Friday, June 09, 2006
Module Choices for next year
I've been away for a couple of days (home mostly - no broadband, making it almost monastic), and haven't posted for ages, so I have something of a trinouncement. It's the time of year when First and Second year students choose the modules that they're going to take in the next academic year. As I'm planning on switching my degree from Theology and Anthropology to neat Theology, I have to take the three first year 'core modules' that I didn't do this year, next year. But as well as 'Faith and Doubt in Victorian Britain', 'Hebrew Bible' and 'Gospel Traditions', I've got to go for the big main modules that will form the meat in the meal that is a Theology degree. The three essential modules are:
Studying Church History with Nigel Yates and others
The purpose of this module is to explore the reasons for studying the history of the Christian Church and what such study tells us about both the development of Christian belief and the role that the Christian Churches have played in the societies of which they have been a part. The module will look at the core themes within Christian history from New Testament times to the present day and will also investigate the raw materials that church historians and historical theologians use in order to write the history of the Christian Church: from sacred texts to sociological statistics, from local archives to church buildings and their artifacts. There will be visits to archaeological sites, libraries and museums in addition to more formal lectures and seminars involving all the church history staff in the department. Assessment will be by a series of word-limited tasks such as book reviews and textual analysis.
Gospel of John with Paul Middleton
Why was the fourth gospel written? What was the author trying to achieve? What kind of community was he addressing? Why is John's gospel so different from the others? Working through the English text of the fourth gospel, this module aims to explore key exegetical, interpretative, and theological issues in the Gospel of John. Students will investigate the nature and purpose of the gospel; explore questions of dating, authorship, and setting; interact critically with the text and with scholarly opinion; and examine the message of the gospel described by Gregory the Great as a pool in which children may paddle but elephants can swim. Students who wish may elect to study selected passages in Greek.
Trinity and the Church with Simon Oliver
How does the Christian confession that God is Trinitarian love form the Christian community known as the Church? What does it mean to say that the Church is the Body of Christ? Does this have implications in the areas of ethics, politics and justice? What is the nature of the Church's mission? How should the Church, which professes that God is an eternal exchange of love, identify itself in relation to political and secular culture? These are some of the questions which will be addressed in this core Level Two module. The central concern will be the interface between the Christian doctrine of God and the way in which the Christian life is lived in the body or community known as the Church.
As well as these fine things, I've got a spare 60 credits to spend on three more modules. Two easy choices are Orthodox Theology with Andreas Andreopoulos (a new chap - it's all very exciting!) and Christian Worship and Church Buildings with Nigel Yates (it promises to be a big Church-crawl), but I'm stuck between choosing Luke - Acts with Kathy Ehrensperger which intends "to introduce students to the Gospel of Luke and its sequel, the Book of Acts. Together these constitute roughly a quarter of the entire New Testament, providing a unique view of the life of Jesus and the only surviving narrative of the early movement of Christ-believers. The course will consist in a number of introductory lectures covering questions concerning the origin and content of the Gospel and the Book of Acts, giving particular attention to selected key themes. Characteristic ideas and theological emphases, such as the role of Israel, or the role of women, will be considered also in the detailed study of particular portions of Luke-Acts. Attention will be given to the Greek text where relevant, but no knowledge of Greek will be assumed.", and Ritual and Piety in the Middle Ages with my Academic Advisor Sarah Boss (who really knows her stuff), which asks "How did Christians, Muslims and Jews live together in thirteenth-century Europe? How much of a fifteenth-century liturgy would be recognisable today? This course will consider liturgy, poetry, art, music, magic, and 'folk' customs, and will lead the student into the lavish sacred imagination of seven hundred years ago.". I may well just sit in on the latter, as well as the 'European Ethnology' in Anthropology that I'd like to go to. Dear reader, you will know later on, as I'm heading over to the department later on today.
Adieu!
Technorati Tags: Theology, Lampeter, University
Studying Church History with Nigel Yates and others
The purpose of this module is to explore the reasons for studying the history of the Christian Church and what such study tells us about both the development of Christian belief and the role that the Christian Churches have played in the societies of which they have been a part. The module will look at the core themes within Christian history from New Testament times to the present day and will also investigate the raw materials that church historians and historical theologians use in order to write the history of the Christian Church: from sacred texts to sociological statistics, from local archives to church buildings and their artifacts. There will be visits to archaeological sites, libraries and museums in addition to more formal lectures and seminars involving all the church history staff in the department. Assessment will be by a series of word-limited tasks such as book reviews and textual analysis.
Gospel of John with Paul Middleton
Why was the fourth gospel written? What was the author trying to achieve? What kind of community was he addressing? Why is John's gospel so different from the others? Working through the English text of the fourth gospel, this module aims to explore key exegetical, interpretative, and theological issues in the Gospel of John. Students will investigate the nature and purpose of the gospel; explore questions of dating, authorship, and setting; interact critically with the text and with scholarly opinion; and examine the message of the gospel described by Gregory the Great as a pool in which children may paddle but elephants can swim. Students who wish may elect to study selected passages in Greek.
Trinity and the Church with Simon Oliver
How does the Christian confession that God is Trinitarian love form the Christian community known as the Church? What does it mean to say that the Church is the Body of Christ? Does this have implications in the areas of ethics, politics and justice? What is the nature of the Church's mission? How should the Church, which professes that God is an eternal exchange of love, identify itself in relation to political and secular culture? These are some of the questions which will be addressed in this core Level Two module. The central concern will be the interface between the Christian doctrine of God and the way in which the Christian life is lived in the body or community known as the Church.
As well as these fine things, I've got a spare 60 credits to spend on three more modules. Two easy choices are Orthodox Theology with Andreas Andreopoulos (a new chap - it's all very exciting!) and Christian Worship and Church Buildings with Nigel Yates (it promises to be a big Church-crawl), but I'm stuck between choosing Luke - Acts with Kathy Ehrensperger which intends "to introduce students to the Gospel of Luke and its sequel, the Book of Acts. Together these constitute roughly a quarter of the entire New Testament, providing a unique view of the life of Jesus and the only surviving narrative of the early movement of Christ-believers. The course will consist in a number of introductory lectures covering questions concerning the origin and content of the Gospel and the Book of Acts, giving particular attention to selected key themes. Characteristic ideas and theological emphases, such as the role of Israel, or the role of women, will be considered also in the detailed study of particular portions of Luke-Acts. Attention will be given to the Greek text where relevant, but no knowledge of Greek will be assumed.", and Ritual and Piety in the Middle Ages with my Academic Advisor Sarah Boss (who really knows her stuff), which asks "How did Christians, Muslims and Jews live together in thirteenth-century Europe? How much of a fifteenth-century liturgy would be recognisable today? This course will consider liturgy, poetry, art, music, magic, and 'folk' customs, and will lead the student into the lavish sacred imagination of seven hundred years ago.". I may well just sit in on the latter, as well as the 'European Ethnology' in Anthropology that I'd like to go to. Dear reader, you will know later on, as I'm heading over to the department later on today.
Adieu!
Technorati Tags: Theology, Lampeter, University
