THE - Theology

Study of the basic characteristics of religion and theology as exemplified in major religions of the world. The intent is not to compare religions but to understand and appreciate religion in the experience of many cultures and civilizations. For transfer students only.

This course introduces the academic discipline of theology, its lenses and sources, in examining questions of faith and human existence. Students are invited to investigate how the Christian tradition has answered these fundamental questions by means of its focus on the person of Jesus Christ, the Christian understanding of God, and key issues of our contemporary world.

This course introduces students to the historical, cultural, and thematic aspects of the Bible while providing them with the basic skills for biblical literacy and methods of interpretation. Through this learning process students will focus on the study and uses of the Bible as a privileged source for Christian theology.

This course explores the prophetic tradition in ancient biblical and contemporary times.  Selected texts are read in context of present day global realities to discover how these texts shape cultures and worldviews, and how cultures and worldviews inform our reading of the biblical prophets.Topics include the God, gender, power, justice, empire ecology, hope, what it means to be prophetic today , among others.

This course explores the wisdom writings of ancient biblical and contemporary gurus to discover how wisdom is a gift received from God and daily life.  The course invites personal and group reflection aimed at celebration of life and the exploration of contemporary situations in need of wise decision-making skills.

This course focuses on the comparative study of religions. It will investigate the definition of “religion” and then analyze several traditions in the context of this definition. Finally, it will compare these traditions to one another with regard to certain topics, such as worship, the soul, and the place of women.

This course includes reading and discussion of selections from both the Old and New Testaments. We will discuss elements of race and class, as well as gender and sexuality, as we take historical, cultural, and political contexts into consideration with the goal of applying the realities of biblical cannon and applying them to our societies and cultures today.

As a first century missionary, theologian and letter writer, Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) articulated many of Christianity's basic beliefs and presided over some of Christianity's earliest controversies.  This course examines his letters as a way of gaining access to the concerns, the theology, and the growing pains of some of the very first Christians on record.

Our most important information on Jesus comes from the Gospels.  This course examines the theology and history contained in the gospels in order to gain an understanding of who Jesus was and how his message was received and developed by the early church.  In alternating semesters, the course will focus on John, or on Matthew, Mark and Luke.

During the first century of Christianity, the Roman Empire was a complex marketplace of ideas on sexual morality.  This course explores the roots, the development and the legacy of early Christian theology on sexual practices and gender relations.

This course explores questions and issues around gender in the biblical text and how these issues and questions relate to contemporary life.  Content focuses on the cultural background of both men and women in the ancient world, and how various attitudes have influenced cultures, decisions, and worldviews down through the ages.  Emphasis is on liberation and transformation.

What does it mean to be holy?  Who are the saints and sinners in the Bible?  How does God relate to them?  What is meant by the sacredness of all creation?  This course explores such themes as the spirit, the heart, prayer, sacred space, etc. in the context of a biblical-based contemplative and mystical understanding of life.

The ethical question, "who is the good person?", is founded on the premise that being a Christian makes one a certain type of person with certain values.  This course offers a historical study of various philosophical and theological descriptions of the nature of the good person.

The injunction to "love our neighbor" is constitative of all Christian ethics. This however must always be embodied and understood within a historical context. Using the method of Agapic solidarity and drawing from a variety of disciplines, this course explores  what living the love of neighbor means in a multicultural world.

Analysis of several contemporary Catholic ethicists, including Curran, O'Connell, Regan, and McCormick, who have influenced the development of Catholic ethics. A critical examination of natural law, human freedom, conscience, authority, and the moral and rational capacity.

Contemporary American Christian thought on the nature of morality and society. An attempt to reveal the dynamics of faith that calls us to do justice. Special consideration given to the development of pacifism in American churches.

