Divinity School 2009–2010

Areas and Courses of Study

The courses listed on the following pages are expected to be offered in 2009–2010. The letter “a” following the course number denotes the fall term and the letter “b” following the course number denotes the spring term. Unless otherwise noted, all courses are for three hours of credit each term.

In addition to the curricular offerings specified below, students may arrange special reading courses with individual faculty members (see Reading Courses, in chapter on Other Curricular Considerations). Courses on special topics of interest to a group of students may also be planned and approved for credit, to run for a period of weeks or for an entire term. Students are encouraged by the faculty to take courses in other schools and departments of the University. (See also Interdisciplinary Study, in chapter on Other Curricular Considerations.) In each case, prior consent must be received from the instructor. For a complete listing of the offerings, consult the bulletins of the Graduate School and the professional schools and Yale College Programs of Study. Additional work is normally required in undergraduate courses presented for Divinity School credit.

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Area I: Biblical Studies

This area is concerned with the interpretation of the Christian Scriptures in the broadest sense, including the study of the classical biblical languages (Hebrew and Greek), the content of the Old and New Testaments, critical methods of interpretation, biblical history, cultural and historical milieu of the Bible, and the theological and pastoral implications of the text.

• 1. Introductory courses are offered in the critical study of the Old and New Testaments; except for the language courses, all courses in Area I have these foundation courses (or their equivalent) as prerequisites.
• 2. Language courses are offered at the elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels.
• 3. Three types of exegesis courses are offered: those based on the English text; those based on the original text and requiring a working knowledge of the biblical language; and advanced exegesis seminars that require at least an intermediate knowledge of the biblical language. Exegesis courses of each type are offered each term on selected books or topics from the Old and New Testaments. It is possible, therefore, during the course of one’s program, to engage in detailed exegesis of representative sections of the biblical text.
• 4. Thematic courses are offered on a wide range of theological and historical issues raised by the Scriptures. These include courses on the cultural and historical milieu of the Bible.
• 5. Advanced seminars are designed for Divinity School students with the requisite background and qualifications, and for doctoral students. Permission to enroll in these seminars must be received from the individual instructor.
• 6. Area I is also concerned with examining the implications of the Scriptures for the contemporary church. In addition to doing this in courses offered specifically in Area I, members of the faculty in Area I join with other faculty members in offering courses dealing with the use of the Bible in Christian ministry.

The Divinity School offers intensive courses in elementary Biblical Hebrew and elementary New Testament Greek for six weeks during the summer. Such work earns six hours of academic credit and prepares the student for the course in exegesis. Summer work will satisfy most denominational language requirements.

Critical Introductions

REL 600a, Old Testament Interpretation An introduction to the contents of the Old Testament (Pentateuch and historical books first term; Prophets and writings second term) and to the methods of its interpretation. The course focuses on the development of Israelite biblical literature and religion in its historical and cultural context as well as on the theological appropriation of the Old Testament for contemporary communities of faith. Robert Wilson

REL 600b, Old Testament Interpretation Continuation of REL 600a. John J. Collins

REL 601a, New Testament Interpretation The first term of a two-term lecture course that introduces students to the critical study of the New Testament through extensive readings, training in exegesis, and seminar discussions. The fall term is devoted to a study of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The course is recommended for those without previous training in New Testament studies. Adela Collins

REL 601b, New Testament Interpretation Continuation of REL 601a. Diana Swancutt

Biblical Languages

REL 604, Elementary Biblical Hebrew A rigorous two-term course designed to familiarize students with the basic principles of Biblical Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. The primary goals are to read biblical prose texts with confidence, use a standard academic dictionary, and develop a deep appreciation for the stylistic features unique to the Hebrew text. Robert Young

REL 605, Elementary New Testament Greek A two-term introduction to the language of the New Testament intended for those with little or no knowledge of Koiné Greek. Concentration in the first term is on elementary grammar and syntax, and a basic working vocabulary. The second term is devoted primarily to rapid reading of the Johannine literature and to developing a working knowledge of the critical apparatus and indexes of the Greek New Testament for use in exegesis and interpretation. L. Scott Brand

REL 618a, Intermediate New Testament Greek An intermediate New Testament Greek course emphasizing translation of extensive portions of the New Testament, study of the syntax, and use of reference tools for exegesis of the Greek New Testament. Judith Gundry

REL 674, Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I and II Intermediate Biblical Hebrew is a two-term course designed for students who want to develop strong language skills. In the first term students review rapidly, but in depth, basic Hebrew grammar and expand skills in all areas of the language: conjugations, constructions, vocabulary, pronunciation, the accentual system, vowel progression, narrative sequences, idioms, masoretic notation, and text-critical issues. Victoria Hoffer

REL 677a, Advanced Biblical Hebrew: Poetry Reading and analysis of poetic Hebrew texts, some biblical, some from the Dead Sea Scrolls. John J. Collins

Exegesis of the English Bible

REL 635b, Gospel of John and Parting of Ways Since the time of Clement of Alexandria (second to third century C.E.), the Gospel of John has often been described as the “spiritual Gospel.” Nevertheless, scholars recognize that the Fourth Gospel is shaped by its historical, religious, and social context and, specifically, by the relationship between the so-called Johannine community and the Jews among whom they lived. In this seminar, students examine the Gospel from this perspective, and both consider and evaluate the range of theories that have been proposed to describe and account for this relationship. Adele Reinhartz

REL 645a English Exegesis: Philippians Diana Swancutt

REL 650b, Biblical Theology: Walter Brueggemann and His Critics This course explores key issues in biblical hermeneutics and biblical theology, using Walter Brueg­gemann’s work and the responses of his critics as a lens to focus discussions. The class addresses the aggressive challenge that Brueggemann has posed to the historical-critical paradigm and its foundational assumptions; the so-called “failure of the biblical theology movement” and Brueggemann’s contribution in reviving those debates; the strengths and weaknesses of rhetorical criticism as that has been construed and applied in Brueggemann’s work; to what degree Brueggemann has responded effectively to the postmodern turn in interpretation; and implications of Brueggemann’s popularity in the Church for our assessment of ways in which biblical studies may be perceived by ecclesial leaders as useful or peripheral to the life of the Church. Carolyn Sharp

