Module THEO3231: Christian Theologians and Their Writings

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO3231: Christian Theologians and Their Writings

Prerequisites

• Level 1: Introduction to Christian Theology and Level 2: Christian Theology: The Essential Questions I or II

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To engage students in sustained close reading of select key texts of four major Christian theologians.
• To extend students' depth of knowledge and skills in interpretation of central theological themes and highly influential theologians with historical rigour and philosophical sophistication.
• To prepare students for Level 4 work in Christian systematic theology.

Content

• Building on level 1 work (Introduction to Christian Theology) and level 2 work (Christian Theology: The Essential Questions I or II), this module will engage students in a sustained practice of close, historically sensitive, philosophically informed reading of key texts in the respective oeuvres of four highly significant Christian theologians. It is likely that one of these theologians will be drawn from the patristic/medieval range (e.g. Augustine, Maximus, or Thomas Aquinas), the other three being drawn from the nineteenth through to the twenty-first centuries (e.g. Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, Newman, Barth, Tillich, Rahner, Balthasar, Moltmann, Gutierrez, Johnson, Williams). A range of doctrinal loci (as previously engaged in the level two Christian Theology: The Essential Questions 1 or II) will be engaged in relation to each chosen theologian and selected writings.

Learning Outcomes

• In-depth knowledge of the writings of four major Christian theologians situated against their historical and intellectual contexts.
• Extended knowledge of key doctrinal loci, their interrelationship and the way they are treated of by four significant and differing Christian theologians in diverse historical and intellectual contexts.

• An extended ability to evaluate and interpret classic theological texts with historical sensitivity, philosophical sophistication and critical rigour.
• An extended ability to analyse and interpret key doctrinal loci in relation to the resources provided by a diversity of historical and intellectual contexts.

• Extended skills in the acquisition and interpretation of information through close reading and research, and in the structured presentation of ideas in both written and oral form.
• An extended ability to read complex and multivalent texts with intellectual nuance, and a sensitivity to context and genre.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures convey information and exemplify an approach to the subject-matter, enabling students to develop a clear understanding of the material and to improve their skills in interpreting and evaluating information. Each unit of 5 weeks is prefaced with an hour-long lecture introducing the particular theologian in focus, his/her historical and intellectual context, key themes, approaches etc. Each subsequent session in the unit (4 x 90 mins) starts with 30 mins of tutor-led input/lecture specific to the particular text(s) under discussion that week, then moves into 1 hour of seminar discussion of these texts.
• Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding both through formal preparation in relation to specific texts and through interaction with students and staff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints and approaches, as well as affording developmental opportunities for skills in theological reflection.
• Formative essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.
• Summative essays and Exams assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in research analysis, and argumentation, including the written presentation of information in written form under time constraints.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

2 x 1,000 word seminar presentations in the course of the module, with the option subsequently to submit a 2,500 essay on a seminar-related topic.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University