This course is an introduction to the theological ethics of character as encountered in the Christian tradition.  We will systematically consider the topic through a series of guided discussions about values, decisions, conscience, habits, virtues, and vices, the role of Christian narrative, and finally, an integrated theory and theology of Christian personal character.  Readings will include selections from writings by Richard Gula, Paul J. Waddell, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, James Keenan, Stanley Hauerwas, James Gustafson, and the Gospel of Luke.

The issues of justice from a Catholic perspective as they affect society locally, nationally, and internationally.

Inquiry into the theological, philosophical, psychological, and social aspects of Christian marriage with specific emphasis on commitment and the bond of love. The moral problems of abortion, divorce, and homosexuality, special to the modern context, will be discussed.

This course explores the field of environmental ethics and its growing impact on the Christian theological-ethical tradition.  The course will consider our current environmental situation, survey the history of environmental ethics, examine the positions of major contemporary eco-ethicists, and develop the theological foundations for a Christian environmental ethic.

This course explores contemporary Christian theology and its response to environmental and ecological issues.  It investigates the scope of our environmental crisis and the emerging insights by Christian theologians concerned about our global environment.  Emphasis will be given to ecological issues in the Pacific Northwest, the theology of human existence, the nature of God and the future prospects for sustainability.

Drawing from Christian/Catholic tradition and from other ethical perspectives, the course addresses the moral dilemmas of abortion, artificial reproductive technologies, genetic technology, organ transplant, physician assisted suicide and other issues of death and dying with the end goal of forming student as intelligent and critical interlocutors of bio-ethical issues.sam3e

The prophetic traditions, both religious and secular have always stood in opposition to the power elite of their times. The focus of this class will be on how the prophetic tradition has related to Empires of the past and what are the possible implications for current prophetic movements and tradition.

Sexual ethics begins with a study of the historical evolution of the sexual teachings to provide a context to current theo-ethical discussions and debates on sexual issues like premarital sex, homosexuality, contraception, abortion and masturbation. The course takes a critical gender perspective.

Explores contemporary Christian and Jewish theological reflections on the Nazi genocide campaign to eliminate the Jews of Europe. Special emphasis on the documents of the churches until now, on the Austrian and German efforts to cope with this part of recent history, and on the relation of early anti-Judaism in Christian cultures to racism and anti-Semitism.

Exploration of liturgy as Christian worship, considering ritual symbolism as "the language" (word and action) of worship, and worship as Christian faith in dialogue with God. A critical evaluation of contemporary liturgical reforms in ecumenical perspective.

This course will explore the connection between rituals of worship and the ethical behavior of the people who practice those rituals. As a form of language, rituals exert influence on how people understand themselves and how they behave toward others. This course will address topics such as: ecology, gender, economics, race, culture, and technology.

Enrich an awareness of God's presence in the world through a theological and historical exploration of Christian spiritual practices such as lectio divina, meditation, and contemplation.  Students will examine key concepts that inform these practices, such as discernment and gratitude, through active and self-reflective participation in spiritual practices.

An exploration of Christian spirituality in terms of images of God, Christian anthropology, prayer, and social and ecological concerns. A critical and dialogical engagement with selected classical texts from the Christian tradition that suggest ways of being in right relationships with God, self, others and the natural world within the context of the 21st century.

This 1 credit course is a formation requirement each semester for students in the Faith and Leadership House. Under the guidance of the Faith and Leadership Staff, the course engages diverse resources of the University and surrounding community to assist students in integrating the program pillars of Faith, Service, Prayer, Community, and Intellectual Life. (Restricted to members of the Faith and Leadership House.)

This course surveys issues of suffering and death from biblical, systematic, and ethical perspectives of Theology, as well as psycho-social, legal, and ethical perspectives of the health care profession, especially nursing.  Focus is on exploring the human experience of loss and the many dimensions of grief employed in dealing with loss. (Nursing students only.)

Judeo-Christian theologies of death and their impact on a contemporary religious understanding of death and bereavement. Particular attention given to pastoral liturgical research on the role of religion and religious ritual in the grieving process.

