine
Theology Done the American Way
Puritanism, Deism and Transcendentalism:
William Ellery Channing: The Essence of the Christian Religion
Charles Grandison Finney: Lectures on Revivals of Religion
Mary Baker Eddy: Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
Week Thirty
Theology Done the American Way
Puritanism, Deism and Transcendentalism:
Sarah Grimke: Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman
Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Divinity School Address
Joseph Smith: King Follett Discourse
Horace Bushnell: Christian Nurture
Week Thirty-One
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Rudolf Bultmann: New Testament and Mythology
William Farmer: The Gospel of Jesus
Week Thirty-Two
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism
Charles Hodge: Systematic Theology
Alfred North Whitehead: Process and Reality
Stanley Jaki: Science and Creation
Week Thirty-Three
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Karl Barth: Church Dogmatics
Paul Tillich: Systematic Theology
Etienne Gilson: Thomist Realism and the Critique of Knowledge
Week Thirty-Four
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letters and Papers from Prison
Reinhold Niebuhr: Christianity and Power Politics
Jurgen Moltmann: The Crucified God
Week Thirty-Five
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Karl Rahner: In Search of a Short Formula of the Christian Faith
Joseph Ratzinger: A response to Rahner’s Short Formula
Second Vatican Council: Lumen Gentium
The selected primary writings contained in the course text are presented from a variety of theological viewpoints. The focus is on engaging the participants in the history of ideas and in light of the Catholic Church’s doctrinal teaching. The writings that have been selected are short enough for participants to maintain their attention and serious enough to enable them to realize that theology is not a set of unsupported assertions but requires the strict logic of argument.
Methodology:
The class will be in the form of a seminar that will maximize an informed and directed discussion. The texts will be selected on the basis of the great theological controversies in which opposing viewpoints will be studied and debated. Lecture will be utilized to supply historical background to the ideas discussed and for clarification of ideas where needed. Essays are optional and I will comment on them should you decide to write them. You may want to write essays to put on your blog or guest blogging. Perhaps you would like to get your writings published, so, writing essays could be a good way to get a good first draft for publication. I will provide an essay format that I would like you to use to make the reading and commenting easier to do. After that, of course, you can use any format that would meet the needs of your blog or publication.
Spiritual Goals:
1. To see the Word of God reflected in the writings of the world’s great minds as they attempt to better know Him and by knowing Him, loving Him.
2. To practice the virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude in the give and take of the discussion of differing views where these virtues are necessity for learning and civil, mannerly dialogue.
3. To become aware of the great contributions that theology has provided to the development of human civilization and so, how the Holy Spirit permeates all that man has accomplished.
4. To recognize and appreciate the absolute importance of formulating and understanding true doctrinal propositions for the benefit of our growth in faith and increase in charity.
Course Goals:
1. That participants learn to be adept in the skill of reading a text closely and with careful consideration of its intended meaning.
2. That participants learn the intellectual skill of logical analysis of a text
3. That participants become practiced in the skill of intellectual discussion based on reason, textual evidence, and respect for truth as opposed to the simple bandying about of opinions, their typical modus operandi.
4. That participants are enabled to articulate their ideas in a coherent and civil manner.
5. That participants learn to listen attentively to the ideas of others for purposes of respect, civil discourse, and understanding.
6. That participants learn the great theological ideas contained in the texts studied and understand their importance in history and their relevance today.
7. That participants demonstrate orally and in writing their knowledge and understanding of the both the content of the primary texts studied and their historical sequence.
SYLLABUS
Chronological Sequence of Readings
Week One
Philosophical Background
Pre-Socratics:
Thales
Anaximander
Anaximenes
Pythagoras
Heraclitus
Parmenides/Melissus/Zeno
Week Two
Philosophical Background
Pre-Socratics:
Empedocles
Anaxagoras
Democritus/Leucippus
Socrates
Plato: The Sun, the Cave, and the Line
Week Three
Philosophical Background
Plato and Aristotle:
Plato: The Sun, the Cave, and the Line
Aristotle: The Physics
Week Four
Ante-Nicene Era
The Gnosticism Controversies:
The Gospel of Thomas
Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Trallians
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Romans
Week Five
Ante-Nicene Era
The Gnosticism Controversies:
Irenaeus: Against Heresies(1)
Eusebius: Church History
Irenaeus: Against Heresies (2)
The Teaching of the 12 Apostles
Week Six
Ante-Nicene Era
Pagan Philosophers vs. Christian Apologists
Revelation and Philosophy:
Plotinus, Porphyry, and Epictetus: selected writings
Tertullian: On Prescription Against Heretics
Tertullian: On the Flesh of Christ
Week Seven
Ante-Nicene Era
Pagan Philosophers vs Christian Apologists
Revelation and Philosophy:
Tertullian: Apology
Justin Martyr: First Apology
Clement of Alexandria: Exhortation to the Heathen
Origen: On First Principles
Week Eight
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
Trinitarian Controversies:
Irenaeus: Against Heresies (Ch. 18.6 ff.)
