I've thought more and more about studying theology next year. I feel like having a solid foundation in theology, philosophy, and Christian ethics would be a great stepping stone for other things, like social work or international development, etc. I know I went to a Christian undergrad, but Gordon did more to turn me off to the study of theology than excite me about it. Sad to say, but true.
Yes, yes, a change of plans. Melissa has been trying to convince me for some time that I would really enjoy the Divinity School at Duke, but I persisted. I mean, I have to individuate sometime...can I really continue to follow my sister everywhere? Anyway, not exactly the best reason to avoid Duke as a potential grad school, that's for sure. When I actually sat down and looked at the course listings, I got really excited. And an MTS (Masters of Theological Study) provides a lot of freedom within the curriculum. Only a few Bible core, some church history, but otherwise...it's electives galore. And, there are some pretty sweet concentrations: Ethics, Black Church studies, and the Global Church all look especially interesting.
This link pretty much says it all. Duke Divinity even does a pilgrimage to Uganda and Rwanda each summer! https://exchange.gordon.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.divinity.duke.edu/programs/bcs/gatherings/summer2006.pdf
I've listed some courses and their descriptions below, the ones the specifically peaked my interest.
Biblical Studies
145. To Work and Watch: Toward a Biblical Ecology/Theology of Land. The aims of this course are to: 1. Explore ancient Israel’s theological understandings of land tenure and use, and further, to explore how land is a crucial element in the relations between humanity and the other creatures, on the one hand, humanity and God, on the other. 2. To engage in a serious rereading of the biblical text in light of the contemporary ecological crisis. 3. To identify ideologies of land tenure and usage that are operative in contemporary societies, including our own, and to examine them critically in light of the biblical text and the present crisis.270. Paul’s "Mother Tongue:" Interpreting and Approaching Paul’s Parental Metaphors. This course aims at recovering Paul’s "mother tongue" through a close reading of his parental metaphors, with particular attention to his use of maternal imagery. The course attends to the background of that imagery in prophetic and apocalyptic literature, as well as appropriations in the early church. The course will include readings in metaphor theory, exegesis of selected texts, and reflection on both destructive and constructive ways that parental metaphors function in the church today.
Christian Theology
210. Theology, Justice and the Intellectual Life. Can theology intervene in the world to diagnose its injustices and to chart intellectual paths toward remedying them – or is it an impediment to justice? The course probes this question by examining the intellectual life first in its classical, theological framework, where justice and the intellectual life were unified in a singular theological project, and then in its more recent guise, which assumes that only a "de-theologized" intellectual life can adequately diagnose what ails the world. The course considers the works of Arendt, Heidegger, Foucault, and W.E.B. Du Bois.
265. The Significance of Memory. Theological and Ecclesial Perspectives. Explores memory as a communal performance that has implications for how we understand life in the world. Through examining the church as a community of memory, it narrates how Christians remember the past and the importance of liturgical memory for understanding the present and future. The course highlights how Christians and social groups can remember truthfully in life-affirming rather than life-denying ways by suggesting how liturgical remembering might shape how we remember the wrongs inflicted and suffered in daily life.
Ethics
205. War in the Christian Tradition. An analysis of how Christians have understood and evaluated war. Particular attention to the question of whether war should not be regarded as a positive moral good. Works by Augustine, Aquinas, Bainton, Ramsey, Childress, Niebuhr, and Johnson will be considered.
251. Goodness and Personhood. Concepts of "the good" are inextricably linked to the way in which personhood is understood. This seminar treats texts both ancient and recent that address such issues as the relationship between the finitude of human life and its meaningfulness, the metaphors of the "inner" life and "centeredness," the differences and affinities between reason and desire, and the significance of the notions of presence and transcendence. Authors include the writers of the Song of Songs and Job, Plato, Augustine of Hippo, Iris Murdoch, and Martha Nussbaum
296. Community, Faith, and Violence. This seminar explores attempts to formulate fundamentally theological modes of social and political criticism with the focus on the role of faith and violence in secular society. Readings include works by theologians, social critics, and political theorists.
