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roman catholic theological thought syllabus

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1 Roman Catholic Theological Thought (Nature and Environmental Ethics from Aquinas to Liberation Theology) REL 280‐101 TTh 2:40‐4:10 Instructor: Anthony Paul Smith ([email protected]) Office hours: Tuesdays 12:00‐1:00 or by appointment Course Description The environmental crisis is one the defining issues of our age. To call it “the” environmental crisis obscures the reality of it. For the environmental crisis is not like a single event, like the recent oil spill in the gulf, it is not “out there” as a single event to which human society could respond. Rather the environmental crisis extends beyond a number of individual ecological catastrophes, but also extends to the very way we relate to nature, to our local environments, to non‐human creatures, and to other human beings. Roman Catholic theology offers a distinctive response to this set of issues, as questions about the “being of things” (metaphysics) and “how one should live” (ethics) are not considered separately from one another in the tradition. As we will see considerations of nature as creation go hand in hand with the ethical teaching of theologians and the magisterium. This class aims to provide a survey of Roman Catholic theological thought on nature and environmental ethics and there will be an emphasis on reading whole texts where possible. We begin with the official teaching of the Roman Catholic church on the environment in the light of the doctrine of creation. We then turn to a selection of medieval theological sources, which will deepen our understanding of the Roman Catholic idea of nature as creation. The last half of the course is devoted to contemporary theological thought that, in dialogue with the medieval sources, address the theological issue of creation in the light of ecology and the environmental crisis. Learning Outcomes Upon completing the course the student should be able to: • identify and explain the relationship between our ideas about nature/creation and our attempts to create an ethical relationship to the biosphere/environment. • identify and explain the central questions and methods of Catholic Social Teaching, the medieval theologians, and the contemporary theoloians; • be able to identity the central themes and arguments of the texts and state them in a clear and sympathetic way in class discussion; • be able to formulate criticisms in a way that is attentive to the original author’s intent and argumentation. Grade Summary There will be two exams (comprised of short‐answer questions and essay questions) and a final paper (10‐pages, double‐spaced). Each will count as one‐third of your grade. It is important that you do not miss a class and especially an exam. Any make‐up for the in‐class exams will only be given due to extreme situations, and this is done very rarely. You must have prior permission from the instructor to take a make-up.

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Page 1: Roman Catholic Theological Thought Syllabus

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RomanCatholicTheologicalThought(NatureandEnvironmentalEthicsfromAquinastoLiberationTheology)

REL280‐101TTh2:40‐4:10

Instructor:AnthonyPaulSmith([email protected])Officehours:Tuesdays12:00‐1:00orbyappointment

CourseDescriptionTheenvironmentalcrisisisonethedefiningissuesofourage.Tocallit“the”environmentalcrisisobscurestherealityofit.Fortheenvironmentalcrisisisnotlikeasingleevent,liketherecentoilspillinthegulf,itisnot“outthere”asasingleeventtowhichhumansocietycouldrespond.Rathertheenvironmentalcrisisextendsbeyondanumberofindividualecologicalcatastrophes,butalsoextendstotheverywaywerelatetonature,toourlocalenvironments,tonon‐humancreatures,andtootherhumanbeings.

RomanCatholictheologyoffersadistinctiveresponsetothissetofissues,asquestionsaboutthe“beingofthings”(metaphysics)and“howoneshouldlive”(ethics)arenotconsideredseparatelyfromoneanotherinthetradition.Aswewillseeconsiderationsofnatureascreationgohandinhandwiththeethicalteachingoftheologiansandthemagisterium.

ThisclassaimstoprovideasurveyofRomanCatholictheologicalthoughtonnatureandenvironmentalethicsandtherewillbeanemphasisonreadingwholetextswherepossible.WebeginwiththeofficialteachingoftheRomanCatholicchurchontheenvironmentinthelightofthedoctrineofcreation.Wethenturntoaselectionofmedievaltheologicalsources,whichwilldeepenourunderstandingoftheRomanCatholicideaofnatureascreation.Thelasthalfofthecourseisdevotedtocontemporarytheologicalthoughtthat,indialoguewiththemedievalsources,addressthetheologicalissueofcreationinthelightofecologyandtheenvironmentalcrisis.

LearningOutcomesUponcompletingthecoursethestudentshouldbeableto:

• identifyandexplaintherelationshipbetweenourideasaboutnature/creationandourattemptstocreateanethicalrelationshiptothebiosphere/environment.

• identifyandexplainthecentralquestionsandmethodsofCatholicSocialTeaching,themedievaltheologians,andthecontemporarytheoloians;

• beabletoidentitythecentralthemesandargumentsofthetextsandstatetheminaclearandsympatheticwayinclassdiscussion;

• beabletoformulatecriticismsinawaythatisattentivetotheoriginalauthor’sintentandargumentation.

