THEO7042-01

Augustine's City of God

This course offers a close reading of Augustines City of God. While the immediateoccasion was the sack of Rome by Alaric (410), Augustines thought on the two cities had been germinating for several years. Partly an apology for Christianity, the book offers a sweeping survey of human history from Adam to the eschaton, as well as searching reflections on Christian existence in the present age (saeculum). He treats topics such as the nature of bodily existence, Christian participation in the political order, the value of ancient philosophy, the role of the emotions, divine providence, and the interpretation of Scripture.

THEO7613-01

13th Century Franciscan Theology: Alexander and Bonaventure

This course explores the thirteenth-century Franciscan theological tradition through a substantial engagement with the theology of Alexander of Hales and of St. Bonaventure, focusing on the central theological topics of the theological method, Trinity, and Christology.

THEO5426-01

From Nile to Niger: African Christian Fathers and Mothers of the Church

This course counts as an elective towards the interdisciplinary Minor in Ancient Civilization.. Introduction to the Fathers of the Church, with special emphasis on the period after the apostles to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). The lives, writings, and teachings of the Church Fathers will be studied through readings in English translation.

THEO7687-01

Catholic Theological Ethics: 12-18th Century

A survey of the following major figures in theological ethics: Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Jean Gerson, Antoninus of Florence, Desiderius Erasmus, John Mair, Bartolom� de las Casas, Juan Gines de Sepulveda, Francisco de Vitoria, Dominic Soto, Bartolom� Medina, the Council of Trent (1545-1563), Francesco de Toldeo, Thomas Sanchez, Francisco Suarez, Antonio Escobar, Blaise Pascal, Alphonsus Liguori, Johann Michael Sailer, Johann Baptist von Hirscher, and Thomas Slater.

THEO8009-01

Theology, Ethics, and Politics

How can Christian ethics respond to the intractability of historical evil and the difficulty of structural change? This course will work on the borderlines of political theology, public theology, liberation theology, Christian social ethics, and Catholic social teaching, reading for example, Bohoeffer, Moltmann, Solle, Day, Niebuhr, Murray, Hauerwas, Sobrino, Katongole, and additional examples of global Christian ethics and politics.

THEO7102-01

Social Reform and American Catholocism

How has American Catholicism interacted with the wider civil society? The course will examine individuals, groups and issues that have shaped the history of American Catholic involvement in social action, e.g. John Ryan and Charles Coughlin, the Central Verein and the Catholic Worker, slavery and church-state relations.

THEO5498-01

HIV/AIDS and Ethics

This course looks at how we can understand a bit better the ethics of public health through the lens of HIV/AIDS. There besides studying the virus itself, we examine the varied related ethical issues regarding stigma, prevention, research, gender inequity, economic disparities, local culture, religion, funding, and access.

THEO7029-01

Biotechnologies, Health, and Theological Ethics

In dialogue with scientists, philosophers, and theological ethicists, the doctoral seminar examines current advances in developing scientific disciplines and studies their ethical challenges for health and society by relying on theological ethics. After reflecting on biotechnology in general, in its two parts the seminar focuses, first, on biotechnologies that directly affect human health by considering human genetics (genetic information, research, testing, screening, editing, therapy, pharmacogenomics, and enhancement), stem cell research, regenerative medicine, oncofertility, and neuroscience. Second, the seminar studies new biotechnologies that indirectly regard human health: synthetic biology, nanotechnology, cybertechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, posthumanism, and astrobiology.

THEO5354-25

Modern Catholic Social Teaching

This course will include historical and analytical treatments of the official social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The course will study the tradition of Catholic social thought as found in papal, conciliar and synodal documents of the modern era.

THEO7443-01

Comparative Religion: History and Methods

The comparative study of religions has evolved through different stages of methodological reflection since its establishment as an autonomous discipline over a century ago. Questions concerning the nature and goal of comparison and the possibilities and limits of understanding individuals belonging to other religions remain at the heart of any engagement with religious pluralism. We will explore these questions through a study of the theories of early phenomenologists of religion such as Gerardus Van der Leeuw, through the work of Mircea Eliade and his critics, and up to the contemporary approaches of figures such as Jonathan Z. Smith.

THEO5474-20

Jews an Christians: Understanding the Other

This course is an exercise in interreligious learning sponsored by the Boston College's Center for Jewish-Christian Learning. Interreligious dialogue requires interreligious understanding. This course will build a foundation for genuine dialogue between Jews and Christians by posting fundamental theological questions in a comparative context. Students will gain an understanding of the other tradition while also deepening their understanding of their own, discussing such matters as the human experience of God, the purpose of human existence, the nature of religious community, and the ways that the communities respond to challenges, both contemporary and ancient.

THEO5444-01

The Quaran and Its Interpretation

The course is focused on the Quran (Koran), the sacred Scripture of Islam and investigates its origins, its proclamation by Muhammad in the Arabian Peninsula and its structure of Meccan and Medinan suras and verses. It traces the compilation of the Quran as a codex and holy book after Muhammads death in 632 CE, and its reliable transmission in manuscript and print into our days, always and only in Arabic. It examines its Arab tribal background, its foreign vocabulary pointing to Jewish and Christian influences on its contents, and shows how it became the basis for the life of the Muslim community until today. Furthermore, it analyzes its stories of the prophets of old, its polemics versus Judaism andChristianity, and its association with Arab tribal life. It examines in detail particular suras and verses in their meaning for personal religiosity, highlights the recitation of the Quran in public life and mosques, and documents the Quranic foundations of Islamic law and theology.