296. Community, Faith, and Violence. This seminar explores attempts to formulate fundamentally theological modes of social and political criticism with the focus on the role of faith and violence in secular society. Readings include works by theologians, social critics, and political theorists.
Black Church Studies
128. The Life and Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. An examination of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., his theology, and his continuing influence on the church’s ministry.
230. Theology and the Black Activist Tradition. At the methodological center of the tradition of black radicalism is a certain understanding of the (black) intellectual and his or her task. This course examines this center from the vantage of religion and theology. It will do so by considering this tradition’s formation, on the one hand, and the meaning of the intellectual, who is a central figure in it, on the other. In this sense, the course seeks religiously and theologically to intervene into the question of the so-called crisis of the black intellectual with a view to showing it to be, in many respects, a "crisis of intellectuality" (academic, ministerial, and otherwise) as such. Central to our inquiry will be the religious meaning of the figure of W. E. B. Du Bois.
260. Suffering, Evil, and Redemption in Black Theology. Explores the black Christian Tradition with respect to the problem of suffering and evil in black life. Against the backdrop of evil in church history, the course provides a historic overview of perspectives on suffering and redemption articulated by African American Christians such as Maria Stewart and Martin Luther King Jr.
230. Theology and the Black Activist Tradition. At the methodological center of the tradition of black radicalism is a certain understanding of the (black) intellectual and his or her task. This course examines this center from the vantage of religion and theology. It will do so by considering this tradition’s formation, on the one hand, and the meaning of the intellectual, who is a central figure in it, on the other. In this sense, the course seeks religiously and theologically to intervene into the question of the so-called crisis of the black intellectual with a view to showing it to be, in many respects, a "crisis of intellectuality" (academic, ministerial, and otherwise) as such. Central to our inquiry will be the religious meaning of the figure of W. E. B. Du Bois.
260. Suffering, Evil, and Redemption in Black Theology. Explores the black Christian Tradition with respect to the problem of suffering and evil in black life. Against the backdrop of evil in church history, the course provides a historic overview of perspectives on suffering and redemption articulated by African American Christians such as Maria Stewart and Martin Luther King Jr.
World Christianity
200. The Faces of Jesus in Africa. The course will seek to explore and highlight the assumptions underlying the various constructions of ‘the Faces of Jesus’ within African theology. In particular, the social, historical and theological factors surrounding African Enculturation, Liberation and Feminist Christologies respectively will be examined. The goal of the course will be to lead students to a better appreciation of the complexity of African culture in general, of the challenges facing African Christians today in particular.
211. Healing in the Developing World and Care of the Underserved: Medical and Theological Considerations. The course pays particular attention to issues of religion, especially the ways in which an appreciation of religious and theological issues can be helpful in developing a noncolonial perspective when providing care in a developing country or with the underserved in the USA. The development of health ministries crossculturally will be a theme throughout the course.
240. Postcolonial Identities and Theologies in Africa. This course will provide an overview of the current trends in African theological philosophical thought, especially those relating to or built around the notion of (post)-colonial identity.
245. The Rwanda Genocide and the Challenge for the Church. The course explores the events and ‘reasons’ surrounding the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, from both a historical and theological perspective. The current ‘explanations’ for the genocide are critically analyzed and discussed with a view of raising wider issues relating to African history, memory and violence on the one hand, the church’s social role in Africa on the other.
240. Postcolonial Identities and Theologies in Africa. This course will provide an overview of the current trends in African theological philosophical thought, especially those relating to or built around the notion of (post)-colonial identity.
245. The Rwanda Genocide and the Challenge for the Church. The course explores the events and ‘reasons’ surrounding the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, from both a historical and theological perspective. The current ‘explanations’ for the genocide are critically analyzed and discussed with a view of raising wider issues relating to African history, memory and violence on the one hand, the church’s social role in Africa on the other.
255. Journeys of Reconciliation. This course not only seeks to highlight why reconciliation matters for Christians (it is at the heart of the Gospel), but also displays how and in what ways it matters by exploring the key convictions that sustain a Christian understanding and practice of reconciliation. The course approaches reconciliation as a journey – a set of journeys – through which the Christian is invited to become part of God’s new creation.
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