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You Should Start Here.
New here? Not sure what’s going on? This is the place for you. 🤗 Everything you need for the course is available here–everything, that is, except where you turn in your assignments. But I’ll get to that. If you need anything, anything at all, and you’re not sure where to find it: start here. MOST…
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April 3, Week 12: OK, What Now? Election, Ecclesiology, & Ethics
I am regretting not having another week with you all—and these readings! I hope that you keep these in your files for future engagement. What I hope you keep in your minds as you read this week, and in preparation for class, is the question posed in the Nelson essay, “Who is Christ for us…
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![March 27, Week 11: Atonement, At-One-Ment, and “Penial” [sic] Substitutionary Atonement](http://www.tce537o.laurendeidra.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/k-mitch-hodge-F5R5uALOG1A-unsplash.jpg)
March 27, Week 11: Atonement, At-One-Ment, and “Penial” [sic] Substitutionary Atonement
It’s Passion Week: the perfect time to study atonement theories, eh? (As if I planned this; I did not.) Please take care of yourself as you read these texts. All of them deal with death and suffering in one way or another. I recommend taking breaks between reading each text, as you are able. We…
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March 20, Week 10: Incarnation II (Culture & Faith)
So many Jesuses, so little time! This week is a great continuation of some of the conversations we’ve been having in class–certainly during our Black Christ week but also with your cultural Jesus presentations. I am excited to see where our conversation leads. You have three assigned readings plus one choose-your-own adventure reading. In class,…
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March 13, Week 9: Incarnation I (Gender & Sexuality)
Over the next two weeks we will continue our work toward understanding a “concrete,” “here and now” Christ through studying the incarnation. This first week is largely about gender, next week on culture–though of course there are overlapping/intersectional categories here. As a quick primer, here are some helpful definitions before we enter these readings. All…
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March 6, Week 8: Barth & The Black Christ
This week we’re being introduced to two major thinkers and traditions of the 20th century: Karl Barth* (1886-1968) and the Barthian tradition and James H. Cone (1938-2018) and Black Liberation Theology. *Pronounced “Bart” Are there two more significant theologians of the 20th century?? I am pairing Barth (a Swiss German dude) with the Black Christ…
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February 28, Week 7: 1,000 Years Later…! (Middle Ages/Early Modernity)
OK, I’ll admit that it’s a little unfair to include 1,000 years of church history into one week of class, when we spent the first 6 weeks on, like, 200 years of history. But the Middle Ages had debates about angelology and the extent of a “free” will–things that are, no doubt, interesting, but less…
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Week 6, February 21: Chalcedon & the Christological Heresies
This is our last week spent primarily on heresies. (Is your mind spinning from all the different -isms?) I want you to think back to the metaphor introduced in the Wright text last week of the theological pendulum. These ideas about who Jesus is swing back and forth, back and forth, between emphasizing his divinity…
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Week 5, February 14: 🎅🏽Christmas in February: The Council of Nicaea
It’s the big one! If we want to talk about big turning points in Christianity, this certainly makes the list. We might be tempted to think of Christianity as “pure” or “apolitical” before Emperor Constantine commissioned the Council. But, I think after our conversation in class 2 weeks ago, we know better than that. 😉…
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Week 4, February 6: No Synchronous Class!
Howdy! I hope you enjoy your break this week. For those of you feeling a little overwhelmed this term, I hope you can use this week to work ahead or think toward your final projects. Take the burden off your future selves! If you want to read ahead: If you want to think about your…
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Week 3, January 31: Orthodoxy & The Invention of Heresy
When I was a first-year at The Seattle School, I celebrated my 23rd birthday with friends who still did not know me super well. My dear friend Bethany–who now knows me, I think, much better–made me a birthday cake celebrating the few things she DID know about me: I was turning 23, I loved the…
Weekly Schedule
This gives an overview of readings and assignments per week. See the week’s blog post for more details on readings and assignments.
Week 1: Entering the Conversation
Listen: Madang, “Episode 10: Theologian and podcaster Tripp Fuller, author of Divine Self-Investment” (1 hr)
Read: McGrath, “The Person of Jesus Christ” (39 pgs)
Due: Learner Connectedness Survey
Week 2: “Jesus and Christ Specifically”: How Jesus Became Christ
Read: Hedges, “White Jesus and Antisemitism” (21 pgs)
Read: Kärkkäinen, “The Gospel Silhouettes of Jesus” (15 pgs)
Read: Rieger, “Resisting and Reframing Lord” (44 pgs)
Watch: McClellan, “#maklelan1515” (6 min)
Watch: Amy-Jill Levine, “Who Did They Say He Was?” (26 min [just the talk, not the Q&A])
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 3: Orthodoxy & The Invention of Heresy
Read: excerpt from Wright, “The Invention of Heresy” (16 pgs)
Read: Quash and Ward, “Prologue” (9 pgs)
Read: Young, “From Image to Likeness” (56 pgs)
Read: The Apostle’s Creed: “The Old Roman Creed” and “A Gallican Creed of the Sixth Century” (2 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 4: Work Day: No Synchronous Class!
