Meet the Faculty

What does it mean to be a public witness to Jesus Christ in a pluralistic, post-secular, consumer society? Using classical and contemporary thinkers in systematic theology, students will think critically about how and in what ways God encounters us in and through our neighbors, calling us to examine our own assumptions about who God is and what God does in law and promise. Centered in Jesus Christ crucified and risen, the course examines how justification by faith alone turns us outward from the self through the Holy Spirit to participate in God's work of reconciliation, justice, and peace with our neighbor and for our neighbor. Students develop their identity as Christian leaders and grow in their theological capacity to offer public leadership in a wide range of ministry settings.

This course is a study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology, spirituality and ethics in view of the major challenges posited to the Christian church by the rise of secularism, totalitarianism, persecution, racism, war and injustice. Special attention will be given to Bonhoeffer’s creative re-reading of the Lutheran tradition, the use of Scripture and the confessions, the outlines of his political theology, his re-introduction of the notion of status confessions in the face of the “Jewish Question,” his consideration of natural law and the State, Christian responsibility, mandates, vocation, peace and love, and the meaning of faith in a religionless world. His ethical paradigm will be analyzed in relation to the Roman Catholic understanding of natural law and the Reformed use of the third use of the law. Prerequisite: SG0401 - THINKING THEOLOGICALLY

What are the concerns and prominent themes among Christians in the Global South? Why should we listen? As the Christian Church shifts its demographic density to the South, new theological perspectives populate the ecumenical and confessional conversation. This course will focus upon the theological themes and methods emerging from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and how the classical doctrinal themes are approached from these contexts enriching and expanding the perspectives of the North-American churches. Prerequisite: SG0401 - Thinking Theologically

What are the concerns and prominent themes among Christians in the Global South? Why should we listen? As the Christian Church shifts its demographic density to the South, new theological perspectives populate the ecumenical and confessional conversation. This course will focus upon the theological themes and methods emerging from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and how the classical doctrinal themes are approached from these contexts enriching and expanding the perspectives of the North-American churches. Prerequisite: Core course in ST

This course will introduce students to the tools, sources and methodologies necessary to develop a contexutal and interdisciplinary framework that will inform their research and dissertation. It will present classical models of theology as the church sought to engage and respond to specific contexts and explore the contextual and ecumenical emphases developed in the 20th and 21st centuries - particularly in the Global South. Students will become familiar with a variety of socio-analytic tools for defining the peculiarities of a context in order to engage them theologically, critically, and constructively. The model developed by the theologians and churches of the Lutheran Global Communion will serve as a reference of global inter-contextual theologies.

A tutorial taken with the advisor in the first year focusing on the intersection of the student's area of study with the program niche or thurst.

This course provides a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith in the Triune God, drawing upon biblical, theological, confessional and contemporary resources. Together we will cultivate theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Prerequisite: SG 0401 Thinking Theologically Confessing Publicly Equivalency: ST0415 or ST0425 or ST0435 ST Core Course

What are the concerns and prominent themes among Christians in the Global South? Why should we listen? As the Christian Church shifts its demographic density to the South, new theological perspectives populate the ecumenical and confessional conversation. This course will focus upon the theological themes and methods emerging from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and how the classical doctrinal themes are approached from these contexts enriching and expanding the perspectives of the North-American churches. Prerequisite: SG0401 - Thinking Theologically

What are the concerns and prominent themes among Christians in the Global South? Why should we listen? As the Christian Church shifts its demographic density to the South, new theological perspectives populate the ecumenical and confessional conversation. This course will focus upon the theological themes and methods emerging from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and how the classical doctrinal themes are approached from these contexts enriching and expanding the perspectives of the North-American churches. Prerequisite: Core course in ST

This course examines the encounter of the Christian church with the practices and beliefs of the major world religions in the local, regional and global contexts. It explores the claims, beliefs, and practices of these religions and how they relate to our identity as Christians. Students will also study different contemporary paradigms that seek to understand these encounters within a Trinitarian theology of religions. PRE-REQUISITE: SG0401 Thinking Theologically

This course is a study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology, spirituality and ethics in view of the major challenges posited to the Christian church by the rise of secularism, totalitarianism, persecution, racism, war and injustice. Special attention will be given to Bonhoeffer’s creative re-reading of the Lutheran tradition, the use of Scripture and the confessions, the outlines of his political theology, his re-introduction of the notion of status confessions in the face of the “Jewish Question,” his consideration of natural law and the State, Christian responsibility, mandates, vocation, peace and love, and the meaning of faith in a religionless world. His ethical paradigm will be analyzed in relation to the Roman Catholic understanding of natural law and the Reformed use of the third use of the law. Prerequisite: SG0401 - Thinking Theologically

This course examines the encounter of the Christian church with the practices and beliefs of the major world religions in the local, regional and global contexts. It explores the claims, beliefs, and practices of these religions and how they relate to our identity as Christians. Students will also study different contemporary paradigms that seek to understand these encounters within a Trinitarian theology of religions.

This course provides a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith in the Triune God, drawing upon biblical, theological, confessional and contemporary resources. Together we will cultivate theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Pre-requisite: SG 0401 Thinking Theologically Confessing Publicly

“You shall have no other gods,” what does it mean in our present consumerist age? This course is a study of the biblical, patristic and reformation understandings of faith in relation to the economy, particularly as a “holy order” through which God ministers to us and we minister one another. It seeks to provide an analysis of the historical and structural emergence of capital, the market system and consumerism and analyze it through the theological lens provided by the First Commandment and the doctrine of the two kingdoms. It will explore theological and ethical criteria for Christian vocation and provide tools for moral deliberation in ministry and congregational settings around economic issues. Pre-requisite: SG0401 - Thinking Theologically

This course focuses on the Triune God's creating, sustaining, and reforming work of justice and reconciliation in the world today. Students will explore a range of biblical, theological, and ecumenical perspectives in dialogue with philiosophical and sociological approaches to theories of justice, to the interconnections of different situations and systems of injustice, and to various theories and practices of reconciliation. PREREQUISITE: SG0401 - Thinking Theologically

“You shall have no other gods,” what does it mean in our present consumerist age? This course is a study of the biblical, patristic and reformation understandings of faith in relation to the economy, particularly as a “holy order” through which God ministers to us and we minister one another. It seeks to provide an analysis of the historical and structural emergence of capital, the market system and consumerism and analyze it through the theological lens provided by the First Commandment and the doctrine of the two kingdoms. It will explore theological and ethical criteria for Christian vocation and provide tools for moral deliberation in ministry and congregational settings around economic issues.