Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2012-2013 (archived)
Module THEO3231: Christian Theologians and Their Writings
Department: Theology and Religion
THEO3231:
Christian Theologians and Their Writings
Type |
Open |
Level |
3 |
Credits |
20 |
Availability |
Available in 2012/13 |
Module Cap |
None. |
Location |
Durham
|
Prerequisites
- Level 1: Introduction to Christian Theology and Level 2:
Christian Theology: The Essential Questions I or II
Corequisites
Excluded Combination of Modules
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.
- Examinations assess subject-specific knowledge and
understanding, along with student skills in the structured presentation
of information in written form under time constraints.
- Summative essays assess 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.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
Activity |
Number |
Frequency |
Duration |
Total/Hours |
|
Lectures |
5 |
Wks 1,6,11,16,21 |
1 hour |
5 |
|
Lectures |
16 |
Wks 2,3,4,5; 7, 8,9,10; 12,13,14,15;
17,18,19,20. |
0.5 hour |
8 |
|
Seminars |
16 |
Wks 2,3,4,5; 7,8,9,10; 12,13,14,15;
17,18,19,20. |
1 hour |
16 |
|
Preparation and Reading |
|
|
|
171 |
|
Total |
|
|
|
200 |
|
Summative Assessment
Component: Examination |
Component Weighting: 60% |
Element |
Length / duration |
Element Weighting |
Resit Opportunity |
Examination |
2 Hours |
100% |
|
Component: Summative Essay |
Component Weighting: 40% |
Element |
Length / duration |
Element Weighting |
Resit Opportunity |
Summative Essay |
3,000 words |
100% |
|
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