Core

Philosophy for Theology

Core/Philosophy

This course will introduce students to the philosophical grammar that God’s people have found useful throughout the ages in grasping the content of their faith. While this course will be weighted toward a broad survey of scholastic metaphysics, anthropology, and ethics, we will also consider other ancient and modern trends that have helped to illuminate the Christian faith. Taught by Dr. Joseph Minich. Runs 7/5-8/27/21.

Description

This Core course will be taught by Dr. Joseph Minich, and will run from July 5th through August 27th, 2021. The syllabus is available here.

What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Quite a lot, it turns out. This course will introduce students to the philosophical grammar that God’s people have found useful throughout the ages in grasping the content of their faith. The road between philosophy and theology has been a two-way street from the earliest days of the church, and we will give close attention to this traffic between philosophical and theological projects. From ancient to contemporary man, the saints (taking their cue from God’s special revelation) have always both creatively appropriated and boldly corrected the understanding of those around them. Any students who want to know their way around the historic Christian tradition need to be familiar with the concepts and categories that have arisen in the midst of this long exchange. While this course will be weighted toward a broad survey of scholastic metaphysics, anthropology, and ethics, we will also consider other ancient and modern trends that have helped to illuminate the Christian faith.

Joseph Minich (Ph.D. The University of Texas at Dallas) is a Teaching Fellow with The Davenant Institute, and a co-host of the Pilgrim Faith podcast along with Davenant Teaching Fellow, Dale Sternberg. He is the author of Enduring Divine Absence and a frequent contributor to Modern Reformation. He lives in Garland, Tx, with his wife and four children.

Online only, runs 8 weeks, meeting 2.5 hr./wk. via Zoom. Students will also have the option to participate in a class discussion board. Register now to reserve your spot. The course will proceed contingent on sufficient enrollment; on rare occasions, a class has to be cancelled due to insufficient interest. Once the registration period closes, the class meeting time will be set on the basis of a poll of availability from registrants. In case of cancellation or scheduling conflicts, students will be eligible for a refund or a transfer to another course. Note: all classes are offered dependent on demand and require a minimum of four participating students. This is a graduate-level seminar. Although a Bachelor’s degree is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.