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Title: Exploration in Christian Theology: The Human Person   
Author: J. Schaefer
Synopsis: This Manresa course on the human person intersects with Marquette's mission as a Catholic, Jesuit university dedicated to serving God by contributing to the advancement of knowledge, striving for excellence of the whole person, developing faith in God, and establishing leadership in one's vocation in life for the glory of God. Beginning with an historical overview of ways in which humanity has been conceptualized theologically, students will examine biblical, patristic, medieval, reformation, and early modern texts, including autobiographies and biographies of individuals who have written about and demonstrated their quests to experience and understand the human-God relationship in their lives. Attention will be given to the contexts of the times in which these individuals lived and the worldviews from which they reflected on the human place and role in God's creation. Basic findings about the human from contemporary physics, biology, neurophysiology and psychology will be identified and used to model the human person today. Each student will particularize this model for themselves as unique persons committed to orienting their lives to God.

The primary goals of Theology 111 are the following: (1) To discover ways in which the human being has been conceptualized and demonstrated throughout the history of Christian theology; (2) to become sufficiently knowledgeable about basic scientific findings on the cosmological-biological evolution of the human species and the neurophysiological makeup that enables humans to open consciously to and strive for a relationship with God; (3) to develop a realistic model of the human grounded ultimately by God; (4) to recognize your innate talents and acquired abilities and to identify ways of developing them while moving into the near future; and, (5) to apply the model of the human person to your vocational goals for the future as a person living for the glory of God.

  Sections

   Exploration in Christian Theology: Texts and Internet Sources
   Exploration in Christian Theology: Basis for Evaluation
   Exploration in Christian Theology: Tentative Schedule of Classes, Assignments, and Exams
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Texts and Internet Sources

An annotated copy of the Bible (New America, New Jerusalem, or Oxford with Apocrypha)
Ahlgren, The Human Person and the Church (Orbis 1999)
Gregersen et al., The Human Person in Science and Theology (T & T Clark 2000)
McFague, Super, Natural Christians (Fortress 1997)
Handouts and Readings on Raynor e-Reserves



Basis for Evaluation

Two section examinations (20%), a class presentation on a writer's theological view of the human person (15%), a reflective report on that writer (20%), and a comprehensive final examination (25%). Significant qualitative participation in class discussions and related activities will raise a borderline grade to the next level.



Tentative Schedule of Classes, Assignments, and Exams

Overview and Introductory Exercise
January 19 -- Introduction to the Course

What does the Bible say about the human person?

January 24 -- Created, Dignified, Relational, Child of God
Assigned: Biblical texts.

January 26 -- Fallen, Redeemable, and Redeemed
Assigned: Biblical texts; select focus of slide presentations for February 23 and 28.

How have theologians described the human person over the centuries?

January 31 -- Irenaeus of Lyon, Origen, and Augustine of Hippo
Assigned: Ahlgren 1-18, 198, 206-7, and 181-84

February 2 -- Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas
Assigned: Ahlgren 19-31, 184, 186-87, 218-21

February 7 -- Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Teresa of Avila
Assigned: Ahlgren 33-43, 191-92, 201-4, 189-90, 216-18

February 9 -- Schleiermacher, R. Niebuhr, K. Rahner
Assigned: Ahlgren 44-72, 212-15, 207-10

February 14 -- Brock, Suchocki, and Pope John Paul II
Assigned: Ahlgren 64-72, 188-89, 216; Fr. Thomas McGovern on the Christian Anthropology of Pope John Paul II http://www.christendom awake.org/pages/mcgovern/chrisanthro.htm.

What does it mean to attribute "dignity" to the human person?

February 16 -- The Second Vatican Council
Assigned: Ahlgren 59-63, Gaudium et Spes "The Dignity of the Human Person" (nos.12-22), "The Community of Mankind" (nos.23-32), "Man's Activity in the Universe" (nos. 33-39); summations of human features; directions for examination.

February 21-- First Examination

How have well-known people described and demonstrated themselves as persons in relation to God?

February 23 and 28 -- Student slide presentations.

What does contemporary science contribute to our understanding of the human person?

March 2 -- Physics Findings
Assigned: The British National Space Center on the origin and nature of the universe http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/learningzone.aspx?nid=3336 and "A Cosmic Creation Story."

March 7 -- Biology: "The Story of Hominid Evolution" Video
Assigned: Web page on human evolution.

March 9 -- Biology: An Evolutionist's Perspective
Assigned: Ayala "Human Nature: One Evolutionist's View" in Whatever Happened to the Soul?,
31-48; flow chart on human evolution.

March 14 -- Biology-3: The Pope's View on Evolution
Assigned: Pope John Paul II "Message to Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Evolution"

March 16 -- Biology-4: "Wired" for Acting Morally and Seeking God? Assigned: Peacocke, "The Selfish Gene" and TBA.


SPRING BREAK and EASTER -- MARCH 20-28


March 30 -- Neuroscience and Psychology
Assigned: Lagercrantz, "The Child's Brain: On Neurogenetic Determinism and Free Will" in The Human Person in Science and Theology, 65-71; and Watts, "The Multifaceted Nature of Human Personhood: Psychological and Theological Perspectives" in The Human Person in Science and Theology, 41-60.

April 4 -- Neuroscience and Psychology-2
Assigned: Jeeves, "Brain, Mind, and Behavior" in Whatever Happened to the Soul?, 73-98;
Brown, "Cognitive Contributions to Soul" in Whatever Happened to the Soul?, 99-125.

April 6 -- Second Examination

How can the human person be modeled today from a theological perspective?

April 11- Modeling Criteria for Theological Anthropology and Revisiting Biblical Models
Assigned: Green, "Bodies--That is, Human Lives: A Re-Examination of Human Nature in the Bible" in Whatever Happened to the Soul?, 149-73.

April 13 -- Rethinking the imago Dei Informed by Contemporary Science
Assigned: Case-Winters, "Rethinking the Image of God," Zygon 39.4 (Dec 2004): 813-26;
Hefner, "Imago Dei: The Possibility and Necessity of the Human Person" in The Human Person in Science and Theology, 73-92.

April 18 -- The Model of the Pope's International Theological Commission
Assigned: ITC, "Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God," Origins 34.15, 23 September 2004, 233, 235-48.

April 20, 25, 27 -- McFague's Model of the Human Person
Assigned: Super, Natural Christians

What is the human person's vocation in relation to God?

May 2 -- Theology of "Calling"
Assigned: St. Antony's Letter on the three calls, K. Rahner's "Man," and Schmitz-Moormann's
creatio apellata; reflection and application to your life.

May 4 -- Conclusions, Directions for Final, and Course Evaluation

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