Sacred Scripture

SS500 Pentateuch and Historical Literature
3 credits. This course surveys the Pentateuch and major historical books and principal themes of the Old Testament, as well as the worldview and culture of Israel within the context of the ancient Near East.

SS501 The Synoptic Gospels
3 credits. This graduate introduction focuses on the gospel texts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; their respective literary, historical and social contexts; their theological perspectives and pastoral concerns. Some attention is also given to the origin and growth of each gospel within early Christianity.

SS502 The Pauline Epistles
3 credits. This course examines the New Testament letters attributed to Paul in their historical context, with attention to both theological themes and specific key texts; the radical and transformative claims of Paul’s gospel; Paul’s spirituality, theology, and ethics; the relevance of Paul and his heirs for today’s Church.

SS503 Johannine Literature
3 credits. This course provides a literary and theological analysis of the fourth Gospel in the context of first-century Christianity.

SS530 Prophetic Literature
3 credits. The historical circumstances of the rise of Israelite prophecy and the history and theology of pre-classical and classical prophets are considered.

SS616/716 New Testament Interpretation of the Old Testament
3 credits. This course enables the student to trace many connective strands which bind the two Testaments together and to develop competence in intertextual study. Attentiveness to the foundational principle of the NT offers helpful insight into the development of apostolic preaching during the middle of the first century as well as guidance for the contemporary application of Scripture.

SS619/719 Old Testament Wisdom Literature
3 credits. This course presents a survey of the wisdom literature of the OT. Topics include: the nature of wisdom literature; its major themes; its ancient Near Eastern background; discussion of the canonical and the deutero-canonical books, as well as wisdom in other OT texts and the relevance of wisdom literature today.

SS621/721 The Catholic Epistles
3 credits. This course, largely in seminar format, treats the “Catholic” epistles and the Apocalypse, with emphasis on literary genre and the theology of each writing. The study of Revelation will include the history of its interpretation, as well as contemporary approaches at the dawn of the third millennium.

SS639/739 New Testament Moral Theology
3 credits. For description see MS639.

SS648/748 The Passion and Resurrection Narratives
3 credits. This course presents a detailed study of the accounts from the Last Supper through the Resurrection in all four Gospels.

SS691/791 Psalms of Ancient Israel
3 credits. This course surveys the following topics: editing and structure of the psalter; poetry in general; fundamental aspects of Hebrew poetry; appreciating poetic artistry in the psalms; types of psalms; theological themes and concepts; images and titles of God; modern translations of the psalms; praying the psalms today.

Seminars (3 credits per seminar)

SS825 Paul: Pastoral Context and Theological Reflection
Paul’s letters were responses to pastoral problems in his diverse communities. The course will first indicate the fundamental perspectives that influence Paul’s theology and then discuss his responses to specific problems, mainly as they emerge in the Corinthian Correspondence.

SS832 Deutero-Isaiah
The course is a seminar on Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) which examines the Deutero-Isaiah work, its theology, and its relationship to the larger Isaian corpus.

SS834 Romans as Christian Theology
This course will explore the theological argument and claims of Paul's letter to the Romans as an example of first-century Christian theology, with special attention to Paul's anthropology, theology, christology, soteriology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, and view of Israel. Considers these theological resources in certain recent Catholic, ecumenical, and interfaith documents such as Gaudium et Spes, Nostra Aetate, and the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

SS835 Revelation and Its Interpreters
An analysis of the book of Revelation in its historical context, an exploration of the ways in which it has been interpreted in church and culture throughout the centuries (with special emphasis on contemporary fundamentalism), and a consideration of its message for our own day.

SS852 Johannine Theology
After reviewing questions on the nature, setting, major themes, and relation to the Synoptic Gospels, the course focuses on a study of select passages in John’s works in dialogue with the commentaries of Raymond E. Brown and Francis Maloney, along with select other commentaries.

Historical Studies

HS500 Ancient and Medieval Christianity
3 credits. This course is a survey of the major themes of Christianity from apostolic times until the Renaissance, stressing the changing forms of the relationship between the Church and the world.

HS501 Modern and Contemporary Catholicism
3 credits. This course is a survey of the major themes of the Catholic Church from the 16th Century until today. Special emphasis will be made of the ecumenical dimensions of the break-up of Christendom, the world-spread of Catholicism, the relationship of Catholicism to aspects of the modern world, and cultural and spiritual trends of the period.

HS570 American Catholicism
3 credits. This course will provide an introduction to the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. The material covered in this course will attempt to provide a framework for understanding the development of the Catholic Church in this country from the colonial period through the present.

