Historical Doctrinal Area

Faculty: Mark Douglas, Tim Hartman, Martha Moore-Keish, Marcia Y. Riggs, Haruko Nawata Ward, William Yoo

HD543 History of Christianities: Beginnings through 1700 CE

Ward This course traces global movements of Christianities from the early church to CE1700, using historical-critical analyses of primary texts, the development of ideas and practices, their interactions with other religions, issues of gender and race, and outcomes of diverse traditions of today’s World Christianities. 3 credits

HD544 History of Christianities: 1500 CE through 2000 CE

Ward The course traces global movements of Christianities from CE1500 to present, using historical-critical analyses of primary texts, the development of ideas and practices, their interactions with other religions, issues of gender and race, and outcomes of diverse traditions of today’s World Christianities. Hybrid. 3 credits

HD550 Christian Theology I

Hartman, Moore-Keish Introduces the basic doctrines of Christian faith. Studies classical theological paradigms, their contemporary reinterpretation, and the significance of theology for the life of the church. 3 credits

HD551 Christian Theology II

Hartman, Moore-Keish Introduces the basic doctrines of Christian faith. Studies classical theological paradigms, their contemporary reinterpretation, and the significance of theology for the life of the church. Prerequisite: HD 550, or permission of the instructor. 3 credits

HD560D Love and Justice

Douglas This course explores how Christian ideas about love (principally agape) have intersected with the ways the church has talked about justice. This online intensive course will build from a number of case-studies, including several related to the current Coronavirus pandemic, and will satisfy the MDiv Christian Ethics distributional requirement. 3 credits

HD561 Ethical Leadership in an Age of Sectarianism and Polarization

Riggs Students examine theories of leadership and ethics in light of current debates about the motives and actions of leaders in both church and society. Students also explore the relevance of such theories for understanding their roles as leaders and followers in various ministerial and institutional contexts. Hybrid or Online. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD562 Providence, Theodicy, and Ethics

Douglas Does God act in the world? And why is there so much suffering? No two sets of questions seem more impervious to human thought or more important to life and ministry. They are also the guiding questions of the class. Counts as a Christian Ethics distribution requirement course. 3 credits

HD563 Debate and Advocacy for Just Public Policy

Riggs Students analyze current debates regarding public policies in light of ethical theories of justice. Each student engages in small group work on a public policy, writes a position paper on a selected policy issue, and develops a program for educating a specific audience on the selected issue. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement 3 credits

HD564 Envisioning and Practicing Beloved Community

Riggs This course uses social and ethical interpretation of the church as a human community as a point of departure for exploring barriers to and dynamics of moral discourse in communities of faith. Theories of racial, ethnic, gender, and cultural identity are used to examine demographics of communities of faith and students as religious leaders. Theories of conflict transformation, intercultural communication, and dialogue are used to develop models of moral discourse for application in congregations or other group settings in which students practice ministry. Hybrid. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD566 Christologies and Politics

Douglas Considers how we now understand the church`s early confession, "Jesus is Lord," questions whether we should use the same language today and the political implications of doing so. A cross between Christology and political philosophy. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD567 Protest in the 20th and 21st Centuries: History and Practice of Nonviolence

Riggs The history and practice of nonviolence in the United States and around the globe. Nonviolence is explored as the basis of protest movements and as liberation ethics. Class time will also be used to learn strategies of nonviolent protest. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD568 Issues in Medical Ethics

Douglas Explores how theologians try to make moral sense of life and death in relation to issues such as euthanasia, abortion, cloning, and healthcare reform. Online. Meets the Ethics Distriubtion Requirement. 3 credits

HD565 Histories of Christian Ethics

Douglas Christian ethics involves multiple voices and varied perspectives expressed over time and in many contexts. This course traces the histories that have shaped Christian Ethics, giving special attention to the way they complicate and make possible the church's moral witness. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD570 Presbyterian History and Polity

Yoo; Owen Aumann, adjunct Examines Presbyterian history and polity from the colonial period to the present across diversities of age, ethnicity, gender, geography, and race through careful study of a myriad of source materials ranging from historical texts to the Book of Order. Meets the American Religious History Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD573 History of Race, Racism, and Reconciliation in American Christianity

Yoo This course focuses on the ways in which a diverse array of Christian individuals, congregations, and institutions across U.S. history understood race and privilege, perpetuated or opposed racial discrimination, and pursued reconciliation through careful study of primary sources, scholarly interpretations of American religion, and the work of critical race theorists. Meets the American Religious History Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD574 Histories of American Christianity

Yoo Examines the histories of a diverse array of Christian individuals, groups, and traditions in colonial North America and the United States through close analysis of primary sources and secondary interpretations. Students will identify critical themes and explore various methods to study the past, apply historical lessons in the present, and move forward together toward a more faithful future. 3 credits