REL 651a, Early Jewish Biblical Interpretation: An Introduction to the Classical Midrash The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the sources and methods for the study of early Jewish interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The course traces the evolution of the Jewish exegetical mind from the Second Temple period through late antiquity with its primary focus on the classical rabbinic midrash. Joshua Burns

REL 672b, Living with Difficult Texts Students determine which texts are “difficult” and why. Each week all students in the course prepare a position paper describing how they would deal with the difficulties of the text. Members of the class then discuss selected position papers. Harold Attridge

Exegesis Based on the Original Language

REL 617a, Hebrew Exegesis: Book of Judges Judges, a book filled with compelling narratives, has been receiving increasing attention within recent scholarship. In this course, students read, translate, analyze, and discuss various narrative texts drawn from Judges. Hebrew texts from Judges are accompanied by select secondary readings. Emphasis on the literary and theological character of Judges. Joel Kaminsky

REL 678b, Hebrew Exegesis: Korahite Psalms This exegetically focused course explores literary, traditio-historical, theological, and hermeneutical issues involved in interpreting the Korahite psalms (Psalms 42, 44–49, 84, 85, 87, 88). Paying close attention to the Hebrew text, the class considers the diction, themes, literary artistry, and rhetorical power of these psalms, reading each psalm on its own merits and also considering the Korahite psalms together as a group with discernible literary and theological interests. A systematic review of Hebrew grammar is not the focus of this course; those seeking such work should take Intermediate Hebrew instead. The class subordinates consideration of grammar and syntax to the larger interpretive issues involved in appreciation of the complex poetic artistry and theological significance of the Korahite psalms. Carolyn Sharp

REL 685b, Greek Exegesis of Luke Students read and analyze the Greek text of Luke with attention to its relations to Mark and Matthew and its use of the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. In addition, students use the methods of textual criticism, form criticism, the history of ancient religions, redaction criticism, and literary criticism. The class also considers the text in light of its cultural contexts. Adela Collins

REL 689a, Greek Exegesis: Romans Diana Swancutt

REL 694a, Readings in Hellenistic Judaism For students with an advanced knowledge of Greek, the course provides the opportunity to read extensively in Jewish literature composed between the third century B.C.E. and the second century C.E. Readings include selections from the Greek Bible (2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon), Jewish Pseudepigrapha (Psalms of Solomon, Sentences of Pseudo-Phokylides, Sibylline Oracles), fragments of Jewish literature preserved in the Church Fathers (Artapanus, Eupolemus, Ezekiel the Tragedian, Philo Epicus), and passages from the works of Philo and Josephus. Harold Attridge

Graduate Seminars in Biblical and Cognate Studies

REL 634a, History of Biblical Interpretation This seminar explores the history of the reception, interpretation, and exegesis of the Bible from the New Testament period through the end of the Middle Ages. Examined texts include the Deutero-Pauline literature and extra-canonical Christian literature, as well as patristic and medieval commentaries and homilies. Topics include rival claims to Pauline authority, creative appropriations of Paul’s letters in new syntheses, and rival claims to the identity of Israel. Adela Collins, Denys Turner

REL 654a, The Messiah: The Development of a Biblical Idea Review of the origin and ideology of kingship in ancient Israel and the development of messianic expectation in Second Temple Judaism, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. John J. Collins

REL 657b, Second Temple Seminar: Formation of Authoritative Literature A discussion of the problems of determining what literature was canonical or authoritative in the Second Temple period. John J. Collins

REL 691b, History and Methods of New Testament Studies This course is taught in seminar format. Students are expected to prepare a critical review of an article, several articles, a monograph, or part of a monograph for a number of the sessions and to engage in discussion of their own reviews and those presented by the other students. Adela Collins

REL 695b, Archaeology of the Early Christian World This course introduces students to the archaeology of important sites and artifacts that inform the study of early Christianity. It studies the usefulness of these materials but also highlights how their interpretation has led in some cases to fierce scholarly debates. Close attention is paid to the advantages and limitations of archaeological methodology and the role of archaeology in the larger enterprise of studying the early Christian period. This is an advanced seminar, so the reading and preparation require careful attention. David Eastman

RLST 801a, Hebrew Bible Seminar: Problems in the Book of Isaiah A close reading of selected chapters of the Hebrew text of Isaiah in order to test recent theories of the book’s compositional history. Robert Wilson

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Area Ii: Theological Studies

The work of this area includes analysis of the development, thought, and institutional life of the Christian community in various periods and contexts, and training in the substance and forms of theological positions and argumentation.

• 1. The comprehensive purpose of the courses designated Theological Studies is to foster an understanding of the classical theological tradition of Christianity, acquaint the students with contemporary theological thought, and develop the skills necessary to engage effectively in critical analysis and constructive argument.
• 2. Christian Ethics as a discipline gives attention to the moral strand within Christian belief by offering opportunities for systematic study of foundational aspects of the moral life, formulation of constructive proposals regarding ethical issues, and rigorous thinking regarding action guidance.
• 3. Liturgical Studies is intended to foster a serious and scholarly engagement with the origins and historical evolution of inherited patterns of worship, and to prepare the students to lead the worship of contemporary Christian communities with competence and sensitivity.
• 4. The Denominational Courses are offered primarily although not exclusively for the constituencies of particular denominations. Distributional credit in Area II will be granted for only one denominational course.

Theological Studies

REL 716a, Introduction to Asian Christianity I: East Asia This course introduces students to some of the themes and key thinkers in twentieth-century theology in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. It surveys different theological movements within these countries (such as “homeland theology” and Minjung theology) and encourages the development of a critical response to the challenges that these theologies raise for both non-Asians and Asians. The course considers contextualization and inculturation debates in each of these societies, as well as regional responses to Christianity. Chloë Starr

REL 720a, History of Christian Theology to 451 An introduction to Christian theology from the close of the New Testament to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The course focuses on early Christian understandings of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, and the Church, in connection with theological method, biblical interpretation, theological anthropology, worship, spirituality, and ethics. A study of the major theologians, Church councils, and doctrinal developments of the patristic period, this course serves as a preparation for further study of early, medieval, and modern Christian theology. David Eastman

REL 721b, Medieval Theology This is a survey of some principal theological texts in the period from Augustine to the immediate pre-Reformation (approximately half of the total history of Christian thought), these falling into three broad categories: the monastic styles of biblical reading, the university styles of scholastic questioning, and the varieties of vernacular styles of theology of the late middle ages, including the visionary and poetic genres. The main figures covered include Augustine, the pseudo-Denys, Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Marguerite Porete, Meister Eckhart, Dante, Julian of Norwich, and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing. Denys Turner

