Module THEO1201: The World, Human Destiny, and God

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO1201: The World, Human Destiny, and God

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To equip students with the skills of theological interpretation and analysis needed for further study in theology at level 2.
• To provide students with a basic framework needed to analyze and understand central religious insights into the nature of human existence, its setting in the cosmos, and to interpret a range of theological genres on these topics with critical insight.
• To present key points of interaction between (a) theological anthropology and (b) theological notions of the world as structured by community, freedom, and the future, as these two domains of reflection intersect against the background of (c) theological understandings of creation and providence.

Content

• The question of human existence and its destiny has, understandably, provoked reflection by the greatest poets and philosophers, scientists, artists, and religious thinkers in every age. Very often, profoundly theological questions have been at stake. This module opens perspectives on works that have shaped the self-understanding of the West, works whose meaning and significance have extended beyond the eras in which they were produced and beyond the boundaries of scholarly disciplines. We reflect on a selection of six or seven (varying slightly each year) from such works as the Odyssey of Homer, the Book of Genesis, Plato’s Republic, the Aeneid of Vergil, Augustine’s Confessions, Aquinas on creation and providence, Dante’s Paradiso, the Essays of Montaigne, Shakespeare’s King Lear, the New Atlantis of Francis Bacon, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, or Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. We encounter these authors not as producers of ‘literature’ or ‘philosophy’ but as teachers who help us to recognize and reflect on critical questions concerning the human journey – conceived against the horizon of the divine. Students will examine the recurring questions the works pose to each other and to our own culture: questions about the nature of the world’s order, whether humanity is subject to forces beyond our control or understanding, and about the meaning of the world and human life as ‘created’ by God and summoned to a destiny yet unknown. Because the module builds on a close reading of selected classic texts, students are advised that somewhat more than the average amount of primary source reading will be required each week; students will need to have their own copies of the set primary source texts.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of the underlying concepts and principles associated with theological anthropology, religious understandings of the natural and social world, and theological accounts of divine creativity, agency, and providence – and a concomitant capacity to interpret and evaluate central primary and secondary literature on these questions.

• An ability to analyse texts with rigour, historical depth, and perceptiveness about the implicit religious themes and questions present in a wide range of literary forms. A capacity to perceive and interpret relationships between key theological beliefs and spiritual worldviews, such that their mutual influence becomes perspicuous and available for academic study. Skills in reading, researching, and writing about texts that, as spiritual artifacts, require careful attention to genre and to their performative or formative functions in communities. Also the capacity to think insightfully about a many aspects of the human experience. A capacity to discern the deep range of meanings suggested in metaphorical or imaginative language, and the ability to apply this discernment when investigating both logical arguments and non-discursive discourse.

• Skills in the analysis of the interaction between theory and practice in a wide range of traditions and cultures. An ability to read multivalent texts with intellectual nuance. Research, presentation, and writing skills.

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.
• Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding both through preparation 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 Assessments measure 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:

Three brief essays: 250 words, 500 words, 1000 words – all MAXIMUM lengths.

■ 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