This course offers the students an opportunity to examine the diaconate by examining its biblical, patristic and canonical roots, its decline and ultimate renewal authorized by the Second Vatican Council. The emergence of contemporary theologies of the diaconate will also be explored, based on a spirituality of the diaconate which is grounded in the deacon’s…
As a deacon (or a person in Church ministry), you will be asked to help parishioners grapple with emotionally charged medical issues. This course will present fundamental Church principles relating to ethics and medical ethics that will assist you in these discussions. Course Focus This course studies the theology of the human body, personhood, and…
Catholic Social Teaching (CST) may well be the Church’s “best kept secret.” CST is rich in political insight. Yet, Catholics in recent years have had considerable difficulty reconciling their faith, including the explicit teachings of CST, with the political choices offered in American politics. This course introduces Catholic Social Teaching, its place within Catholic doctrine,…
An introduction to Catholic moral teaching including natural law; character, virtue, acts and object of acts; scriptural basis for moral teaching; an introduction to Veritatis splendor and Magisterial teaching.
The course is designed to cover the growth of the Church in the United States from its origins to the Second Vatican Council. Beginning with its earliest migrations and explorations, and continuing with its colonization by the Spanish and French Empires, the course continues with a study of the growth of Catholicism in the English…
The early Church Fathers addressed fundamental questions about the Church in their writings. Included are texts on Christology, the Trinity, the sacraments and other topics. Writings from the Eastern and Western Fathers will be read so as to understand better how the Church currently “breathes with both lungs.”
This survey course in the history of the Church investigates theological, political, and social developments from the apostolic age through the Second Vatican Council. This range of topics in the course is organized according to the ‘six ages’ of the Church as divided by the historian Christopher Dawson. “A Survey of the History of the…
This course will examine the modern Catechism of the Catholic Church (hereafter CCC). Its focus will be on the content of the doctrines the church teaches and the style through which it teaches them. It is divided into four major sections, each corresponding to the four major sections of the CCC. The first of these…
Belief in the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is the essence of Christian belief. At holy Mass we profess the Triune God using a formulation—a Credo—dating back to the fourth century, the product of scriptural interpretation, proclamation of the Word, liturgical practice, fierce debate, and ultimately, two ecumenical councils. So carefully was the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed…
This course provides an introduction to the history, theology, and praxis of the Liturgy of the Catholic Church, and explores the function of the Liturgy as an integral component of the Christian mission. Using theological and legislative documents of the Church’s Magisterium, as well as relevant secondary and scholarly materials, the course will explore fundamental…