REL 722b, Special Topics in Scholastic Latin: Christology This is an examination of the philosophical theology of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure as it relates to the topic of the person of Christ. Junius Johnson

REL 726a, Systematic Theology I This course explores the systematic interconnections between issues and doctrines that are central to Christian faith and life. Revelation, Creation, and God are the major topics covered during the fall term. Students first analyze the theological priorities that shape several approaches to these topics and then discuss their relative costs and benefits. Ultimately, the objective of the course is to help students formulate their own constructive theological positions. Edward Waggoner

REL 726b, Systematic Theology II Continuation of REL 726a. Christology, Christian life, ecclesiology, and eschatology are the major topics covered during the spring term. Edward Waggoner

REL 728a, Introduction to Medieval Latin This is an introduction to Latin syntax and grammar, with special emphasis on classical forms as the point of departure for later Latin syntax. The entire system of Latin grammar is covered during the term. No previous knowledge of Latin is necessary. Junius Johnson

REL 729b, Survey of Medieval Latin Literature Junius Johnson

REL 749b, Feminist/Womanist/Gendered Theologies Because God spoke to Hagar in the wilderness, and Ruth was a courageous immigrant, and Thecla was an early follower of Christ, gender is a pivotal analytic category not only for understanding the Bible and scriptural history but for beginning to formulate a robust theological understanding of today’s theopolitical issues. This course is a survey of some of the pivotal gendered stories of the Bible as well as a theological interrogation of how to understand those stories using feminist, womanist, and ethnic gendered theologies. Toward that end, each week students read both a story from the Bible as well as contemporary gendered interpretations of them. The aim of the class is not to represent all varieties of women (although the material is diverse and inclusive) but for members of the class to work together to develop the analytic, theoretical, and theological skills necessary to develop their own gendered theologies for the stories and issues about which they care the most. Melissa Matthes

REL 756b, Trinity and World The purpose of this seminar is to explore Christian doctrines of the Trinity in their global, contemporary forms. Readings and discussions in the first part of the term focus on early trinitarian questions, and on key permutations of these questions in the modern West. With this provisional framework, students analyze influential doctrines of the Trinity from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. As the class does this, students ask further questions about the task of building and critiquing constructive trinitarian theologies today. What new issues in trinitarian theology are arising in regions outside Europe and North America? In what does a Christian doctrine of the Trinity consist? What are the functions of this doctrine? What is the relation between early theological decisions about the Trinity and subsequent, inter- and transcultural iterations? Seminar participants are encouraged to hone their own analytical and evaluative decisions about the Trinity. Edward Waggoner

REL 757a, Schleiermacher The purpose of this course is to understand and evaluate the theological work of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), whose contributions to theology, hermeneutics, philosophical ethics, Plato studies, theories of the university, and religious studies continue to elicit both praise and trenchant criticism. What were the philosophical, political, and theological contexts of Schleiermacher’s thought? In what ways have his theological claims been influential? Why do his views on religion, Christianity, God, Jesus Christ, Christian community, and the Trinity remain so controversial? Course readings introduce students to Schleiermacher’s chief theological texts and to contemporary assessments of their value for feminist, postcolonial, process, and broadly Protestant theologies, as well as religious studies. Students are encouraged to develop their own analyses and evaluations of Schleiermacher’s work. Edward Waggoner

REL 760a, Music and Theology in the Sixteenth Century The Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century was a “media event.” The invention of letterpress printing, the partisanship of famous artists like Dürer and Cranach, and not least the support by many musicians and composers were responsible for the spreading of the thoughts of Reformation. But while Luther gave an important place to music, Zwingli and Calvin were much more skeptical. Music, especially sacred music, was not only a chance for Reformation, it was also a problem, because it was tightly connected with Catholic liturgical and aesthetical traditions. Reformation had to think about the place music could have in worship and about the function of music in secular life. But first of all a theological authorization had to be found, because the authorization of music by any kind of tradition was no longer possible. Markus Rathey

REL 770b, Seminar: Theology of Paul Tillich David Kelsey

Christian Ethics

REL 715a, Introduction to Christian Ethics I This course is the first of two that together are intended to establish a foundation for the academic study of Christian ethics. It investigates classical Christian conceptions of the possibility, method, and purpose of Christian ethics. Authors include Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, Adams, Barth, Butler, Yoder, Augustine, Thomas, Luther, Calvin, and Gustafson. Frederick Simmons

REL 715b, Introduction to Christian Ethics II This is the second of two courses that together are intended to establish a foundation for the academic study of Christian ethics. It explores prominent contemporary Christian approaches to society and human emancipation before examining three areas of notable creativity in current Christian ethics—virtue theory, evangelical ethics, and engagements with the modern life sciences. Authors include Rauschenbusch, Pope Leo XIII, Second Vatican Council, World Synod of Catholic Bishops, Reinhold Niebuhr, Hauerwas, Harrison, Guttierez, Cone, Cannon, Kotva, Sider, and Pope. Frederick Simmons

REL 776a, Contemporary Cosmology and Christian Ethics This seminar examines changing conceptions of the place and purpose of human beings in the cosmos, and explores what these changes may mean for Christian ethics. Beginning with nineteenth-century German appraisals of the theological significance of the Copernican revolution, the class turns to twentieth-century American Reformed thinkers’ retrievals, rejections, and revisions of Christian ethics in light of the new cosmology and biology. Students conclude by considering competing Christian ecofeminist treatments of these questions. Authors include Kant, Schleiermacher, Troeltsch, H. Richard Niebuhr, James Gustafson, Edward Farley, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Ivone Gebara, and Lisa Sideris. Frederick Simmons

REL 778b, Agape and Special Relations The course addresses a range of inquiries generated by a large question: How should we relate an understanding of the commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself as universal in scope (i.e., the “neighbor” is “anyone who bears the human countenance”) and the urgencies of special relations (the four chosen were family members, friends, co-religionists, and compatriots)? Authors read may include Anders Nygren, Kierkegaard, Outka, Edward Vacek, Julia Judish, Garth Hallett, Sondra Wheeler, Lisa Cahill, Aelred of Rievaulx, Gilbert Meilaender, David Novak, George Lindbeck, Bernd Wannenwetsch, David Little, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Charles Taylor, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Walzer, and Samuel Huntington. Gene Outka