Due: Grading Contracts
Week 5: 🎅🏽 Christmas in February: The Council of Nicaea
Read: excerpt from Wright, “Constantine, Augustine, and the Criminalization of Heresy” (19 pgs)
Read: Gonzalez, “The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicaea” (12 pgs)
Read: Farley, “He Feeds on Ashes” (20 pgs)
Read: Geitz, “One Lord Jesus Christ” and “The Only Son of God” (12 pgs)
Watch: McClellan, “#maklelan1491” (8 min)
Read: The Nicene Creed: “The Creed of Caesarea,” “The Creed of Nicaea,” and “The ‘Nicene’ Creed” (2 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 6: Chalcedon & the Christological Heresies
Read: Gonzalez, excerpt from “Eastern Christianity” (14 pgs)
Read: Griffith, “The Melkites and The Muslims” (31 pgs)
Read: Liao, “The Significance of Chalcedon and the Reformation Confessions for Asian Churches Today” (16 pgs)
Prior to this week, you will be assigned a Christological heresy to research. Be prepared to share what you’ve learned with your classmates.
- Nestorianism
- Apollinarism
- Eutychianism/Monophysitism
- Docetism
- Adoptionism
Read: “The Definition of Chalcedon” (1 pg)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 7: 1,000 Years Later…! (Middle Ages/Early Modernity)
Read: Daniels-Sykes, “Anselm of Canterbury” (7 pgs)
Read: “Anselm on the Atonement” (2 pgs)
Read: Milbank, “Seeing Double” (18 pgs)
Read: Hill, “When Jesus Doubted”
Read: Antonio, “Wolfgang Pannenberg” (7 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Creeds or Icons
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 8: Barth & The Black Christ
Read: Cone, “Jesus Christ in Black Theology” (21 pgs)
Read: Barth, “Jesus Christ” (6 pgs)
Read: Boesel, “Dehonkifying Barth’s Gospel?” and “God Takes Sides—Against Whiteness”
Read: East, “In America, Jesus is Black because he was Jewish” (8 pgs)
Read: Douglas, “A Womanist Approach to the Black Christ” (21 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 9: Incarnation I (Gender & Sexuality)
Read: Brock, “And a Little Child Will Lead Us” (19 pgs)
Read: Kwok, “Touching the Taboo” (16 pgs)
Read: Day, “Trans-Formed by the Spirit” (15 pgs)
Read: Cheng, “The Out Christ” (12 pgs)
Read: Copeland, “Marking the Body of Jesus” (30 pgs)
Optional:
Read: Norris, “A Word Made Flesh” (13 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 10: Incarnation II (Culture & Faith)
Read: Chung, “Who Is Jesus for Asian Women?” (20 pgs)
Read: Asis, “Toward a Filipino Christology” (42 pgs)
Read: Tinker, “American Indians and Jesus: Reflections Towards an EATWOT Christology” (20 pgs)
Choose ONE:
Buddhist and Muslim Christology:
Read: Schmidt-Leukel, “Viewing Jesus” (16 pgs)
Mormon Christology:
Read: Bowman, “The Crisis of Mormon Christology” (25 pgs)
Hindu Christology:
Read: Schouten, “Jesus as Liberator” (20 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 11: Atonement, At-One-Ment, and “Penial” [sic] Substitutionary Atonement
Read: Bondi, “Out of the Green-Tiled Bathroom” (34 pgs)
Read: Park, “The Wounded Heart of God” (16 pgs)
Read: Ruether, “Suffering and Redemption” (13 pgs)
Read: Wink, “Breaking the Spiral of Violence” (17 pgs)
Read: Christiani, “Jesus the Slaughtered Lamb” (7 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response
Week 12: OK, What Now? Election, Ecclesiology, & Ethics
Read: Ernst-Habib, “Chosen by Grace” (20 pgs)
Read: Russell, “Sign of God’s Presence” (22 pgs)
Read: Sobrino, “The Ecclesial and Social Setting of Christology” (13 pgs)
Read: Barter, “When Sorry is Not Good Enough” (11 pgs)
Read: Nelson, “Who Is Christ for Us Today?” (6 pgs)
Suggested Due Date: Reading Response