What does it mean to be human in light of the mystery of Christ?  As they examine the nature of human freedom through the traditional categories of creation, sin, grace and eschatology, students will be challenged to employ the riches of the Roman Catholic tradition in articulating the meaning and destiny of their own humanity.

This course takes a comparative approach to the theological inquiry probing fundamental religious questions in relation to African indigenous Religions and Christianity. We will look at the major beliefs and practices of African indigenous Religions and Christianity and their historical development using primary sources and focusing on how diverse religious approaches might be mutually illuminative.

This course will introduce students to the historical and theological development of inter-religious dialogue in the Roman Catholic tradition. Particular attention will be given to the meaning and purpose of interfaith encounters; identity, culture, memory, history and politics. We will appropriate the insights from theological, cultural philosophical and political voices from the global north and south.

Historical development of conflicts, especially over the theory of evolution, and the variety of positions presented today by theologians, scientists, and philosophers.

How the traditional idea of God was developed and why it no longer seems adequate to either religious or cultural experience. How Christian theology might imaginatively reformulate the idea of God in order to serve Christian faith and action more adequately.

Systematic reflection upon the doctrine of Christ in its biblical, classical, and contemporary historical perspectives.  Students will gain insight into the Church’s proclamation of Jesus as the Christ by examining the faith experiences of communities past and present in relation to their own experience of faith.

This course will explore the Catholic theological tradition, primarily as it finds expression in five novelists whose writing is influenced by that tradition.

An examination of elements of theological reflection in the Roman Catholic tradition, with emphasis on theological method and the development of doctrine. From the starting point of an experience of faith that is personal and communal, historical and eschatological, students will explore the interrelationships among such theological categories as Revelation, Scripture and Tradition, Grace, Christology, and Ecclesiology.

The course takes as its starting point gender violence as a phenomenon across cultures around the globe. With its main premise that gender violence is linked with gender inequity, it studies how this  inequity has its roots in patriarchal traditions, cultural practices and  religious beliefs.It ends with the studey of gender resistance, through feminist theo-religious reconstructions and liberative activism.

This course will explore the Catholic theological tradition primarily as it finds expression in recent Catholic writing.  Some examples of subjects to be discussed include Jesus Christ, Revelation, the Fall of humanity, the problem of evil, the nature of sacraments and the implications of faith for personal relationships.

The course traces Christianity’s meteoric development in the first millennium.  It examines the break from Judaism, the formation of the Christian Bible, the age of martyrs, the theological golden period of the late Roman Empire, and the rise of the papacy and monasticism.  Its tools are chronological tracking, historical vignettes, analysis of selected texts, and profiles of important figures.

The course traces Christianity’s vigorous but fragmented growth in the second millennium.  It studies the grandeur of the medieval cathedrals, the ideas of scholasticism and mysticism, the challenges of the Reformation, the rise of modernity, and the course of Christianity in America.  Its tools are chronological tracking, historical vignettes, analysis of selected texts and profiles of important figures.

Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) grounds the history of western theology, and still informs modern fields like psychology and linguistics.  While situating him in Roman antiquity, the course studies his thought as an account of Christian faith seeking understanding.  We will read in depth his classic, theologically profound conversion story, the Confessions, and study his thought on God, Scripture, and the grace of Christ.

The course traces Christianity’s development, from its origins as an obscure Jewish sect, through acceptance and growth in the late Roman Empire and mature self-definition in the Middle Ages, to the challenges of fragmentation and renewal in the Reformation and the modern world.  Its tools are chronological tracking, historical vignettes, analysis of selected texts, and profiles of important figures.

This course explores the central theme of Christian hope and its role in shaping the political, cultural, economic, historical, ecological and relational experiences of humans in society.

Christian tradition in the 21st century and post Vatican II; the modern Church in the liturgy, the ecumenical movement toward Christian unity, the social justice and evangelical mission of the Church in the secular and pluralistic world. (Salzburg only.)

