Module THEO3681: The Doctrine of the Church from the Fathers to Today

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO3681: The Doctrine of the Church from the Fathers to Today

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• • To introduce students to the key features of the doctrine of the Church. • To familiarize students with accounts of the Church in early Christianity. • To hone students’ skills in the close reading of and critical engagement with primary texts. • To home students skills in assessing the critical interplay between doctrine and practice. • To build on students’ prior knowledge of basic Christian doctrine.

Content

• This module explores the nature of the Church by examining the key patristic sources in the development of ecclesiology. The module will give students a thorough grounding in the doctrine of the Church as it emerges in Christian tradition. Rather than beginning with the Bible and working forward, the module begins with Ignatius. After reading our way into the tradition (following Ignatius, the module considers Cyprian, Augustine, John Chrysostum, Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor), we examine the Biblical imagery on which accounts of the Church are based. The final few sessions of the module will consider ritual and symbol in the liturgy and the development of ecclesiology in the 20th century, especially as accounts of the Church in this period draw on the patristic heritage. Students will be invited, at the conclusion of the module, to consider Pope Francis’s teaching about the Church against the backdrop of patristic teaching and its recovery in ressourcement theology and Lumen gentium.

Learning Outcomes

• • Knowledge concerning theological method and practice. • In-depth knowledge of theories pertinent to the development of doctrine and the interpretation of early Christian Church practice. • In-depth knowledge about the features of early Christianity, including the nature of textual culture, the influence of geography, and the nature of early Christian theology. • Understanding characteristics of the Church as it developed in the first centuries of the common era.

• • Ability to read, interpret, and evaluate sources pertaining to the development of the Christian understanding of the Church. • Ability to situate the definition of the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic in historical context. • Ability to understand and critically evaluate contemporary scholarship on ecclesiology. • Ability to evaluate biblical sources for the doctrine of the Church. • Ability to recognise the core elements of early Christian ecclesiology in contemporary scholarly and ecclesial discourse. • Ability to interpret the ends these core elements serve in arguments about the nature of the Church in contemporary theology.

• • Skills in the acquisition and interpretation of information through close, nuanced reading of primary and secondary sources. • Skills in the structured presentation of information in written form. • Skills in the conducting of research. • Skills in thinking theologically and historically. of others.

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

• • Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding both through preparation and through interaction with students and staff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints and approaches. • Formative class exercises develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding. • Summative 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.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

in class exercise

■ 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