Theology

Thomas Aquinas Seminar II: Thomas’s Commentary on John

THIS CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Taught by Ryan Hurd
Difficulty: Intermediate
Runs 1/8 – 3/16/2024
$225.00 – $399.00

Each Thomist Seminar reads something of Thomas’s work. The Thomist Seminar II features Thomas as a biblical commentator, which in many ways was the chief task of the medieval theologian. In this particular seminar, we will deal with Thomas’s John commentary (cc 1–8).

As a reading course paying careful attention to Thomas engaged in his primary task as a master of the sacred page, this course will handle, among other things: principles of dividing the text according to sense, rather than according to grammar; methods of reading and deriving true judgments from the text, particularly its literal sense; differences between literal and spiritual senses, as well as their species, as well as how John particularly focuses on the latter; issues of theological matters, e.g. the holy Trinity in c 1; use of prior theological principles in interpreting, letting (the sense of) Scripture interpret (the letter of) Scripture; use of authorities (e.g., those in Thomas’s Caetena) in interpreting; comparison to various priors in the interpretive tradition (e.g. Augustine, Glossa, etc.); comparison to later interpretive traditions and approaches, especially more contemporary to us, to the Gospel of John; and so on. Through encounter with Thomas’s work and also his medieval tradition of reading John, the student will become equipped to use Thomas as a guide in actual interpretation, especially of biblical material in the Gospel genre.

Deadline to register: Friday, December 29th

The syllabus for this course is available now. You can access it here.

 

ENROLLMENT OPTIONS

Auditing ($225):

participate in readings and live class sessions, but no graded assignments and no course credit

Full course (Full-Time Discount) ($275):

for-credit courses (at least four per term) toward our Certificate or M.Litt in Classical Protestantism

Full course ($399):

individual classes on a for-credit basis; you can later apply them toward a Certificate or Degree

 

ENROLL NOW

Description

This Theology course will be taught by Ryan Hurd, and will run from January 8th through March 16th. The syllabus will be posted when available.

Each Thomist Seminar reads something of Thomas’s work. The Thomist Seminar II features Thomas as a biblical commentator, which in many ways was the chief task of the medieval theologian. In this particular seminar, we will deal with Thomas’s John commentary (cc 1–8).

As a reading course paying careful attention to Thomas engaged in his primary task as a master of the sacred page, this course will handle, among other things: principles of dividing the text according to sense, rather than according to grammar; methods of reading and deriving true judgments from the text, particularly its literal sense; differences between literal and spiritual senses, as well as their species, as well as how John particularly focuses on the latter; issues of theological matters, e.g. the holy Trinity in c 1; use of prior theological principles in interpreting, letting (the sense of) Scripture interpret (the letter of) Scripture; use of authorities (e.g., those in Thomas’s Caetena) in interpreting; comparison to various priors in the interpretive tradition (e.g. Augustine, Glossa, etc.); comparison to later interpretive traditions and approaches, especially more contemporary to us, to the Gospel of John; and so on. Through encounter with Thomas’s work and also his medieval tradition of reading John, the student will become equipped to use Thomas as a guide in actual interpretation, especially of biblical material in the Gospel genre.

Ryan Hurd (Doctoral Student, Theologische Universiteit Kampen) is a systematic theologian whose area of expertise is doctrine of God, specifically the Trinity. His primary training is in the high medievals and early modern scholastics as well as the 20th century ressourcement movement. He has written a number of articles and regularly does translations of early modern theology sources; but his primary project is writing a systematics of the Trinity.

 

The syllabus for this course is available now. You can access it here.

Details

Online only, runs 10 weeks, meeting 2 hr./wk. via Zoom. Students will also have the option to participate in class discussion on the Davenant Common Room Discord server. Register to reserve your spot and schedule will be set after a poll of participating students; if the class time does not fit your schedule, you will be eligible for a full refund.

This is a graduate-level course. Although a BA is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.