REL 830a, Metaphors of Evil An examination of the ways in which metaphors and symbols function at the intersections of various forms of oppression that coalesce into life styles of misery to produce social patterns of domination and subordination. Students consider how conversations between Christian ethics and theology as well as other disciplines help frame possible trajectories of justice and justice making. Emilie M. Townes

Liturgical Studies

REL 782a, Foundations of Christian Worship The core course in Liturgical Studies at Yale. It focuses on theological and historical approaches to the study of Christian worship, while also giving appropriate attention to pastoral, cultural, and contemporary issues. The first part of the course seeks to familiarize students with the basic elements of communal, public prayer in the Christian tradition (such as its roots in Hebrew Scripture, its Trinitarian basis and direction, its ways of figuring time and space, its use of language, scripture, music, the arts). The second part of the course provides an outline of historical developments from the biblical roots to the present. Teresa Berger

REL 785a, Chant and Liturgy in the Latin Middle Ages This interdisciplinary course is designed for scholars, performers, and liturgists. The focus is on manuscripts from the twelfth century, and from centers of major musical, liturgical, and exegetical importance: the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris; the liturgical use of Hirsau around Mainz; the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem; and liturgical change in the region around Winchester from the early eleventh through the late twelfth century. Margot Fassler

REL 786b, Liturgy and Gender A multi-faith, multi-racial, and multi-theological seminar examining the ways in which liturgy and gender intersect, using contemporary resources. Siobhán Garrigan

REL 780b, The Churches of the East This course introduces students to the various greater and lesser churches of Eastern Christianity. It looks particularly at the Christological divisions that separated Eastern Orthodox from Syrian and Coptic Orthodox, Church of the East and Maronite, including the Christology of Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius, the Chalcedonian Definition, the Christological writings of Severus of Antioch, the monothelitic controversy, and the creedal documents of the Church of the East. It also looks at the recent Agreed Statements on Christology signed between the Roman Catholic Church and the Syrian and Coptic Orthodox Churches under the auspices of Pro Oriente, Vienna, and the relevant statements in the current dialogue between the various Syrian Churches. It considers the worship of these churches in relation to the eucharist, noting the history, family likenesses, development and theology, and any influence of Christological teaching. Bryan Spinks

REL 787a, The Evolution of the Anglican/Episcopal Prayer Books from the English Reformation to the Present The first part of the course considers the liturgical reforms in England and the traditions they gave rise to (from the Reformation to 1789). The second part focuses on the American Prayer Book from 1789 onward. The present Book of Common Prayer (1979) is compared with that of another province of the Anglican Communion. Jeffery Rowthorn

REL 788a, Worship and War How does war shape worship, and how does worship shape war? How do the things we do in and say about worship affect or inform or influence the things that we do in wars, and vice versa? Siobhán Garrigan

REL 789a, Gender and Liturgical History Does gender shape liturgy? Is gender inscribed into the liturgical tradition? How did gendered identities mark worship practices in seating arrangements, in participation in or exclusion from certain rituals, or in visual representations in sacred space? And does gender still matter in the formation of liturgical practices in the twenty-first century? These are just some of the questions this course proposes for intellectual inquiry. Fundamentally, the category “gender” is understood to attend to all gendered identities and sexualities. Gender, in other words, goes beyond binary femininity and masculinity and includes all gendered particularities (e.g., eunuchs in Byzantium or inter-sexed people in America, as well as men and women). This course investigates how the liturgical tradition was profoundly shaped by, and itself shaped and continues to shape, gendered lives and symbolic meanings associated with gendered identities. Teresa Berger

REL 796b, Christian Marriage Bryan Spinks

Denominational Courses

REL 791a, Ecclesiology, Ministry, and Polity Lectures on comparative ecclesiology, doctrines of the ministry, and patterns of church polity in Western Christianity. Sections are arranged to enable students to study the history, doctrine, worship, and polity of their own denominations: Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist. (Sections on A.M.E. Zion, Roman Catholic, and Unitarian Universalist polities are offered in alternate years.) Donald Kirkham, coordinator

REL 792, Colloquium on Ministry Formation/Anglican This yearlong colloquium series focuses on the theme of leadership formation. In the fall term, juniors examine the complex array of skills and intelligences required to develop “the pastoral imagination,” and seniors engage in a workshop on liturgical celebration (middlers do not take a colloquium in the fall). In the spring term all three classes meet together for a revolving series on the theory and practice of leadership; organizational behavior; and leading change. The colloquium is required of all Berkeley Divinity School students wishing to qualify for the Diploma in Anglican Studies. Joseph Britton

REL 793b, United Methodist History and Doctrine The topics to be covered are the origins of Methodism in England, the life, ministry, and theology of John Wesley, and the spread of Methodism in America. The purpose of this course is to study, in their historical, cultural, and theological settings, the traditions that have culminated in United Methodism. Donald Kirkham

REL 794b, Colloquium on Ministry Formation/Lutheran Edward Schroeder

REL 795b, Anglican Theology and History I: Great Britain This course examines the major developments in classical Anglican theology, church history, and ecclesiology from the sixteenth to the twentieth century in Great Britain. The aim is to make an historical study and a constructive theological assessment of Anglican tradition and identity as it emerged in the British sphere. The course assumes that students have already completed patristic and medieval theology, and church history through the Reformation (REL 700a, 700b, 720, 721 or their equivalents). It is the first of a two-part study of Anglican theology and history.

REL 798a, Anglican Theology and History II: ECUSA and the Anglican Communion This is a course focused on the theology, history, and polity of the Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States and the development of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Particular attention is paid to recent developments in the Communion and their theological implications for Anglican ecclesiology. A continuation of REL 795b, this course is designed for third-year students and is required of all Berkeley Divinity School students intending to qualify for the Anglican Studies Diploma. Joseph Britton

REL 799b, Roman Catholic Ecclesiology Paul Lakeland

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Area Iii: Historical Studies

The intent of Historical Studies is to foster and demand serious consideration by students of the essential historical substance of Christian faith and tradition. Two aspects of inquiry merge in this area of the curriculum: (1) the development of analytic capacities for the understanding of religious thought and practice in their cultural context, and (2) special studies in the cultural context itself that are deemed essential to competent ministry. Work in this area includes social and cultural analysis often focusing on issues that arise at the intersection of established disciplines. Area III thus includes subjects falling outside the domain of explicitly Christian thought.