Moral - Spirituality Studies

MS500 Foundations of Moral Theology
3 credits. This course considers basic moral themes such as sin, conversion, moral development, Scripture and ethics, fidelity to the magisterium, natural law, conscience, discernment, character and vocation. It sets a foundation for personal and social ethics. Study of Veritatis Splendor is a key course component.

MS501 Catholic Social Ethics
3 credits. Exploring biblical, theological, and ethical perspectives on Catholic social teaching, this course surveys the historical development of Church teaching on social, political, and economic questions, focusing on Papal teachings from Rerum Novarum to the present. It includes treatments of the U.S. Bishops' pastoral letters on war and peace and the economy, and relates questions in social ethics to the parish, to Church governance and structure, and to current trends in ecumenical dialogue.

MS505 Marriage, Human Sexuality and Celibacy
3 credits. This course offers a general introduction to the Catholic theology of marriage, to the moral dimensions of human sexuality, and to the vocation of priestly celibacy. The biblical, philosophical, and doctrinal foundations are presented for each topic as the basis for theological reflection. Contemporary social, cultural, and ethical questions about marriage, sexuality, and celibacy are discussed and analyzed.

MS506 Spirituality and Practice
3 credits. This course introduces the basic concepts, practices, and classics of Christian spirituality in the Roman Catholic tradition. The course deals with the history and types of Christian spirituality, the mystery of God and prayer, the nature of religious experience, and the spirituality of priesthood.

MS508 The Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing
2 credits. This course is an interdisciplinary workshop on the sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing, examining these two sacraments from the points of view of history, theology, pastoral practice, liturgical celebration, canonical requirements, etc.

MS571 Medical Ethics
3 credits. This course surveys current methodologies in medical ethics, the main traditional principles used in Catholic teaching on health care, and discusses concrete issues such as abortion, physician-assisted suicide, sterilization, in vitro fertilization, cloning, and HIV/AIDS.

MS639/739 New Testament Moral Theology
3 credits. An exploration of the origins, content, and contemporary significance of the moral visions and teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers — their notions of discipleship. Most of the course will be conducted as a seminar-type analysis of Scripture texts and the course texts.

MS653 Introduction to Patristics
3 credits. For description see SL653.

MS660/760 The Relevance of St. Thomas Aquinas for Catholic Moral Theology
3 credits. This course studies the moral thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and then discusses its influence on the history of Catholic moral theology and Church teaching. It culminates by explaining how the latest revival of interest in Thomistic ethics bears on recent debates in moral theology and philosophy.

MS673/773. Professional Ethics for the Priest
3 credits. The practice of parish ministry thrusts upon the priest a number of concrete moral dilemmas, many of which have legal implications. This elective explores those principles of professional ethics that can be used to resolve them.

Seminars (3 credits per seminar)

MS803 The Meaning of Love and the Moral Life
This course examines biblical, spiritual, theological, and ethical perspectives of the concept of love in the Christian tradition, with an emphasis on recent developments in Catholic theological ethics. Various meanings of love in contemporary experience, story, and drama will also be discussed.

MS806 Ethics and the Arts
This course explores the relation of narrative forms of the arts and the Christian moral life. The course will provide the future pastoral minister with resources for preaching and teaching, as well as aiding in personal moral growth.

MS820 The Moral Theology of Karl Rahner
Though perhaps less well known than some of his other writings, Rahner’s moral theology is highly significant, especially for its impact on modern fundamental moral theology.

MS830 American Catholic Social Thought and Activism
This course will examine individuals, group and issues that have shaped the history of American Catholic involvement in social action to the present time, i.e. John Ryan, Charles Coughlin, The Central Verein, the Catholic Worker, immigration, and Church-State relations.

MS834 Virtue and Discipleship
This course explores the meaning of Christian discipleship for the moral life and examines biblical, theological, and ethical perspectives of discipleship, the virtues required of disciples, and pastoral implications of following Jesus in this time and place. The course will engage students in practical application of the virtues for priestly ministry.

MS835 Readings in the History of Moral Theology
This course will study certain historical figures who, sometimes in the midst of controversy, approached moral issues in ways that became widely accepted, if not normative, in the tradition. Some examples would be St. Paul on homosexuality, St. Augustine on just war, Las Casas on slavery, St. Alphonsus on the doubtful conscience, and John Courtney Murray on religious freedom.