HD582 Doing Theology amid Religious Pluralism

Moore-Keish This course will examine Christian constructive theological responses to the situation of religious pluralism, from the early church to the present, with an emphasis on contemporary voices, such as Jacques Dupuis, Mark Heim, and Paul Knitter. The class will enable students to see that religious pluralism is not a new situation, but one that Christians have been addressing since the writing of the New Testament. Students will read and engage a variety of perspectives on religious pluralism, with the goal of developing their own theological interpretations. Meets World Christianity Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD584 Jesus Christ in Global Perspective

Hartman Investigates the unity and diversity of perspectives on Jesus Christ from a variety of social, political, and cultural contexts around the world. The challenges and opportunities of cross-cultural theological conversations are explored in light of the mixed legacy of colonial missions. Connections between Christological models and contextual religious practices are highlighted. Fulfills the MDiv World Christianities Distribution Requirement. 3 credits

HD587 Global Religion, Local Faith: A Historical Survey of World Christianity, 1500-Present

Aycock, adjunct Students will study the history of world Christianity as characterized by encounters, expressions, and conflicts that occur across the boundaries of culture, religion, and place. This course will primarily use historical approaches to investigate the ideas, communities, and people who actively generate these phenomena. The course is designed to help students make connections, generate comparisons, and examine the diversity and depth of world Christianity, as well as attend to its compromises with oppressive structures and powers. 3 credits

HD588 African Christianities and the World

Aycock, adjunct Students will examine the intercultural and cross-cultural dimensions of African Christianity as a historically local and global religion. This course will examine popular conceptions of “Africa” in relation to religion, Christianity, and the world in order to investigate Africans as creators of their own Christian histories, theologies, and practices. 3 credits

HD601 Histories and Diversities of Theology in American Culture

Yoo This course investigates the histories of Christian theology in American culture from colonial to recent times. Exploring diverse theologies across U.S. history, the course entails analysis of theological texts and the cultural and historical contexts in which they were formed. 3 credits

HD602 Christianity in Asia in the Early Modern World

Ward This course critically examines the development of Christianity in Asia between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Beginning with the Treaty of Tordesillas (1493) through the Jesuit and later Protestant missions, the course examines the interactions of these missions and the new converts in Asia, the new expressions of Christianity produced, as well as the controversies in Europe regarding the new “native Christianities”. Hybrid. 3 credits

HD603 Women in the Reformations (1400-1700)

Ward An examination of representative women who helped shape the Reformation movements. Studies the range of women`s leadership in Lutheran, Reformed, Radical, English, and Catholic Reformations in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Addresses the critical issues in studying women in history. 3 credits

HD604 The Age of Reformations

Ward New approaches to the period known as the age of discovery, expansion, and Reformations in Western Europe (1400 – 1700 C.E.) through a global perspective. Examines diversity of Reform ideas, practices, leadership and networks; and issues of Christianity and mission, colonialism, race, slave trade, other religions, gender and sexuality. Hybrid. 3 credits

HD606 Eucharist of Crumbs: Women and Vocation in the Medieval Church

Ward An introduction to writings by women who found their "vocation" as monastic creative writers, abbesses, theologians, visionaries, mystic teachers, spiritual guides, humanist educators, city reformers, apologists, catechists, and leaders of sodalities. Explores the ways in which biblical, theological, anthropological and social arguments were used against women in officially ministering within the church. Women questioned the status quo and created venues to preach and engage in sacramental ministries. 3 credits

HD608 The Early Jesuits

Ward An examination of the writings and works of the Society of Jesus from its inception by Ignatius of Loyola in the 1530s to the papal suppression in 1773. Examines diverse contexts in which the Jesuits were prominent, such as the Spiritual Exercises and active apostolate, Catholic Reform and Counter Reformation, mission and colonialism, world cultures and religions, accommodation and martyrdom, education of clergy and laity, gender and race, and other issues. 3 credits

HD610 Reformed Theology: Its Shape and Development

Moore-Keish This class provides an introduction to Reformed theology through the lens of an order of worship. Using the “Service for the Lord’s Day” as an organizing structure, the course will explore major themes, thinkers, and texts from the Reformed tradition. Throughout the term, the question of continuity and diversity within the Reformed family will be addressed. 3 credits

HD611 Theology of the Holy Spirit: Pneumatology

Moore-Keish Explores many Christian perspectives on the Holy Spirit through history and from a variety of contemporary contexts, exploring questions such as: in Christian faith and Scripture, who is the Holy Spirit? How does one discern the Spirit amidst the spirits? What is the relation between Jesus and the Spirit? What is Christian life lived in the power of the Spirit? 3 credits