Athanasius: On the Incarnation of the Word
Arius: Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia
The Nicene Creed
Athanasius: First Discourse Against the Arians
Week Nine
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon -
The Trinitarian Controversies:
Basil of Caesarea: Letters
Gregory of Nazianzus: The Third Theological Oration
Gregory of Nyssa: On ‘Not Three Gods’
Week Ten
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
The Christological Controversies:
Apollinaris of Laodicea: On the Union in Christ of the Body with the Godhead
Theodore of Mopsuestia: On the Nicene Creed
Nestorius: First Sermon Against the Theotokos
Week Eleven
Nicaea, Constantantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
The Christological Controversies:
Cyril of Alexandria: First Letter to Nestorius
Pope Leo I: The Tome of Leo
The Definition of Chalcedon
Week Twelve
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Era
St. Augustine and His Debate with the Pelagians:
On Free Will
On the Grace of Christ
Week Thirteen
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Era
St. Augustine: Miscellaneous Writings:
Concerning the Correction of the Donatists
In Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist
The City of God
Confessions
Week Fourteen
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Era
The Iconoclastic and Eucharistic Controversies:
Theodore the Studite: First Refutation of the Iconoclasts
Ratramnus: Christ’s Body and Blood
Paschasius Radbertus: The Lord’s Body andBlood
Week Fifteen
Medieval Era
Atonement Theologies:
Anselm of Canterbury: Why God Became Man
Peter Abailard: Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans
Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
Week Sixteen
Medieval Era
Faith and Reason: Opposed or United:
Anselm of Canterbury: Proslogion
Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
William of Ockham: Philosophical Writings
Week Seventeen
Medieval Era
Pre-Reformation Scuffle: Grace and Free Will:
Robert Holcot: Lectures on the Wisdom of Solomon
Thomas Bradwardine: The Cause of God Against the Pelagians
Week Eighteen
Reform or Revolt?
On Faith and Works: Catholicism vs. Lutheranism
Martin Luther: The Freedom of a Christian
Thomas de Vio aka Cardinal Cajetan: Faith and Works - Against the Lutherans
Week Nineteen
Reform or Revolt?
Faith and Works: Catholicism vs. Lutheranism:
The Augsburg Confession
The Formula of Concord
The Council of Trent: Decree on Justification
Week Twenty
Reform or Revolt?
Ecclesiology: Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism:
John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion
Ignatius of Loyola: Rules for Thinking with the Church
The Five Arminian Articles
Week Twenty-One
Theology in the Age of Enlightenment
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone vs. Fideism:
Rene Descartes: Meditations
Blaise Pascal: Pensees
John Locke: The Reasonableness of Christianity
Week Twenty-Two
Theology in the Age of Enlightenment
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone vs. Fideism:
Matthew Tindal: Christianity as Old as Creation
David Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Immanuel Kant: Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone
Week Twenty-Three
Theology in the Age of Enlightenment
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone vs. Fideism:
Immanuel Kant: Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone
Philip Jacob Spener: Pia Desideria
John Wesley: The Scripture Way of Salvation - Predestination Calmly Considered
Week Twenty-Four
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
Gotthold Lessing: On Proof of the Spirit and the Power
Friedrich Schleiermacher: On Religion: Speeches to its
Cultures Despisers
Week Twenty-Five
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
David Friedrich Strauss: The Life of Jesus Critically Examined
Ludwig Feuerbach: Lectures on the Essence of Religion
Soren Kierkegaard: Attack Upon “Christendom
Week Twenty-Six
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
Adolf Harnack: What is Christianity
John Henry Newman: Apologia Pro Vita Sua
Week Twenty-Seven
Theology in the Nineteenth Century
Albert Schweitzer: The Quest of the Historical Jesus
Ernst Troeltsch: The Place of Christianity Among the World Religions
First Vatican Council: First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ
Week Twenty-Eight
Theology Done the American Way
Puritanism, Deism and Transcendentalism:
John Winthrop: A Model of Christian Charity
Thomas Hooker: The Activity of Faith; or Abraham’s Imitators
Jonathan Edwards: Personal Narrative
David Walker: Our Wretchedness in Consequence of the Preachers of Jesus Christ
Week Twenty-Nine
Theology Done the American Way
Puritanism, Deism and Transcendentalism:
William Ellery Channing: The Essence of the Christian Religion
Charles Grandison Finney: Lectures on Revivals of Religion
Mary Baker Eddy: Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
Week Thirty
Theology Done the American Way
Puritanism, Deism and Transcendentalism:
Sarah Grimke: Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman
Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Divinity School Address
Joseph Smith: King Follett Discourse
Horace Bushnell: Christian Nurture
Week Thirty-One
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Rudolf Bultmann: New Testament and Mythology
William Farmer: The Gospel of Jesus
Week Thirty-Two
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism
Charles Hodge: Systematic Theology
Alfred North Whitehead: Process and Reality
Stanley Jaki: Science and Creation
Week Thirty-Three
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Karl Barth: Church Dogmatics
Paul Tillich: Systematic Theology
Etienne Gilson: Thomist Realism and the Critique of Knowledge
Week Thirty-Four
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letters and Papers from Prison
Reinhold Niebuhr: Christianity and Power Politics
Jurgen Moltmann: The Crucified God
Week Thirty-Five
Twentieth Century Theology
Liberalism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Neo-Thomism:
Karl Rahner: In Search of a Short Formula of the Christian Faith
Joseph Ratzinger: A response to Rahner’s Short Formula
Second Vatican Council: Lumen Gentium
