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Department of Religious Studies REL 4425 Issues in Contemporary Christian Theology Spring 2008 ______________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Mr. Daniel Alvarez
Class Hours: MWF, 10-10:15 a.m.
Office Hours: DM 458A, TBA Class Room: PC 213 COURSE DESCRIPTION A
survey of major figures in contemporary theology for the purpose of
understanding their thought and its application to current issues in religion
and society. TEXTBOOKS Van Harvey, The Historian and
the Believer. Karl Barth, Epistle to the
Romans. H. Richard Niebuhr, The
Meaning of Revelation. Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus Christ
and Mythology George Lindbeck, The Nature of
Doctrine INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES AND
COURSE STRUCTURE The focus of this course will
be on the the concepts of history and
revelation and their mutual relation, and how to interpret the Christian
claims to being “revelation” in the light of the modern historical consciousness
that has emerged since the Enlightenment. Various responses to the vexing question
of how far does the modern historicist understanding of history relativizes the
Christian revelation (and thus rendering problematic its claim to finality vis à vis other claimants to being
revelations) will be discussed. We
will begin by reading the important summary of the impact of post-Enlightenment
rise of historical consciousness on Christianity found in Van Harvey’s The Historian and
the Believer (1966, with new preface) and Ernst Troeltsch’s “Historical and
Dogmatic Method in Theology” (1898), on which Van Harvey depends and perhaps the
best succinct exposition of the historical point of view. With an understanding of how Van Harvey
and Troeltsch believe history affects Christian belief, we will turn to various
responses to what Van Harvey sees as the current crisis of faith generated by
historical criticism. In particular,
we will examine how various 20th century Christian theologians
respond to questions such as: Can we
still believe in the concept of “revelation” after the Enlightenment in the
context of the new historical consciousness? Is the
concept of faith in Christ and the Christian revelation as Luther and Calvin
understood it (i.e. as God’s absolute, unique, and final Word to humankind)
still viable? In what
sense can we still believe in the Bible as “the word of God”? Can we
still make sense of the concept of “Christian doctrine” in any normative sense?
In what
sense can we still speak of the absoluteness of the Christian revelation? After Van Harvey and
Troeltsch, we will examine in some detail
Karl Barth’s rejection of central features of 19th century
liberalism, while yet retaining other aspects of historical criticism, to
formulate a powerful and influential interpretation and defense of Christianity,
and its rejection of the post-Enlightenment bias against all claims to
revelation, particularly the Christian, in his epoch-making commentary on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (1918/1922).
In particular, we will note how Barth reconnects with and recovers
Luther’s and Calvin’s understanding of God, Christ, justification by faith, and
the Scripture Principle. Next we will examine the
highly influential response to the problem of the relation between history and
revelation offered by the American theologian, H. Richard Niebuhr.
Although strongly sympathetic to and influenced by Barth, Niebuhr was equally
influenced by the thought of Ernst Troeltsch and Paul Tillich,
the former a leading exponent of the (historicist and relativistic) religiongeschichtlich
(history-of-religion) school, and the latter a leading critic of the Barth’s
later, more conservative point of view in the Church Dogmatics. (Time
permitting we will read Tillich’s important critique of Barth, “What is Wrong
with the ‘Dialectic’ Theology?” of 1935.) In short, Niebuhr believes that there
is room for belief in the finality of the Christian revelation in the midst of
historical relativity. What Niebuhr
means by what appears prima facie to
be a paradoxical proposal we will try to sort out by a careful reading of his
book, The Meaning of Revelation
(1940). Although quite in tune with
Barth’s standpoint and committed to the finality of the Christian revelation in
much stronger sense than Niebuhr’s,
Rudolf Bultmann is notorious for his frank admission of a strong
“mythological” element in the New Testament, a mythology that Bultmann then
argues needs to be expunged from the proclamation (κεργμα, kerygma) in order
that the message of the New Testament may become transparent to modern men and
women. Although the program of
“demythologizing” the New Testament was first announced in his 1941 essay, “New
Testament and Mythology,” it is in his 1958 book, Jesus Christ and Mythology were Bultmann develops his theological
interpretation of the Christian message in its most complete form. It is this “demythologized” message that
for Bultmann rises above the relativities of the historical process to speak to
modern men and women with God’s decisive revelation to humankind. We will conclude the course by
looking at a recent proposal by George
Lindbeck, professor of theology at Yale Divinity School, reminiscent of
Barth and Niebuhr (I would say more Barth and a Niebuhr understood through
Barth’s eyes). In The Nature of Doctrine (1984), Lindbeck once again seeks to restore
to the Christian revelation a status of ultimacy and finality absent from all
but the most conservative works in contemporary theology. As a member of the so-called “Yale
Theology,” (along with Brevard Childs, Ronald Thiemann, Hans Wilhelm Frei, and
George Stroup), Lindbeck stands in the “canonical” (Childs) and “narrative”
approaches to Christian theology that takes seriously the Christian claims to
being God’s absolute truth and final revelation to humankind, in spite of the
acknowledged impact of and acceptance of the historical standpoint. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADES Exam #1: 30 points, short answer, short essay,
fill in the blank (30% of final grade). Exam #2: 30 points, same format as above (30% of
final grade). Exam #3: 30 points, same format as above (30% of
final grade). Class Presentation on the
reading and (time permitting) selected historical problems: 2 pages, orally delivered in class, 10%
of final grade. The questions will be drawn
from the required reading, lectures, and class presentations Given this fact, it is important that the
student make an effort to attend every class. A
95-100
C
72-75 A- 91-94
C- 69-71 B+ 88-90
D+ 67-68 B
83-87
D
63-66
B- 79-82
F
0-62
C+ 76-78 COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1 M
Introduction: Syllabus, Requirements, Textbooks,
Overview of course\ W
Faith and Revelation: Middle Ages to Reformation F
Faith and Revelation: Reformation to 19th century
Week 2 M
Van Harvey, Historian and the Believer W
Van Harvey F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 3 M Troeltsch, “Historical and Dogmatic Method in Theology”
(Right Click and choose Save As to Download) W Troeltsch, Ernst - The Place of Christianity Among the World-Religions, Barth, Karl - True Religion F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 4 M
Karl Barth, Epistle to the Romans
W
Barth F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 5 M
Barth W
Barth F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 6 M Paul Tillich (d. 1965), “What is Wrong with the “Dialectic” Theology?” Charles Ryrie, "Fundamental Criticism of Karl Barth - Neo Orthodoxy" W Tillich F
Discussion
Week 7
M
Rudolf Bultmann, “New Testament and Mythology”
W
Bultmann, W
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 8 M
Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology W
Bultmann F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 9 M
Van Harvey on Barth and Bultmann W
Van Harvey F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 10 M
H. Richard Niebuhr, The Meaning of Revelation W
Niebuhr F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 11 M
Niebuhr W
Niebuhr F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 12 M Van Harvey on Niebuhr W Van Harvey F
Discussion: _______________________________________
Week 13 M,
11/22
Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine W
Lindbeck F
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 14 M
Lindbeck W
Lindbeck F
Discussion: _______________________________________
Week 15 M
Wither Faith and Revelation? W
Discussion: ________________________________________
Week 16 TBA
Final Exam |