HD612 Theologies of Baptism and Eucharist

Moore-Keish Surveys the development of baptismal and eucharistic theologies through history and explores some of the various debates concerning baptism and Eucharist in churches around the world today. 3 credits

HD614 Theology and Community: A Lived Theology Approach

Hartman Investigates social consequences of religious belief through resistance against Nazism (Dietrich Bonhoeffer), against racism through the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King, Jr.), and against Rwandan genocide (Emmanuel Katongole) asking: How do ideas about God shape the way communities and individuals engage the social order? 3 credits

HD615 Theology, Ethics, and Sexuality

Douglas, Moore-Keish This course explores the theologies that underlie Christian notions of embodiment, desire, and sexual activity and attempts to connect those theological notions to contemporary issues of sexuality that confront the Church. 3 credits

HD615M What is the Church Today?

Moore-Keish We live in a time with many competing claims about what it means to be church. Is “church” an intimate community of disciples with a common life? A global network of Christians with a common mission? A community of believers with a common set of beliefs? In the context of such debates, and drawing from both classical and contemporary theological materials, this class will wrestle with perennial theological questions, including: what is the relationship of Christ and the church? What is the relationship of the Holy Spirit and the church? Is the church “necessary for salvation”? How does the triune God work in and through—and in spite of—the church to accomplish God’s purposes? 3 credits

HD618 Thinking Theologically with other Religions

Moore-Keish How do Christians today explore faith in a world of many religions? This course will introduce students to one way of navigating that question: the field of comparative theology. Comparative theology as it has emerged in the past 25 years represents “faith seeking understanding” in which persons rooted in one faith tradition venture into deep learning from one or more other faith traditions. Students will encounter a variety of contemporary comparative theologians who are exploring how we can learn theology with and from one another. This course has the particular aim of equipping Christian leaders to do this work in their own ministry contexts. Online. 3 credits

HD619 Black Church Studies Seminar

Riggs The history and practice of nonviolence in the United States and around the globe. Nonviolence is explored as the basis of protest movements and as liberation ethics. Class time will also be used to learn strategies of nonviolent protest. 3 credits

HD620 Ethical Practices: Nonviolent and Intercultural Communication

Riggs Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life and Min-Sun Kim’s Non-Western Perspectives on Human Communication: Implications for Theory and Practice are theoretical bases for this course. Students learn theory and skills for communicating effectively and compassionately with persons of diverse race-ethnicities, cultures, and religious backgrounds. 1.5 credits

HD624 Prophetic Criticism in the 21st century: Ethicist as Social and Cultural Critic

Riggs A seminar exploring how selected theological and social ethical questions are presented in cultural sources such as contemporary movies, novels, political cartoons, music, and visual art. Theories of cultural criticism and liberation theologies and ethics provide the analytical and dialogical frame for the course. 3 credits

HD621 Ethical Practices: Conflict Transformation

Riggs John Paul Lederach’s theories of conflict transformation along with theories of transformative mediation and narrative mediation are studied. These theories inform the practice of skills for sustaining relationships in contexts of conflict. Students will practice conflict transformation skills and develop their own conflict transformation leadership style and tool kit. 1.5 credits

HD622 Ethical Practices: Difficult Dialogues & Democratic Dialogue

Riggs Theories regarding what constitutes dialogue (rather than conversation or debate) as well as the Democratic Dialogue—A Handbook for Practitioners provide theoretical and practical insights for this course. Students will practice dialogue skills and develop dialogue models for discussing difficult topics in the varieties of contexts in which they practice ministry. 1.5 credits

HD623 Ethical Practices: Nurturing the Moral Imagination

Riggs Ethical theory and conflict transformation theory on moral imagination form the basis of this course. Students complete exercises in The Little Book of Contemplative Photography: Seeing with Wonder, Respect, and Humility by Howard Zehr. 1.5 credits

HD625 Feminist and Womanist Ethics

Riggs A seminar examining historical, sociological, and theological bases of feminist and womanist ethics. Students read feminist and womanist scholars in depth. Students also use a socio-religious ethical framework to analyze gender oppression, to expose sexist and heterosexist practices, and to propose ways to create sexual-gender justice. A semester of theology, bible, and/or church history will be helpful for students in the course. 3 credits

HD661 Feminist Theologies

Moore-Keish An examination of the roots of the feminist theological movement in earlier Christian history, the significant voices from the 1960`s and 1970`s, and contemporary theologians who are working in feminist theology today. In the final weeks of class, students work on projects on topics of particular interest. Prerequisite: HD550 or equivalent. 3 credits