THEO5372-01

Patristic Greek I

This course is continued in the spring as THEO5373 New Testament Greek II.. This two-semester course is designed for the student with no previous knowledge of ancient Greek to develop reading and translating skills in Patristic Greek language by mastering the fundamental principles of Greek grammar and syntax and acquiring a basic reading vocabulary. The student becomes familiar with the meaning of Greek words, their forms and structure, and their customary arrangement in sentences. A secondary goal of this course is to serve as a foundation for further studies in Patristic Greek.

THEO5582-01

Introduction to Biblical Hebrew I

This course is a thorough introduction to Biblical Hebrew and its principal grammatical structures in preparation for translation of prose and poetic texts. Readings in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament begin the fall semester and increase in variety throughout the year.

THEO9981-01

Seminar: Biblical Studies II

Required of Ph.D candidates in Biblical Studies.

THEO7803-01

Graeca

Rapid reading in Jewish Greek texts (LXX, Philo, Josephus), with an introduction to research in the authors treated, for students who have completed Intermediate Greek.

THEO5378-01

Jesus in Story and History

Although Jesus himself did not write anything, many of his early followers wrote about him. We are left with a number of intriguing questions about how and why these early Christian authors portrayed Jesus as they did, and about how their portraits of him relate to the historical Jesus of Nazareth. This course will address these literary, theological, and historical issues in two parts: (1) a thorough literary-critical analysis of the diverse characterizations of Jesus in the canonical gospels; and (2) an in-depth evaluation of the modern historical-critical attempts to reconstruct a "historical" or "real" Jesus behind the earliest depictions of him.

THEO7596-01

Synoptic Studies: Recent Issues

This course focuses on recent issues in the study of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Particular emphasis will be given to recent trends in studies of the Synoptic Problem, the Q source, the relationship of Marcion's Gospel to Luke, the parables, and the textual transmission of the Synoptic Gospels. Furthermore, in order to better understand Matthew, Mark, and Luke in both their historical contexts and contemporary receptions, attention will also be given to significant recent contributions to the study of these Gospels from a variety of hermeneutical perspectives.

THEO5348-01

New Testament Ethics

An introduction to ethical reflection in the New Testament which will treat the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7 and parallels), select parables (Luke 10-19 and parallels) and moral formation in Pauline churches (Gal, 1 Cor). Individual modules will treat (a) social justice and concern for the poor; (b) love commands; and (c) sexuality, marriage and family. Students are introduced to ethical material from both Jewish and Stoic sources that deal with comparable topics.

THEO7006-01

The Book of Isaiah

In this course we will study the Hebrew text of the book of Isaiah, including the history of its interpretation and its modern study. Knowledge of biblical Hebrew is expected.

THEO5070-01

Prophets, Visionaries, and the Apocalypse

An in-depth introduction to prophecy in ancient Israel with attention to the origins and development of the institution, the role of the prophet in society, and the diverse messages of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve. Students are introduced to modern exegetical methods in reading prophetic literature.

THEO7671-01

Theology of Edward Schillebeeckx

This doctoral seminar will be devoted to the reading of primary texts from three periods in the work of Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009): (1) the early existential-phenomenological retrieval of Thomas Aquinas's theology of sacraments; (2) the shift to historical consciousness and hermeneutics during and after Vatican II, particularly exemplified in his Christology; (3) the shift to critical theory and its critique of modernity, leading to an historical praxis of mysticism and politics in the light of a suffering world.

THEO5599-01

A Theology of Food: Eating, Drinking and the Eucharist

Eating and drinking are primordial human experiences that nourish individuals, sustain communities and are at the heart of rituals in many religions. In the Judeo-Christian tradition meals play an important part in the unfolding dialog between God and humanity. Christians believe in a privileged encounter with the Lord Jesus in the Eucharistic meal of bread and wine. Eternal life is portrayed as a great banquet in God's presence. This course articulates a theology of the Eucharist that takes meal as its point of departure. It examines how this central Christian action both shapes the divine-human relationship and informs our response to contemporary issues such as creation and ecology, hunger and suffering, solidarity and exclusion, hope and eternity.

THEO9670-01

Methods in Theology

In the late 1960s, Karl Rahner asserted that theology's new partners in dialogue were the human and social sciences. Increasingly in answering new and perennial questions, contemporary theology has partnered with archaeology, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, world religions, and forms of critical theory. This course considers various methods in doing theology as well as some of theology's significant dialogue partners.

THEO7678-01

Feminist Theologies and Theory

This doctoral seminar examines the contributions that feminist/womanist/Latina/Asian/ Queer theologians have made to Christian theology, with special attention given to the theoretical perspectives and methodological frameworks they employ. We will examine some of the major social/political/hermeneutical theories that feminist scholars of religion use in addressing the challenges of identity, difference, embodiment and Western hegemony/imperialism. Students will have the opportunity to analyze a classic feminist theology text of their choosing, utilizing insights from these theoretical frameworks.

THEO7019-01

Classic Texts in American Theology

This course examines texts that defined both the "Great Tradition" in American theology (Reinhold Niebuhr, William James, Walter Rauschenbusch) as well as texts that have profoundly shaped American Catholic theology (David Tracy, Elizabeth Johnson, etc.)