REL 700a, Transitional Moments in Western Christian History I: Early Church to the Reformation This course introduces students to the historical study of Christianity by focusing on key moments from the emergence of the first churches to the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Themes include the formation of the canon, martyrdom, early Christian society, monasticism, the crusades, heresy, Luther’s protest, religious wars, and Catholic renewal. In lectures and sections students examine a range of written and visual materials to discern patterns and diversities of religious experience. Bruce Gordon

REL 700b, Transitional Moments in Western Christian History II: American Religious History Following REL 700a, this course charts the shift from post-Reformation Europe to the New World. Focusing on particular themes, students examine significant moments in the religious history of the United States from the eighteenth century to the present day. Themes include Jonathan Edwards, the Great Awakenings, slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction, liberal Protestantism, Fundamentalism, and the Civil Rights Movement. Tisa Wenger

REL 702b, Death and the Dead This course examines the centrality of the cult of the dead in late medieval Europe and the vehemence with which it was attacked in the Reformation. Themes considered include purgatory, intercession for the dead, attitudes toward the body and its treatment, and the formation of a Protestant death culture. Students make use of primary sources and visual material, and the course considers both beliefs and practices. Bruce Gordon

REL 703a, Methods and Sources of Religious History Bruce Gordon, Kenneth Minkema

REL 705a, Race and Religion in American History What is the relationship between race and religion in American history? How have religions, and cultural notions about religious difference, played a role in structuring conceptions of race and practices of racism? Conversely, what difference does race make for understanding the development of American religious traditions, institutions, and practices? This course identifies race as a central problem in American religious history, exploring the changing and intersecting formations of racial and religious identities throughout that history. Tisa Wenger

REL 707a, Chinese Protestant Christianity: 1800–2010 This course surveys thematically the history of Protestant Christianity in China through a series of primary and secondary readings. The first half of the course is set in the nineteenth century and examines Protestant mission in China: its history, ideologies, successes, and failures. The second half traces resultant debates from within the Chinese church in the twentieth century. Major themes covered include the Protestant emphasis on the Word of God as it encounters Chinese textual traditions; mission policy, sectarianism, and cultural clash; liberal understandings of mission as social care; the demise and resurgence of Christianity in the PRC; ideological justifications for a state church under communism: the emergence of Sino-Christian theology. Chloë Starr

REL 710b, The Rise of Christianity: East and West This course focuses on the development of Christianity across the Mediterranean basin from the time of Paul to the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 by Crusaders from Western Europe. It studies not only the important centers of Christianity but also major themes such as the sources of division between East and West, the development of the papacy, and the role of church-state relations in the Carolingian and Byzantine empires. The final meeting addresses the relevance of the East-West split for current events, including attempts at ecumenical dialogue and the political situation in the former Yugoslavia. David Eastman

REL 732a, Calvin and Calvinism This course begins with the life and thought of John Calvin considered within the historical context of the sixteenth century. Particular emphasis is placed on Calvin’s role in the wider Reformation and his interaction with allies and opponents. The course then shifts to study the phenomenon of Calvinism as it spread through Europe and, later, New England. Students should have some background in Reformation history. Bruce Gordon, Carlos Eire

REL 735a, Introduction to Post-Reformation Studies This history course is an introduction to the period of the church of ca. 1565–1750, including the Roman Catholic (Counter) Reformation and post-Protestant Reformation period. Particular focus is on the relationship of New England or early American history and its underlying post-Reformation sources. Further, students consider the role of the post-Reformation Reformed thought for the life of the church today. Adriaan Neele

REL 738b, The Life and Thought of Jonathan Edwards This reading course is designed to offer students an opportunity for intensive reading in and reflections upon some of the writings by early America’s premier philosophical theologian. The course is also meant, through secondary literature, to familiarize students with the life and times of Edwards and to encourage extensive reading and discussion about Edwards’s background, historical and intellectual contexts, and legacy. Harry Stout, Kenneth Minkema

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Area Iv: Ministerial Studies

The biblical and theological heritage of Christianity finds focus in engagement with persons and structures of the church and culture. The revelations of the Bible and theology, by their very nature, require ever-renewed lodging and expression in the ongoing life of the both the church and the world. The church and the world, by their natures, require ever-renewed rooting and direction in the Christian heritage. It is a lifetime vocation to learn to discern and guide the processes of this reciprocal engagement. Area IV aspires to find guidelines and impetus for this vocation. All courses in Area IV presuppose some personal experience with the occasions of ministry. The Part-Time Internship with Practicum explicitly provides for this experience, and for demonstrating the relation of theory and practice.

Although some Area IV courses have no prerequisites and are appropriate for entering students, students normally will wait until their second year to begin their preaching courses.

Principles of Ministry

REL 905b, Resources for the Study of Religion The course is designed to help the student develop skills to identify, select, and retrieve the information required for research in religious studies and/or the practice of ministry. The form, function, content, and organization of specific research resources in religious studies and related disciplines (with an emphasis on the Christian tradition) are explored in the broader context of the history of scholarship, publishing, and libraries. The course includes instruction in the use of educational technologies for research and presentation. Paul Stuehrenberg, Suzanne Estelle-Holmer

REL 928b, Musical Skills and Vocal Development for Parish Ministry The two-term course is designed to equip students preparing for ministry with the vocal and musical skills necessary for planning and leading Christian worship in a wide variety of liturgical traditions. Students engage practical matters in congregational song, ways in which singing forms community, and strategies for helping the members of the assembly claim their own voices in a culture that privileges performance-quality individualism over the communal musicianship of the assembly. Students learn a diversity of musical and liturgical styles, including chant, psalm-singing, Sacred Harp, and African American and global song traditions in which the role of the enlivener is essential. The course requires fieldwork in local congregations and uses the daily ecumenical worship in Marquand Chapel as a point of discussion. Patrick Evans

Counseling Ministry

REL 907a and b, Introduction to Pastoral Care This course explores introductory pastoral care and counseling issues related to normal and crisis life events. Students survey a range of theoretical and practical issues related to the care of individuals and communities as they move through these life changes. Because listening and responding are key elements in the art of pastoral care, emphasis is placed on developing skills in these areas. The integration of theological reflection, psychological and systems theories, and practical skills are emphasized throughout the course. The class pays particular attention to cultural and communal contexts and consequent strategies of care. Kristen Leslie

