Module THMN2031: Systematic Theology

Department: Theology and Ministry

THMN2031: Systematic Theology

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To enable students to acquire a knowledge of the origins and historical development of key Christian doctrines such as
• (a) Trinity, Christology and Atonement and
• (b) Creation, Fall, Eschatology and Theological Anthropology
• To carry out a critical appraisal of such doctrines in relation to their cultural and historical contexts
• To consider contemporary challenges to and reformulations of these doctrines
• To enable students to integrate their understanding of such doctrines with pastoral ministry

Content

• The aims and objectives will be met by focusing on a selection of the following key themes & issues:
• (a) Christology, Trinity and Atonement
• New Testament Christology and its background
• The development of Christology up to the Council of Chalcedon
• Later historical developments in Christology
• Contemporary Christologies, including Pannenberg, Schillebeeckx, Liberation Christology and Feminist Christology
• Challenges to classic Christology: The Myth of God Incarnate and forms of Feminist Theology
• Atonement in the New Testament and its background in early Judaism
• The development and adequacy of atonement theories
• The ideas of sacrifice, penal substitution, Christus Victor etc. in atonement theory
• The Suffering God (with particular reference to Patristic discussions, to Bonhoeffer and Moltmann)
• Origins and development of the doctrine of the Trinity
• The Holy Spirit in the Bible
• Trinity and creation (with particular reference to the Holy Spirit)
• Trinity and Suffering
• Contemporary trinitarian theologies
• Modern theologies of the Spirit (including Holiness and [Neo-] Pentecostal movements)
• (b) Humanity and the World in Theological Perspective
• Creation and the Imago Dei
• Fall, Sin and Guilt
• Grace, Justification and Sanctification
• Human Personhood in Theological Perspective (history and contemporary discussions)
• Themes in Eschatology (Christian hope, heaven, hell, universal salvation, doctrines of time, parousia, millenarianism etc.)

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module, students will be able to:
• outline the origins and development of the doctrines in question

• comment critically on the doctrines and contemporary approaches to them

• relate the doctrines to wider theological, liturgical, ethical, pastoral and missiological contexts

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

• 28 hours contact time: lectures, seminars, group work

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1500 written assignment

■ 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