MS836 Readings in Contemporary Moral Theology
This course will be a reading seminar focused on several of the major modern writers in Catholic moral theology. The authors to be read will include figures such as Bernard Häring, Josef Fuchs and Richard McCormick.

MS840 Moral Theology in the Writings of Pope John Paul II
This seminar will examine key encyclicals and pastoral statements of Pope John Paul II on various aspects of moral theology, i.e. themes in fundamental moral theology, sexuality, marriage and family, social ethics. It will also explore some of the Pope’s poetry as well as biographical and autobiographical material.

Pastoral Studies

PS503 Survey of Canon Law
3 credits. This course provides a general introduction to the Code of Canon Law as it relates to pastoral ministry, including the notion of law in general and in Church usage; the source of the governing power in the Church and its nature; the rights and obligations of the Christian Faithful in the Church; distinctions between laypersons and clerics and their respective roles in the life and governance of the Church.

PS504 Canon Law of Marriage
3 credits. This course will address theological, historical, canonical, and pastoral aspects of the sacraments with specific focus on Matrimony: preparation for marriage, impediments, elements of and defects in matrimonial consent, indissolubility, canonical form, mixed-religion marriages, convalidation, and grounds and procedures involved in seeking to have a marriage declared null.

PS507 Pastoral Catechetics
3 credits. This course is designed to enhance and promote an appreciation for catechetics in the Church with particular emphasis on the role of the priest in understanding, guiding, and participating in parish catechetical programs.

PS511 Preaching I: Basic Skills for Effective Preaching
3 credits. Preaching I helps the student develop the basic expressive and communicative gifts needed for effective preaching, including the use of Scripture, poetry, culture, and art to stimulate faith and imagination. Special emphasis is placed on cultivating the student’s poetic and rhetorical abilities in oral communication and written composition as well as learning how to use prayer, meditation, and biblical exegesis for preaching in parish situations.

PS512 Preaching II: Preaching from the Lectionary
3 credits. Preaching II helps to develop more advanced homiletic abilities necessary for pastoral ministry as a priest, including the use of the lectionary readings for preaching major liturgical seasons and feasts, the skills for preparing and delivering daily and Sunday parish homilies, homilies for seasonal liturgical preaching and on select pastoral and doctrinal issues such as homilies for children, for weddings and funerals, and for challenging or controversial topics.

PS516 Introduction to Pastoral Theology
3 credits. This course provides the doctrinal, theological and psychological foundations for pastoral care and counseling in the parochial setting. Students engage in parish-based ministries to the sick and suffering.

PS517 Becoming Pastor: Theological, Psychological, and Organizational Dynamics
3 credits. This course explores the theological, psychological and organizational dynamics of the role of a pastor in Catholic parishes today. Students engage in parish-based ministries of evangelization and catechesis.

PS518 Pastoral Administration
3 credits. This course is an interdisciplinary practical introduction to the administration of contemporary parishes, including methods and practice in pastoral diagnostics, administering personnel and financial resources, time and stress management, and pastoral planning.

PS520 Pastoral Ministry in an Ecumenical and Interfaith Context
3 credits. An introduction to the theological foundations of ecumenism and interfaith relations, various expressions of Christian and Jewish traditions, ecumenical dialogues and theological issues, and practical ecumenism, this course is designed to prepare future clergy for informed and sensitive interaction with faith communities (both their clergy and their lay people) from other traditions.

PS526 Pastoral Theology II
3 credits. This course focuses on the pastoral care of the sick and suffering, hurting children and families, and the elderly. Students serve in parish-based ministries to the sick and suffering.

PS527 Pastor and Teacher
3 credits. This course provides a comprehensive look at the organizational and pastoral dynamics of presbyters assuming the role of teacher in the parish and in society. Focus will be on the diverse parochial settings and emerging pluricultural environment in which the teaching of the faith occurs.

PS528 Pastoral Leadership
3 credits. This course is a theological, organizational, and methodological exploration of pastoral leadership. Focus will be on skills for managing change, solving pastoral problems and making organizational decisions, as well as building effective teams, motivating volunteers and transforming church conflicts, especially in multicultural and merged parish settings.

PS628 Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
3 credits. This course trains students in the processes involved in planning for and executing the Catechumenate at the parish level. To achieve this, students will analyze Christian Initiation; its underlying and concomitant theological and pastoral issues; its necessary ministries; strategies of implementing the Rites themselves; and evaluating the entire process.

PS641 Pastoral Issues in Liturgical Music
3 credits. This course focuses on pastoral-music issues encountered in the parish environment, and the development of the basic skills in, and appreciation of, the music and collaborative roles necessary to lead the assembly in worship.