REL 977a, Narrative Therapy: Resources for Pastoral Care The focus of this course is the study of narrative theory and the practice of narrative therapy, a therapeutic modality that takes story as its dominant and definitional metaphor and attends to the prominence of language, discourse, and communication in human meaning making. Studying the pioneering work of Australian Michael White and New Zealander David Epston, the class learns (1) how to engage in generative conversations with people/couples/families who are caught in problem-saturated or oppressive stories; and (2) how to support them in “writing” more hopeful, liberating, and preferred accounts of their lives. Students examine narrative approaches to therapy through the lenses of narrative theology, biblical narratives, and the theological concepts of hope and liberation. The class explores the benefits of a narrative approach for (1) a variety of settings: familial, medical, and congregational; and (2) those whose stories have been marginalized, or silenced in/by the dominant culture: LGBT, the traumatized, those who are dealing with illnesses. Alice Perry

REL 989b, Pastoral Care and Counseling with Young Adults A significant developmental task for young adults, the “twenty-somethings,” is the birth of critical awareness and the dissolution and re-composition of the meaning of self, others, world, and God. This meaning-making plays out for young adults as they attend to questions about Who, With Whom, and Whose they are. Providing healing and transformative pastoral relationships with young adults requires moving beyond a definition of young adults as the transitional “not-yet” generation to an understanding of them as yearning to belong to communities and having something important to contribute. This course examines developmental, socio-cultural, and theological issues of young adulthood for the purpose of providing effective and appropriate pastoral care. Kirsten Leslie

Preaching Ministry

REL 912a, Principles and Practice of Preaching This is the required introductory course in the theology, history, and practice of preaching. It is the prerequisite for all other courses in preaching. Special attention is given to biblical exposition, the congregational context, the appropriate use of experience, the development of a homiletical imagination, and engaging all the preacher’s gifts for communication. Leonora Tisdale, Thomas Troeger

REL 961a, Prophetic Preaching Leonora Tisdale

REL 963a, Congregational Song as Resource for Preaching This course begins with an examination of some of the primary historical periods of hymn writing in the Western church that are represented in mainstream hymnals, then moves on to consider contemporary and global congregational song. Students get to design a service and create and deliver a sermon based on these perspectives. Students also learn how to write a hymn text or write a hymn setting. Patrick Evans, Thomas Troeger

REL 967b, Theologies of Preaching Thomas Troeger

REL 968, Women’s Ways of Preaching Leonora Tisdale

REL 969b, The Round Table Pulpit: Developing Services through Group Bible Study Leonora Tisdale, Thomas Troeger

Educational Ministry

REL 910a, ISM Colloquium Martin Jean

REL 921a, The Congregation as Educator This seminar engages participants in extensive study of the contexts, purposes, events, content, processes, and approaches for carrying out the congregation’s corporate and holistic vocation of Christian education. Particular attention is given to the educational vocation carried out in communal worship and public mission; seasonal and other events; church symbols, art, and architecture; and Web and other communications. Participants discuss the role of church leaders and responses to culture, class, denomination, age/stage, and gender in fulfilling these aspects of the congregation’s role as educator. Anne E. Streaty Wimberly

REL 922b, Just Hospitality: A Theology of Educational Ministry This course looks at the works of Paulo Freire and Letty Russell to gain an understanding of how one might create transformational educational ministry in church and society. Students consider basic practices of conscientization and how they might be used in ministry and the workplace. The class examines the issue of authority in feminist theology, and explores what a church in the round might look like. Together participants work to understand how to be agents of a just hospitality in a postcolonial world. Shannon Clarkson

REL 924b, Ministry and the Disinherited There is a serious and vigorous public debate about the role of religion’s influence on society’s understanding of it social responsibilities, particularly to those who are most vulnerable and in need of support. This course has as its focus the effort to discern who are the disinherited. It explores aspects of the Christian religious dimensions in social and political reform movements, the role of faith-based social services and the influence of religious values on individual behavior, and ideas about the role of government in meeting human needs, as well as the contribution of religion to the formation of social welfare policy. Frederick J. Streets

REL 927a, Practices of Story in Christian Education This course engages students in exploring, practicing, and reflecting critically on narrative pedagogical designs and approaches in Christian education. Emphasis is placed on Christian education as narrative theological practice and participatory events that involve personal, canonical, and communal heritage stories directed toward people’s wisdom formation and lived Christian faith. A range of cross-generational, cross-cultural biographical materials, and biblical tools are presented. Students are also invited into memoir-making for their own practical insight and preparation for guiding others’ uses of this approach to story. Anne E. Streaty Wimberly

REL 974b, Body and Soul: Ministry for Sexuality and Justice The course provides a solid foundation in sexuality-related issues and ministry skills for clergy and religious professionals. The course begins with an assessment of personal sexual history and values as a baseline for addressing a broad range of sexuality issues as they arise in the context of ministry including understandings of sexuality and scripture, church history, and denominational policies that serve as sources for Christian sexual ethics and teachings. The pedagogy of the course offers opportunities for the development of skills to provide sexuality-related education, counseling, preaching, and witnessing on justice issues in one’s faith community. Kate Ott

REL 980a, Travel Seminar: Interfaith Dialogue Kristen Leslie, Sharon Kugler

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Area V: Comparative and Cultural Studies

Courses in this area are grouped as follows: Comparative Studies: The exploration of non-Christian traditions with special emphasis upon comparative religious questions. Philosophy of Religion: The study of conceptual issues that bear upon method in theology and ethics, the philosophical clarification of religious concepts and categories, and the examination of philosophical worldviews that are alternatives to traditional Christian perspectives. Religion and the Arts: Studies concerning the nature of human imagination in visual, literary, and musical forms that have shaped the religious life and its cultural expression, both within and outside the Christian church. The inquiry is normally undertaken within the context of ministry. Study of Society: The employment of normative and social-scientific tools to comprehend and bring under ethical and theological scrutiny societal institutions (including religious ones) and ideational patterns.