HD664 Theology of Karl Barth

Hartman Offers an overview of the theology of Karl Barth through close attention to his Church Dogmatics, Epistle to the Romans, and selected occasional writings. Barth's understandings of revelation, the Word of God, election, reconciliation, and ecclesiology will be explored. Prerequisite: HD 550 or instructor's permission. 3 credits

HD691 Independent Study in Church History

Ward, Yoo 3 credits

HD693 Independent Study in Theology

Hartman, Moore-Keish 3 credits

HD695 Independent Study in Philosophy

Staff 3 credits

HD703 ThM Literature Review Historical Doctrinal Area

Staff In this independent study, a student works with the primary advisor to develop a reading list in the area of research interest and writes a literature review of the sources in preparation for the thesis writing. This course is supervised by the student’s primary advisor with the assistance of the instructor of the ThM Research Seminar. 3 credits

HD696 Independent Study in Mission, Ecumenics, and World Christianity

Staff 3 credits

HD697 Independent Study in Ethics

Douglas, Riggs 3 credits

HD699 MA(TS) Final Independent Study

Staff An independent study in Church History, Ethics, or Theology undertaken in the final semester of the MA(TS) program. Students do analytic, constructive work on a specific topic and produce original research in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements. 3 credits

HD702 ThM Thesis Research Historical Doctrinal Area

Staff This class focuses on the research and initial writing stage for the student’s thesis project, supervised by the advisor and in conjunction with the ThM director. 3 credits

HD704 ThM Thesis Writing Historical Doctrinal Area

Staff Required of all ThM students, leading to the completion of the ThM thesis. 3 credits

HD740J DMin Justice Core Course: Women of Color as Public Theologians

Riggs In this seminar students study the lives and writings women of color or other minoritized women (e.g. religious) from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. The lives and writings of these women are explored as models and sources for faithful discipleship, social activism, and doing public theology (constructive ethical reflection) on issues of social justice. 3 credits

HD801 History of Race, Migration and the Making of the American Church

Yoo This course investigates the history of Christians from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe as they created new churches in the United States with particular attention to pastoral ministry, multicultural congregations, and practical implications for Christian leaders moving forward. Hybrid. 3 credits

HD810 Reading Karl Barth for Ministry

Hartman This course examines the implications of Barth’s theology for the practice of ministry. Particular attention will be paid to his understanding of election, his Christology, and especially his ecclesiology. Both Western and non-Western ministry contexts will be considered. 3 credits

HD811 Antiracist Theologies

Hartman In this course, students will explore antiracist theological positions and practices for their ministry contexts. The course will investigate the history of racism in general, the connection between colonialism and racial constructs, the role of Christian theology and churches in supporting racial divisions, and how Biblical and theological resources can be use to counter racism rather than perpetuate it. Students will reflect upon life experiences that have shaped their understanding of race, especially as connected to God and the Christian faith. The majority of readings will be from authors who are black, indigenous, and persons of color. 3 credits

HD814 Theology and Community: A Lived Theology Approach

Hartman Investigates social consequences of religious belief through resistance against Nazism (Dietrich Bonhoeffer), against racism through the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King, Jr.), and against Rwandan genocide (Emmanuel Katongole) asking: How do ideas about God shape the way communities and individuals engage the social order? Hybrid. 3 credits

HD861 Ethical Leadership in an Age of Secularization and Polarization

Riggs In this course students will study theories of leadership and ethics. Current issues and events are the backdrop for discussions about motives and actions of leaders in both church and society. Students will also explore the relevance of these theories for (a) developing an adequate concept of ethical leadership for the twenty-first century, (b) understanding the practices of leaders, and (c) assessing and developing their own leadership styles in their various ministry and institutional contexts. Hybrid. 3 credits

HD878 Public Speaking: Shaping Theological Voices for Public Discourse

Douglas Considers how Christians should think theologically about politics and the public and how Christians might speak in, as, and toward that public. Students will develop their own theologies of public engagement through an examination of the work of several prominent "public" theologians, including Dorothy Day, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stanley Hauerwas. 3 credits

HD882 Doing Theology Amid Religious Pluralism

Moore-Keish Explores Christian constructive theological responses to situations of religious diversity from the early church to the present, with an emphasis on contemporary voices. Inspired by the work of Diana Eck and the Pluralism Project, the approach to “pluralism” will emphasize appreciation for the variety of religious traditions, with attention to difference as well as commonality. Enables students to see that religious pluralism is not a new situation, but one that Christians have been addressing since the period of the New Testament. Students will engage several perspectives on religious pluralism, with the goal of developing their own theological interpretations, and with attention to navigating religious diversity in their specific ministry contexts. Online. 3 credits