PS673 Professional Ethics for the Priest
3 credits. See description for MS673.

Systematics-Liturgical Studies

SL500 Fundamental Theology
3 credits. This course treats foundational issues in systematic theology – the nature and method of theology, divine revelation, the modern situation of faith and reason, and the concept of faith, dogma and teaching authority.

SL501 Christology-Soteriology
3 credits. This course is a study of the person and work of Jesus Christ in the light of biblical, patristic, conciliar, medieval, modern, and contemporary systematic reflection.

SL502 Theology of the Church
3 credits. This course studies the nature, mission, and ministry of the Church, its essential characteristics, and structures, and the relationship between the Church and the world as these themes are developed in the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

SL503 Theological Anthropology
3 credits. This course examines the Christian understanding of the human person before God. It reflects upon the doctrines of creation, sin, grace, and eschatology.

SL505 Theology of the Eucharist
4 credits for ordination candidates, including 1 credit practicum; otherwise 3 credits. This course examines the biblical origins of the Eucharist, treats the development of eucharistic theology from an historical perspective, reviews the Roman rite historically, with close study of the current rite since Vatican II, and studies the structure of the eucharistic prayer and its theological underpinnings.

SL506 Sacraments in General: Baptism and Confirmation
3 credits. This course provides an overview of the anthropological, biblical, and theological foundations, as well as the contemporary pastoral experience of the celebration of the Christian sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Issues including symbolic content, divine institution, causality, and validity will be reviewed from both an historical and systematic perspective.

SL507 Doctrine of God
3 credits. This course is a theological examination of the classic Christian doctrine of God in light of contemporary discussions of salvation, creation, ecclesiology, Eastern theology, theologies of liberation, feminism, and language about God.

SL510 Liturgical Theology
3 credits. This course considers the development of Christian worship from its Jewish matrix through the liturgical tradition of the Church as it developed in the different periods to its present practice. Contemporary ecclesial documents, including General Instructions on the Roman Missal 2000, Liturgiam authenticam, and Inculturation and the Roman Liturgy will be examined.

SL519 Theology of Ministry and Ordained Priesthood
3 credits. This course examines key biblical, historical, theological, and pastoral perspectives on the nature and meaning of ecclesial ministry (both lay and ordained) in the Roman Catholic tradition.

SL641 Pastoral Issues in Liturgical Music
3 credits. See description for PS641.

SL652/752 Contemporary Issues in Ecclesiology
3 credits. This course examines major issues involved in ecclesiological reflection after Vatican II.

SL653 Introduction to Patristics
3 credits. A survey of the life and works of selected Church Fathers from the second to approximately the sixth century, with attention to the development of the canon, ethics, theology, spirituality, and liturgy.

SL665/765 Theology of Mary
3 credits. This course explores the anthropological, biblical, doctrinal, and systematic approaches to a theology of Mary.

Seminars (3 credits per seminar)

SL823 Theology of the Word
This seminar deals with the thematic idea of the “Word” to express and connect such fundamental Christian ideas as divine revelation, scripture, Christology, liturgy and sacraments. This seminar explores these dimensions with their special implications for priesthood and ministry.

SL826 Christological Passages
This course examines the 27 New Testament documents which the Apostle Paul and others produced as early Christian "confessions" or proclamations of faith in Jesus of Nazareth in the form of simple statements, traditional creedal formulas and more developed liturgical hymns. By concentrating on these earliest examples of Christological theology, this course benefits students of Sacred Scripture and Christology.

SL852 Contemporary Ecclesiology
This course examines major contemporary issues involved in ecclesiology and studies these issues in light of and in relation to principal pre-conciliar, conciliar and post-conciliar texts.

SL858 John Henry Newman: Selected Writings
This course will examine and evaluate the manner in which Newman addressed several themes that fall under the purview of Systematic Theology. Special attention will be directed toward how he treated the issues of religious assent and doctrinal development.

SL866 Contemporary Christologies
This course explores various christologies of the late twentieth century, including the christologies of Bultmann, Gogarten Tillich; Rahner, Schillebeeckx de Chardin Sobrino, Boff; Moltmann and Pannenberg.

Pre-Theology

ENGL101 Composition
3 credits. This course is designed to help students understand the writing process and supply them with all of the components that they need to research and write a good paper.