Comparative Studies

REL 810a, Indigenous Religions and Ecology This course explores how particular indigenous peoples relate to local bioregions and biodiversity. Opening with an examination of such terms as “indigenous,” “religion,” and “ecology,” the course proceeds to investigate religious studies and ethnography related to small-scale societies and the many ways in which they relate to local bioregions and biodiversity. The course examines indigenous ethnic diversity and cultural relationships to place, and the ways that values, associated with physical places, are articulated in symbols, myths, rituals, and other embodied practices. The emphasis on place and religious ecology in this course illustrates what indigenous peoples could bring to studies in environmental culture. Finally, this course on indigenous religions and ecology necessarily involves questions of environmental justice, namely, the imposition of environmentally damaging projects on a people whose voice in decision making is diminished or totally eliminated. John Grim

REL 814a, Christian-Muslim Dialogue This is an introductory survey of Islam: its origin, history, law, theology, and religious tradition. The course explores interfaith issues in terms of convergence as well as contrast. Lamin Sanneh

REL 816b, World Christianity Lamin Sanneh

REL 817b, Religions and Ecology: Asian Religions This course examines the various ways in which religious ideas and practices have contributed to cultural attitudes and human interactions with nature in Asia. Examples are selected from Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. The course examines such topics as: symbols, images, and metaphors of nature in canonical texts, views of the divine as transcendent to the world, the indwelling of the sacred in the Earth, the ethics of using and valuing nature, ritual practices that link humans to the natural world, and cosmology as orienting humans to the world and embedding them in place. John Grim, Mary Evelyn Tucker

REL 819b, African Religions: Theological Inquiry Lamin Sanneh

Philosophy of Religion

REL 820b, The Philosophy of Religion The course examines some of the key issues in the philosophy of religion, such as the relationship between religion and morality, the problem of evil, the traditional proofs for the existence of God, the relationship between faith and reason, miracles, immortality, the relationship between religion and science, and religious pluralism. John Hare

REL 824a, Theological Aesthetics This course examines the relationship between our ideas of beauty and our ideas of God. We proceed historically, looking at philosophers and theologians who have written about this relationship, but ending with writers who are still alive. John Hare

REL 831a, Kant’s Philosophy of Religion This course examines Kant’s views about God throughout his work, but focusing on Lectures on Ethics, First Critique, Second Critique, Religion within the Bounds of Mere Reason, Third Critique, and Conflict of the Faculties. John Hare

REL 832b, Kierkegaard’s Philosophy of Religion This course examines some of Kierke­gaard’s central writings about the life of faith and the other stages of life, especially Either/Or (volumes I and II), Fear and Trembling, Philosophical Fragments, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, and Works of Love. John Hare

Religion and the Arts

REL 836b, Witnessing, Remembrance, Commemoration Memory and its expressions structure and inform many aspects of contemporary visual culture. This seminar pursues readings about memory and witnessing chosen from the works of such writers as Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, Frances Yates, Maurice Halbwachs, Michel de Certeau, and the authors of the Book of Genesis, as well as writings about commemoration by James Young and Pierre Nora, among others. Discussions apply these readings to the study of witnessing and memorializing as artistic practices, and examine visual realizations of such works, including some monuments and memorials near campus and videos in the Fortunoff archive. Student projects center on theory or on special cases of commemoration, ritual, memorial practice, and monuments, whether built, written, aural, electronic, or played out on the streets. Margaret Olin

REL 839b, Psalms in Literature and Music A study of selected psalms (e.g. 23, 130, 150) as literary and theological works that have had a long history in Jewish and Christian worship. From this beginning, students then look at these scriptural texts as inspiration for a wide variety of literary and musical compositions. Peter Hawkins, Markus Rathey

REL 842a, Creative and Dramatic Writing In Christ Is the Question Wayne Meeks writes, regarding the advent of Christianity: “It is, of course, difficult for academic historians to believe that poetry can make history—but that, I submit, is what happened.” This course asks the following two questions: Are there signs of this poetry in current dramatic writing and fiction? And where do we find this poetry in our own writing? Students read dramatic work by Anton Chekhov, Harold Pinter, Horton Foote, August Wilson, Lynn Nottage, short fiction by Alice Munro and Jhumpa Lahiri, as well as look at the films Paradise Now (Palestine), Walk On Water (Israel), and The Band’s Visit (Israel). Concurrent with this, the students work on their own dramatic scenes, monologues, plays, or stories. As the term proceeds, students present and discuss this writing. The weekly two-hour class meeting is supplemented with office-hour appointments with each individual student. Russell Davis

REL 851b, Religious Themes in Contemporary Fiction: Short Story Readings in contemporary American short fiction with a particular interest in scriptural resonance and religious (Jewish as well as Christian) significance. Authors to be considered: Flannery O’Connor, John Updike, Allegra Goodman, Tobias Wolff, Andre Dubus, John Clayton, Mary Gordon. Peter Hawkins

REL 857a, Religious Lyric in Britain Survey of the religious lyric in Britain from the Anglo-Saxon Caedmon to the contemporary poet Michael Symmons Roberts. Others include Dream of the Rood poet, Donne, Herbert, Rossetti, Hopkins, Hardy, Eliot, Larkin, R.S. Thomas. Peter Hawkins

Study of Society

REL 828b, What’s in a Text: Huntington This course provides a detailed examination of one formative text for moral discourse to explore a thinker’s ideas and how he or she states a theme, develops an argument, and is able to argue his or her case in a persuasive manner. Attention to consistency, reasoning, style, and rhetoric are also a part of the course. Finally, we consider the book in relation to the renewal of the church, its implication for ministry, and its place in enriching scholarly debate and thought. Students may repeat the course as different texts are studied. The text we consider this time is the classic by the late Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations. Emilie Townes

REL 864b, Leadership Ministry in Schools and Colleges This course seeks to help prepare students for leadership positions in schools and for college chaplaincy. It begins with an analysis of “where young people are today,” and in particular the existential/spiritual questions they are often asking, even without realizing they are asking. Then the course turns its attention to schools with some sort of religious orientation. F. Washington Jarvis

