COURSE OFFERINGS
Fall 2023 Semester
September 5 – December 16
On Campus and Live Online
HEBR 501 Biblical Hebrew I
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30-3:45 p.m. with Dr. Andrew Montanaro
This course comprises an introduction to Biblical Hebrew, the original language of most of the Old Testament. It covers the alphabet, writing system, nouns/adjectives, pronominal suffixes, and the tenses for each binyan or “stem” for Hebrew verbs. This course is ordered toward long-term retention through reading and translating Biblical texts, vocabulary practice, and a diachronic analysis of particular forms in the Hebrew language.
PHIL 603 Philosophical Errors
Mondays 5:00-7:00 p.m. with Dr. Stephen Hipp
A study of some of the false philosophies of man and God, especially in so far as these form the intellectual basis for the errors and shortcomings in contemporary popular thought and in Biblical exegesis, with a critique of these theories and a comparison of them with the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas.
SCRI 610 The Synoptic Gospels
Thursdays 7:30-9:30 p.m. with Dr. Andrew Montanaro
This course entails an examination of the Psalms and Wisdom literature of ancient Israel. Students will study these texts as inspired Scripture, written by the ancient sages and scribes, and will learn to read and appreciate these texts as guides for right living, for prayer, and for Christological reflection. This course also focuses on the reception of these books in the Church Fathers and other commentators in order to interpret these writings through solid Catholic exegesis.
SCRI 810 Mary in Sacred Scripture
The course considers the mystery of Mary and her place in the history of salvation as presented across the span of Sacred Scripture. Focusing on Biblical texts, students will examine the person and universal vocation of Mary as announced and prefigured in the Old Testament and fully revealed and realized in the New Testament. Topics include: figures of Mary in the Old Testament; creation, covenant, combat and victory in human history; Mary as the New Eve, Bride of Christ, icon of the Church, and Queen of heaven and earth.
THEO 602 Christology
Tuesdays 7:30-9:30 p.m. with Dr. Robert J. Matava
An introduction to the mystery of the Incarnation, from the perspectives of Scripture, patristic theology and St. Thomas Aquinas. Course includes the nature and method of Christology, the ‘quests’ for the historical Jesus, foreshadowings of the Incarnation and Jesus in the Old Testament, the patristic development of Christology, the motive for the Incarnation, the personal union of Christ’s divine and human natures, the human nature assumed by the Word, the theological implications of the union of natures, the Paschal Mystery and our redemption. This course combines historical and systematic methods in an engagement with Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae III.
THEO 606 Apologetics
Wednesdays 7:30-9:30 p.m. with Dr. Joseph Arias
The reasonable explanation and defense of the Catholic Faith utilizing Scripture, theology, Church history, and philosophy to explain Catholic beliefs and practices, such as Tradition, the Papacy, justification, the divinity of Christ, miracles, the problem of evil, the Real Presence, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Catholic moral teachings. The course especially focuses on controversial points of Catholic doctrine and their rationale, those teachings which are most often misunderstood by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
THEO 712 Patristics: Fathers of the Church
Mondays 7:30-9:30 p.m. with Dr. Robert J. Matava
A study of the Eastern and Western Fathers of the Church, with emphasis on their contributions to Church doctrine, morals and the spiritual life, including their historical context and the significance of their lives and writings for the contemporary Church.
THEO 724 Sexual and Biomedical Ethics
Tuesdays 5:00-7:00 p.m. with Dr. Joseph Arias
Moral and canonical issues related to procreation and the care of human life, including fornication, homosexual acts, contraception, sterilization, natural family planning, the prophylactic use of condoms, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, cloning, embryo adoption/rescue, abortion/craniotomy, ectopic pregnancies, organ transplantation, “permanent vegetative states,” end-of-life issues, euthanasia, brain death, and the mission and identity of Catholic health care institutions.
Asynchronous Courses
These courses are pre-recorded and may be taken at one’s own pace.
LATN 501-E Ecclesiastical Latin I
An introduction to the Latin language by which students may begin to develop reading competency in Latin. The course covers resources and techniques for effective learning of Latin, the Latin case system, the five main cases of the first three declensions, all six verb tenses in the active and passive voices of the indicative mood, and complex sentences and subordination, and several Latin prayers. This course may be taken on a pass/fail basis and does not count toward the graduate-level theology credits required for the MA degree. The course may be taken for undergraduate credit.
SCRI 606 Old Testament
This course entails a study of the Old Testament canon as being fulfilled in the New Testament. Special focus will be on the revelatory stages of salvation history, on biblical typology and prophecy, and on other teachings taught explicitly in these books and through the examples of Old Testament figures. In this course, students will be introduced to Catholic hermeneutical principles and will interpret biblical texts using careful analysis aided by commentators, especially those in the Catholic tradition.
PHIL 602 Philosophy of God & Man
A study of Thomas Aquinas’s metaphysics and anthropology, based on the Summa Theologiae. Includes the proofs of the existence of God; the relations between essence and esse in creatures and in God; the attributes of God; human nature; knowledge, emotions and will; the spirituality, subsistence and immortality of the human soul; the union of soul and body, and the concept of personhood.
THEO 590 Sacred Doctrine: Principles & Mission
This introduction to the graduate-level study of theology treats comprehensively the meaning of theology, its various disciplines, major methods and basic terminology. Areas of focus are Divine Revelation and the characteristics of the human response, relationships between faith and reason, Scripture and Tradition, doctrine and its development, and the roles of the Magisterium and the theologian in the Church. Special attention is also given to the history of theology, with particular emphasis on the patristic, medieval, and post-Vatican II periods. Prerequisite for all M.A. and Diploma students unless exempt because of prior theological study. The credits for this 500-level course do not count toward the graduate-level theology credits required for the MA degree.