ENGL305 English Grammar and Writing I, II
6 credits. English Grammar and Writing is a two-semester course that develops the English skills necessary for non-native English speakers to succeed in writing in the content areas of the academic curriculum, including reading, writing, and grammar study on a college level with emphasis on paragraph writing in context and grammar.

ENGL306 American English Pronunciation
3 credits. This course will enable the student to monitor his own speech and to develop practice routines directed specifically toward the features of English pronunciation with which the student has difficulty.

HIST201 Foundations of Christianity
3 credits. This course is an overview of political, social and economic forces which accompanied the foundation and spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire and the East.

HUMS201 The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in Literature and the Arts
3 credits. This course is an introduction to the Western ethos as articulated in various forms of art, music, literature, theater and architecture, and the interaction of these in the formation of culture.

IDS204 Christianity and Culture: American History, Politics, and Religion
3 credits. This course will consider the central role of the Christian tradition in the development of American thought and culture through a study of classic and contemporary texts. The course will focus on the special challenges and opportunities that modernity and postmodernity brings to the Church in the United States.

IDS205 Media, Rhetoric and Communication
3 credits. This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the communication process. Using traditional (i.e. St. Augustine) and contemporary insights, it will specifically address the process and effects of mass communication including the social effects of media, media violence, politics and media, and children and media.

PHIL101 An Introduction to Philosophical Argumentation
3 credits. This is an introductory course in logic and critical thinking as practiced by Western philosophers since the time of Aristotle, including the nature and uses of formal arguments or syllogisms; truth, validity, and soundness; the distinction between deduction and induction; and the nature and misuses of informal fallacies.

PHIL203 Philosophical Anthropology
3 credits. A philosophical exploration of the meaning of being human, this course examines various philosophical theories of being human, and questions of identity, consciousness, inquiry, death, the interpersonal, and the transcendent as conditions of being human.

PHIL204 Metaphysics
3 credits. This course is an introduction to the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas. Issues discussed include: substance and accident, possibility and necessity, wholeness and intelligibility, cause and effect. Thomas' proofs for the existence of God are also addressed.

PHIL205 Philosophical Ethics
3 credits. This inquiry into the nature of moral good and the structure of moral decision making develops criteria for making choices that promote the good of human persons and communities in view of their finality. The course provides the philosophical foundations for the study of moral theology.

PHIL301 History of Philosophy I – Ancient and Medieval
3 credits. An introduction to major figures in Western philosophical thought from the classical period to the beginning of the Enlightenment including Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Descartes. The major metaphysical and epistemological themes of Western philosophy are emphasized.

PHIL302 History of Philosophy II - Modern
3 credits. A continuation of Philosophy 301, this course addresses major philosophical thinkers from the Enlightenment to the present. It focuses on the thought of Hume, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and contemporary analytic philosophy; epistemological and metaphysical themes in the history of philosophy are emphasized.

PHIL305 Epistemological Issues in Theology
3 credits. An exploration of the epistemological themes which underlie contemporary theological positions, hermeneutics, historicism, phenomenalism, and other approaches to philosophical reflection that have had an impact of the current state of the question.

PHIL306 Contemporary Issues in Philosophy
3 credits. A seminar organized around a critical survey of American philosophy, the course investigates the major themes and arguments in Puritan thought, the American Enlightenment, Transcendentalism, and the pragmatism of Pierce, James, Dewey, and Royce, as well as more contemporary issues.

PHIL307 Philosophy of Nature
3 credits. This course will offer a consideration of natural philosophy, the science that examines nature as such. This course will identify the subject matter and scope of this science and then move to a consideration of the principles, causes, and elements of natural reality. Topics that will be treated include the phenomena of change, the constitution of material beings, the relationship within living things between soul and body, and finally the structure of time.

PHIL308 Philosophy of God
3 credits. This course will address the specific character and task of a philosophy of God by examining its relationship to both mythology and theology. In addition, the arguments for the existence of God and approaches to other religious phenomena will be examined from a variety of philosophical points of view.

RLST202 Introduction to Scripture
3 credits. This course is an introduction to the growth and content of the Bible, contemporary Roman Catholic theological perspectives on the study of Scripture, and various biblical research tools.

RLST203/204 Introduction to Catholic Catechism I, II
6 credits. These courses introduce principal elements of the Catholic theological tradition contained in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Parts I and III.

RLST206 Introduction to the Spiritual Traditions of the Church
3 credits. An introduction to Christian prayer and spirituality according to accepted Catholic traditions of prayer, spirituality, and piety.

Languages

BL201/202 Ecclesiastical Latin I and II
SPAN201/202 Pastoral Spanish I and II