This course explores the prophetic tradition in ancient biblical and contemporary times. Selected texts are read in context of present-day global realities to discover how these texts shape cultures and worldviews, and how cultures and worldviews inform our reading of the biblical prophets. Topics include the God, gender, power, justice, empire, ecology, hope, what it means to be proophetic today, among others.

This course explores the wisdom writings of ancient biblical and contemporary gurus to discover how wisdom is a gift received from God and daily life. The course invites personal and group reflection aimed at celebration of life and the exploration of contemporary situations in need of wise decision-making skills.

This course focuses on the comparative study of religions. It will investigate the definition of “religion” and then analyze several traditions in the context of this definition. Finally, it will compare these traditions to one another with regard to certain topics, such as worship, the soul, and the place of women. 

This course includes reading and discussion of selections from both the Old and New Testaments. We will discuss elements of race and class, as well as gender and sexuality, as we take historical, cultural, and political contexts into consideration with the goal of applying the realities of biblical cannon and applying them to our societies and cultures today.

As a first century missionary, theologian and letter writer, Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) articulated many of Christianity's basic beliefs and presided over some of Christianity's earliest controversies. This course examines his letters as a way of gaining access to the concerns, the theology, and the growing pains of some of the very first Christians on record.

Our most important information on Jesus comes from the Gospels. This course examines the theology and history contained in the gospels in order to gain an understanding of who Jesus was and how his message was received and developed by the early church. In alternating semesters, the course will focus on John, or on Matthew, Mark and Luke.

During the first century of Christianity, the Roman Empire was a complex marketplace of ideas on sexual morality. This course explores the roots, the development and the legacy of early Christian theology on sexual practices and gender relations.

This course explores questions and issues around gender in the biblical text and how these issues and questions relate to contemporary life. Content focuses on the cultural background of both men and women in the ancient world, and how various attitudes have influenced cultures, decisions, and worldviews down through the ages. Emphasis is on liberation and transformation.

What does it mean to be holy? Who are the saints and sinners in the Bible? How does God relate to them? What is meant by the sacredness of all creation? This course explores such themes as the spirit, the heart, prayer, sacred space, etc. in the context of a biblical-based contemplative and mystical understanding of life.

The ethical question, "who is the good person?", is founded on the premise that being a Christian makes one a certain type of person with certain values. This course offers a historical study of various philosophical and theological descriptions of the nature of the good person.

The injunction to "love our neighbor" is constitative of all Christian ethics. This however must always be embodied and understood within a historical context. Using the method of agapic solidarity and drawing from a variety of disciplines, this course explores what living the love of neighbor means in a multicultural world.

Analysis of several contemporary Catholic ethicists, including Curran, O'Connell, Regan, and McCormick, who have influenced the development of Catholic ethics. A critical examination of natural law, human freedom, conscience, authority, and the moral and rational capacity.

Contemporary American Christian thought on the nature of morality and society. An attempt to reveal the dynamics of faith that calls us to do justice. Special consideration given to the development of pacifism in American churches.

This course is an introduction to the theological ethics of character as encountered in the Christian tradition.  We will systematically consider the topic through a series of guided discussions about values, decisions, conscience, habits, virtues, and vices, the role of Christian narrative, and finally, an integrated theory and theology of Christian personal character.  Readings will include selections from writings by Richard Gula, Paul J. Waddell, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, James Keenan, Stanley Hauerwas, James Gustafson, and the Gospel of Luke.

The issues of justice from a Catholic perspective as they affect society locally, nationally, and internationally.

Inquiry into the theological, philosophical, psychological, and social aspects of Christian marriage with specific emphasis on commitment and the bond of love. The moral problems of abortion, divorce, and homosexuality, special to the modern context, will be discussed.

This course explores the field of environmental ethics and its growing impact on the Christian theological-ethical tradition. The course will consider our current environmental situation, survey the history of environmental ethics, examine the positions of major contemporary eco-ethicists, and develop the theological foundations for a Christian environmental ethic.