GradeSummaryTherewillbetwoexams(comprisedofshort‐answerquestionsandessayquestions)andafinalpaper(10‐pages,double‐spaced).Eachwillcountasone‐thirdofyourgrade.

Itisimportantthatyoudonotmissaclassandespeciallyanexam.Anymake‐upforthein‐classexamswillonlybegivenduetoextremesituations,andthisisdoneveryrarely.Youmusthavepriorpermissionfromtheinstructortotakeamake­up.

Page 2: Roman Catholic Theological Thought Syllabus

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ThepaperisduetothedepartmentalsecretaryonFridayNovember19thby4:30pm.Detailsconcerningthepaper(itsformatandcontent)willbepassedoutafterthefirstexam.Latepaperswillnotbeaccepted.Cheating/plagiarismwillbedealtwithastheseriousinfractionsthattheyare,possiblyleadingtofailure;seetheStudentHandbookfordetails.Attendanceisimportantbutwillnotbetakeneveryday.Itisyourresponsibilitytoattendeveryclass.Icanguaranteethatpoorattendancewillmakeitimpossibletodowellinthisclass.

RequiredTextsIwillprovideanumberofhandouts,clearlymarkedinthereadingschedule,andthesearenotlistedhere.Textslistedbelowareavailableinthecampusbookstoreandyouareexpectedtohaveyourowncopyofeach.

• JosephCardinalRatzinger,IntheBeginning...:ACatholicUnderstandingoftheStoryofCreationandtheFall(Eerdmans)

• NicholasofCusa,SelectedSpiritualWritings(Paulist)• RosemaryRadfordRuether,Gaia&God:AnEcofeministTheologyofEarth

Healing(HarperSanFrancisco)• LeonardoBoff,CryoftheEarth,CryofthePoor(Orbis)

OutlineofCourseandReadingScheduleReadingslistedaretobereadforthatclassperiod.IfthereadingislistedunderSeptember14th,itistobereadpriortotheSeptember14thsessionofclass.Tohelpguideyourreading,Iwillprovidetwostudyquestionperreadingassignment(viaemail)whichyoushouldcometoclassaspreparedaspossibletoanswer;writingoutanswersbeforehandisnotrequiredbutisencouraged.Thescheduleandproceduresforthiscoursearesubjecttochangeintheeventofextenuatingcircumstances;changeswillbeannouncedinclass.

September9th IntroductionPart1:CatholicSocialTeachingSeptember14th OfficialChurchTeaching PopeJohnPaulII,“PeacewithGodtheCreator”(handout) USBishopsConference,“RenewingtheEarth”(handout) JosephCardinalRatzinger,“Inthebeginning…”,pp.1‐40September16th SacredDoctrineandtheDoctrineofCreation Ratzinger,pp.41‐100. PopeBenedictXVI,Caritasinveritate,chapter4(handout) St.ThomasAquinas,SummaTheologiaeIa.1(handout)Part2:TheologicalSourcesSeptember21st DoctrineofCreation/Grace&Nature St.ThomasAquinas,SummaTheologiaeIa.45,Writingsonthe

‘Sentences’ofPeterLombard,II.1.1,SummaTheologiaeIa.IIae.109‐112(Handouts)

September23rd FranciscanSpiritualityandCreation St.Francis,“CanticleoftheSun”,“SermontotheBirds” RogerD.Sorrell,St.FrancisofAssisiandNature,pp.55‐97September28th MysticalTheologyandtheDoctrineofCreationI Cusa,OnLearnedIgnorance,pp.87‐127(Book1)

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September30th MysticalTheologyandtheDoctrineofCreationII Cusa,pp.127‐169(Book2)October5th MysticalTheologyandtheDoctrineofCreationIII Cusa,pp.169‐204(Book3),DialogueontheHiddenGod,pp.209‐

213October7th Exam#1Part3:CreationafterEcologyOctober12th EcofeminismandCreation Ruether,Gaia&God,pp.1‐58October14th CreationandDestruction Ruether,pp.61‐111 October19th Ecofeminsmand“HumanEcology”I Ruether,pp.115‐172October21st Ecofeminsmand“HumanEcology”II Ruether,pp.173‐228October26th Ecofeminsmand“HumanEcology”III Ruether,pp.229‐274October28th LiberationTheologyonCreation Boff,CryoftheEarth,CryofthePoor,pp.1‐61November2nd CrisisandSin Boff,pp.61‐114 November4th DignityandtheGodheadI Boff,pp.115‐173 November9th DignityandtheGodheadII Boff,174‐220November11th ConclusionNovember16th Exam#2


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