REL 875a, Seminar on Faith and Globalization Religion will slowly wither away or lodge itself quietly into the privacy of worshipers’ hearts, many leading thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries predicted. Instead, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, we find that religion has re-emerged as an important factor on the national and international scenes, in such disparate spheres as politics, business, and medicine. Moreover, the number of religious adherents is growing in the world today, both in absolute and relative terms. Religion’s influence promises therefore to continue undiminished. That influence is likely to prove ambivalent, contributing significantly to human flourishing, and yet at the same time serving as a source of extremism and violence. This course explores a set of interrelated issues about the resurgence of religion on the public scene in the context of globalization. Students examine (1) the extent and the precise nature of the resurgence of religion globally, and reasons for it; (2) cases in which religion fosters extremism and serves as an oppressive and violence-generating force; (3) cases from various spheres of life in which religion is a factor contributing to human flourishing at the communal, organizational, and global levels; and (4) ways in which and the conditions under which robust religious allegiances of people can be employed constructively in a pluralistic environment of an increasingly interconnected world. Tony Blair, Miroslav Volf

REL 877a, Religion and Feminization of Poverty The seminar reflects on the challenges of postmodernity and globalization facing women in the world in view of what Diane Pearce describes as the phenomena of “feminization of poverty.” The course addresses gender studies as an effective tool to map out and analyze alternative readings of Islam since gender seems to be the nexus of Islamic normative and legal principles and practices. Sallama Shaker

REL 881a, Religious Dimensions of the Middle East Peace Process The objective of this seminar is to engage students in critical thinking and to raise their awareness regarding many controversial issues that must be addressed in exploring the complex interactions among religion, identity, culture, and peace building in the Middle East by employing a range of analytical and methodological tools. Sallama Shaker

REL 883a, Introduction to Religion and Politics Long before President Ronald Reagan used the Book of Revelation to justify military triumphalism or Senator Barack Obama articulated a political theology of hope, there has been a complicated relationship between politics and religion. For some thinkers, religion and politics are autonomous realms, the former concerned with religious experience and the semiprivate associations of believers while the latter concerns public authority. For other thinkers, religion is a critical reflection on the political, exposing, for example, inequalities of race, class, and gender. And, for still others, religion and politics are similar activities: both are understood as products of metaphysical imaginations through which communities are organized. This introductory survey course explores thematically the various ways that the intersections, juxtapositions, and collisions of politics and religion have been negotiated, contested, and rearranged. Melissa Matthes

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Additional Courses Offered

Area I

• Character and Community in the Biblical Short Story: Jonah, Ruth, and Esther
• Feminist Interpretation: A Narratological Approach to 1 & 2 Samuel
• English Exegesis of Matthew
• English Exegesis: Amos and Hosea
• Gender, Sex, and Power in the Books of Ruth and Esther
• Corinthian Correspondence
• Hebrew Exegesis: The Book of Micah
• Hebrew Exegesis: Jeremiah
• Advanced Hebrew Poetry: Job
• Greek Exegesis of Galatians
• Greek Exegesis of Luke
• Greek Exegesis: Acts of the Apostles
• The Book of Daniel and Related Literature
• Judaism in the Persian Period
• Paul and the Spirit
• History of First-Century Palestine
• Historical Jesus
• Jesus’s Death as a Saving Event
• Apocalyptic Imagination in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• Martyrs and Martyrdom
• Crafting Early Christian Identities
• The Rise of Monotheism in Ancient Israel
• Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible
• The Sectarian Movement in the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Hebrew Bible Seminar: Problems in the Book of Deuteronomy
• New Testament Apocrypha

Area II

• The Theology of Plato and Aristotle
• History of Christian Thought 500–1600
• Augustine of Hippo
• Practicing Jesus: Christology and the Christian Life
• Christian Theology of “Other Religions”
• Theology of Athanasius
• Warrior Chants and Unquiet Spirits
• Process Theology Seminar
• God in Modern Thought
• Patristic Trinitarian Doctrine
• Lutheran Ethics in a Comparative Context
• Love and Justice
• African American Religious Strategies
• Desire and the Formation of Faith
• Theological Ethics
• Black Religion in the Public Square
• Bonhoeffer and King
• Music in Medieval Britain
• Ritual Theory and Sacramental Theology
• The Worship Mall
• Contemporary German Theology
• Environmental Theologies
• Liturgical Theology
• The Conversational Theology of Rowan Williams
• Readings in Schleiermacher
• Religious Ethics and Modern Moral Issues
• Music and Theology in the Sixteenth Century: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and the Council of Trent
• The English Reformation Liturgical Traditions and the Evolution of the Anglican Books of Common Prayer
• Praying What We Believe: Theology and Worship
• Anglican Theology and History II: ECUSA and the Anglican Communion

Area III

• Religion in American Society, 1550–1870
• History of Western Christianity, 300–1300
• History of Western Christianity, 1300–1700
• Sacred Music in the Western Christian Tradition
• Buxtehude
• Late Beethoven
• Music, Liturgy, and Historiography in Medieval England
• Pietism and the Origins of Evangelicalism
• The Life and Thought of Martin Luther
• Sin, Penance, and Forgiveness in Early Modern Europe
• Christian Spirituality in the Age of Reform

Area IV

• Church Administration
• Family Systems and Pastoral Care
• Pastoral Care with Young Adults
• Pastoral Care in Loss: Dying, Death, and Bereavement
• Pastoral Care in Small Groups
• Text, Memory, and Performance
• The New Homiletic: Innovative Methods of Proclamation
• Spirituality of Presence in the Pulpit
• Introduction to Christian Religious Education
• Creativity and the Congregation
• Prophetic Preaching
• Principles and Practice of Preaching
• Teaching the Bible in the Congregation
• Christian Education in the African American Experience
• Spirituality and Religious Education
• Youth, Culture, and Christian Education

Area V

• Gender, Religion, and Globalization: Practices, Texts, and Contexts
• Apocalyptic Religion in Cross-Cultural Perspective
• What’s In a Text?: Charles Long’s Significations
• The Political Economy of Misery
• American Indian Religions and Ecology
• African Religions: A Theological Inquiry
• Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Religion
• Ethics and the Economy
• Christian Social Ethics
• Global Ethics and Sustainable Development
• Environmental Ethics in Theory and Practice
• Covenant, Federalism, and Public Ethics
• Communicative Ethics in a Multicultural Democracy
• Spiritual Autobiography
• Elegy, Memory, and the Poetics of Grief
• Milton
• Late-Medieval English Drama
• Ritual, Hermeneutics, and Performance Art
• Modern Christian Art and Architecture
• The Afterlife: The Apocalypse in Art and Architecture
• The Art and Architecture of Conversion and Evangelism

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