This course explores contemporary Christian theology and its response to environmental and ecological issues. It investigates the scope of our environmental crisis and the emerging insights by Christian theologians concerned about our global environment. Emphasis will be given to ecological issues in the Pacific Northwest, the theology of human existence, the nature of God and the future prospects for sustainability.

Drawing from the Christian/Catholic tradition and from other ethical perspectives, the course addresses the moral dilemmas of abortion, artificial reproductive technologies, genetics, technology, organ transplant, physician assisted suicide and other issues of death and dying, with the end goal of forming students as intelligent and critical interlocuters of bio-ethical issues.

The prophetic traditions, both religious and secular have always stood in opposition to the power elite of their times. The focus of this class will be on how the prophetic tradition has related to Empires of the past and what are the possible implications for current prophetic movements and tradition.

Sexual ethics begins with a study of the historic evolution of sexual teachings to provide a context to current theo-ethical discussions and debates, on sexual issues like premarital sex, homosexuality, contraception, abortion, and masturbation. The course takes a critical gender perspective.

Explores contemporary Christian and Jewish theological reflections on the Nazi genocide campaign to eliminate the Jews of Europe. Special emphasis on the documents of the churches until now, on the Austrian and German efforts to cope with this part of recent history, and on the relation of early anti-Judaism in Christian cultures to racism and anti-Semitism.

Exploration of liturgy as Christian worship, considering ritual symbolism as "the language" (word and action) of worship, and worship as Christian faith in dialogue with God. A critical evaluation of contemporary liturgical reforms in ecumenical perspective.

This course will explore the connection between rituals of worship and the ethical behavior of the people who practice those rituals. As a form of language, rituals exert influence on how people understand themselves and how they behave toward others. This course will address topics such as: ecology, gender, economics, race, culture, and technology.

Enrich an awareness of God's presence in the world through a theological and historical exploration of Christian spiritual practices such as lectio divina, meditation, and contemplation. Students will examine key concepts that inform these practices, such as discernment and gratitude, through active and self-reflective participation in spiritual practices.

An exploration of Christian spirituality in terms of images of God, Christian anthropology, prayer, and social and ecological concerns. A critical and dialogical engagement with selected classical texts from the Christian tradition that suggest ways of being in right relationships with God, self, others and the natural world within the context of the 21st century.

What does it mean to be human in light of the mystery of Christ? As they examine the nature of human freedom through the traditional categories of creation, sin, grace and eschatology, students will be challenged to employ the riches of the Roman Catholic tradition in articulating the meaning and destiny of their own humanity.

This course takes a comparative approach to the theological inquiry probing fundamental religious questions in relation to African indigenous Religions and Christianity. We will look at the major beliefs and practices of African indigenous Religions and Christianity and their historical development using primary sources and focusing on how diverse religious approaches might be mutually illuminative.

This course will introduce students to the historical and theological development of inter-religious dialogue in the Roman Catholic tradition. Particular attention will be given to the meaning and purpose of interfaith encounters; identity, culture, memory, history and politics. We will appropriate the insights from theological, cultural philosophical and political voices from the global north and south.

Historical development of conflicts, especially over the theory of evolution, and the variety of positions presented today by theologians, scientists, and philosophers.

How the traditional idea of God was developed and why it no longer seems adequate to either religious or cultural experience. How Christian theology might imaginatively reformulate the idea of God in order to serve Christian faith and action more adequately.

Systematic reflection upon the doctrine of Christ in its biblical, classical, and contemporary historical perspectives. Students will gain insight into the Church's proclamation of Jesus as the Christ by examining the faith experiences of communities past and present in relation to their own experience of faith.

This course will explore the Catholic theological tradition, primarily as it finds expression in five novelists whose writing is influenced by that tradition.

An examination of elements of theological reflection in the Roman Catholic tradition, with emphasis on theological method and the development of doctrine. From the starting point of an experience of faith that is personal and communal, historical and eschatological, students will explore the interrelationships among such theological categories as Revelation, Scripture and Tradition, Grace, Christology, and Ecclesiology.

This course takes as the starting point gender violence as a phenomenon across cultures around the globe. With its main premise that gender violence is linked with gender inequity it studies how this inequity has its roots in patriarchal traditions, cultural practices, and religious beliefs. It ends with the study of gender resistance, through feminist theo-religious reconstructions and liberative activism.

This course will explore the Catholic theological tradition primarily as it finds expression in recent Catholic writing. Some examples of subjects to be discussed include Jesus Christ, Revelation, the Fall of humanity, the problem of evil, the nature of sacraments and the implications of faith for personal relationships.

This course explores the central theme of Christian hope and its role in shaping the political, cultural, economic, historical, ecological and relational experiences of humans in society.

The course traces Christianity's meteoric development in the first millennium. It examines the break from Judaism, the formation of the Christian Bible, the age of martyrs, the theological golden period of the late Roman Empire, and the rise of the papacy and monasticism. Its tools are chronological tracking, historical vignettes, analysis of selected texts, and profiles of important figures.

The course traces Christianity's vigorous but fragmented growth in the second millennium. It studies the grandeur of the medieval cathedrals, the ideas of scholasticism and mysticism, the challenges of the Reformation, the rise of modernity, and the course of Christianity in America. Its tools are chronological tracking, historical vignettes, analysis of selected texts and profiles of important figures.

Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) grounds the history of western theology, and still informs modern fields like psychology and linguistics. While situating him in Roman antiquity, the course studies his thought as an account of Christian faith seeking understanding. We will read in depth his classic, theologically profound conversion story, the Confessions, and study his thought on God, Scripture, and the grace of Christ.

The course traces Christianity's development, from its origins as an obscure Jewish sect, through acceptance and growth in the late Roman Empire and mature self-definition in the Middle Ages, to the challenges of fragmentation and renewal in the Reformation and the modern world. Its tools are chronological tracking, historical vignettes, analysis of selected texts, and profiles of important figures.

This course surveys issues of suffering and death from biblical, systematic, and ethical perspectives of Theology, as well as psyco-social, legal, and ethical perspectives of the health care profession, especially nursing.  Focus is on exploring the human experience of loss and the many dimensions of grief employed in dealing with loss.

This course examines biblical, theological and philosophical perspectives on the challenges posed by climate change. Global topics may include sacramentality; common good; world hunger; loss of biodiversity and habitat; intrinsic value vs instrumental value; fairness justice and obligation with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation; climate related natural disasters; climate migration and refugees.

This course investigates the relationship between theology and science, the science of ecology and the related field of environmental science, the major aspects of our current environmental crisis, the underlying historical and social reasons for this crisis, and current attempts to reformulate Christian theology from the perspective of ecology. This course also explores possible solutions for a sustainable future.

This course explores conflict through a biblical, theological, and social scientific lens. Using the biblical text, topical readings, and conflict theory, the course examines intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict, and provides opportunities to explore a variety of conflict mediation and negotiation skills aimed at developing just and transformative relationships for life in a complex world.

Special Offerings.

Guided inquiry for superior juniors and seniors who wish to pursue a particular subject area in Theology more intensely than course offerings permit. By special arrangement with members of the Theology faculty.

Special Offerings.

A required course for theology majors that explores advanced aspects of the discipline and practice of Theology. Students will examine key topics and theological methods of analysis. The course will focus on writing in the discipline, critical reading of primary and secondary sources and peer discussion.  Theology majors only.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

Research, study, or original work under the direction of a faculty mentor leading to a scholarly capstone document. Requires approval of capstone director, department chair, and the director of the honors program, when appropriate. Grade will be IP until all requirements are fulfilled.

Preparation for the presentation of a student's previous written work for a general audience. For Theology majors in track one, this will be a student's capstone thesis; for those in track two, this will be a paper chosen in consultation with a faculty mentor. Requires approval of the department chair.