THEO271Ancient Church History
3 credits
The objective of this course is to initiate students in the reading and understanding of Christianity during its rise and its religious, social and doctrinal development in ancient times. First, students will study the encounter/conflict between Christianity and Judaism, then the encounter/conflict between Christianity and the pagan Roman society on the religious and social levels. Second, students will examine the history of ideas and dogmas between the third and fifth centuries. This will lead students to the development of bilateral relations between Empire/Church and Christianity of the East and that of the West. A special attention will be given in this course to the historical development of the Antiochian Church.
THEO241Basics of Sacramental Theology and Liturgy
3 credits
The sacraments cannot be understood or experienced unless they are based on a fundamental theological approach that highlights the sacramentality of the Church in relation to the salvation of Christ and the active role of the Holy Spirit. The objective of this course is to shed light on this approach and introduce students to the extensive and particular study of each sacrament.
THEO452Bioethics
2 credits
Human beings have gained more and more power over nature due to the development of science and technology. And thanks to advances in biology, they are seeking to control health, reproduction and genetics. Hence, the eternal question is: Is what is possible desirable? This biological-techno-scientific turmoil which underlies effective medicine meets another socio-cultural and ideological debate that has influenced the representations of life and death, health and sickness, care and preventive, and curative or palliative treatments. These changes have led to a huge social and intellectual phenomenon embodied with the emergence of the term bioethics in 1971.
The bioethics course covers three areas: reproductive technologies (artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, prenatal diagnosis, abortion, contraception, and genetic engineering); the application of techniques at the end of life (euthanasia, palliative care, and organ harvesting); and medical experimentation on the human body and cloning.
THEO481Canon Law: Marriage
3 credits
This course corresponds to the canons 667-775 about the sacraments, and 776-866 about marriage, of the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches.
The course will help students to differentiate between what is licit and valid and what is illicit and invalid in the different sacraments. Special attention is given to the sacrament of marriage, with explanation of the historical development of this sacrament, and the novelty of the CCEO in relation to previous legislation; the pastoral and theological range of the canons will also be highlighted.
The adopted methodology helps students familiarize themselves with the code read and interpreted in class and they will learn the legal terminology. It grants them the ease of dealing with marital conflicts and introduces them to the appropriate bodies at the social, pastoral, or legal levels.
THEO281Canon Law: Norms, Institutions and Persons
3 credits
After an introduction to the norms of Canon Law, the course deals with the two sections on institutions and people in the Church organization (c. 1-583).
In the first part corresponding to the canons 1-322, we will clarify the concept of "the Sui iuris Church " and how a faithful Christian becomes a member, and we will show the variety of Sui iuris Churches which form part of the Oriental Churches, as well as their structures and their managing authorities.
As for the "People", we will deal with three categories of Christian believers: the clerics (323-398 c.), the lay persons (399-409 c.), the monks and other religious persons (410-583 c.), in order to show the legal status of each of these three categories in addition to their rights and duties.
THEO431Christian Anthropology
3 credits
This course consists of three distinct parts, namely: the treatise of creation, the treatise of original sin and the treatise of grace. It aims to explain the content of the Christian doctrine of creation of the human being in God's image, with different biblical positions in opposition to scientific theories of origins. Then, the course examines the doctrine of original sin and attempts to formulate the problem of evil by explaining the impact of sin on the situation of the human being. After a brief overview on the scriptural doctrine of the original sin, we cover the Augustinian doctrine of the original sin, by reviewing ecclesial decisions and scholastic theology. At the end of the course, we tackle the theme of grace in order to better grasp the significance of salvation that culminates in the incarnation of Christ and the meaning of the human being’s life as a creature totally open to Him, and this in communion with all creatures.
THEO232Christology
3 credits
Christology is the core and foundation of the Christian dogma. It presents, develops and explains the fundamental profession of Christian faith: "Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior." It is the principle of the whole Christian theology, and the short word of faith.
THEO231Ecclesiology
3 credits | Pre-requisite: THEO 220
This course is an introduction to Catholic ecclesiology found in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, particularly in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, its ultimate expression and the fundamental source of renewing the concept of Church in fidelity to the Bible and to Tradition.
THEO221Ecumenism
2 credits
This course meets the recommendation of the Second Vatican Council to give future pastors of the Church, and also all believers, an ecumenical education which aims to strive for the construction of one Church of Christ in the world. This education is especially important in the life of our Oriental Churches that live beside one another.
After presenting the unity challenge and the divisions danger, especially the roots of certain doctrinal issues, their branching and development throughout history, the course explores the situations of today’s Churches and Christian communities, explains the foundations of ecumenical behavior, and determines ways that contribute to the reestablishment of Christian unity. The course outlines clearly the history of the ecumenical movement which emerged in the early twentieth century and which had deeply influenced the life of various Churches, by stimulating the desire for visible unity and communion among all Christians.
THEO432Eschatology
2 credits
In the Nicene symbol, the "resurrection of the flesh" and "eternal life" are the last explicitation of faith in the Holy Spirit. Life under the Holy Spirit possesses a dynamism that tends to a future fulfillment, during which it will reach its entire fullness. The course is divided into two stages: first, we will study the general, collective and universal eschatology, that is to say, the completion of the world, and then move to the individual eschatology or the fulfillment of the individual. This order responds better to the account of the biblical history of salvation, and clarifies at the same time an intrinsic logic: hope for the individual is placed in a broader horizon, that of hope for the world
THEO451Family Ethics, Sexuality and Marriage
3 credits
Based on a Christian anthropology, marriage and sexuality involve human and spiritual attitudes, which, along with the physical and corporal activities related to it, engage the whole human person. The history of salvation progressively reveals the ultimate and deep meaning of sexuality and marriage, namely the love that is rooted in God's love. However, conjugal sexuality requires an awareness of the inevitable link between its many dimensions: physical, psychological, social, cultural and religious. Through their union, morality and Christian faith have values that grant dignity to human sexuality.
On the other hand, forms of cohabitation and marriage, influenced by gender theories, as the PACS, cohabitation, marriage for all, are on the rise in several societies, threatening therefore the "traditional" image of marriage and family. It is urgent and useful to rediscover the principles and values of the Catholic Church teachings on the sacrament of marriage and the family in order to meet the challenges that these forms cause to its pastoral care of the family.
THEO251Fundamental Moral Theology
3 credits
This Fundamental Moral Theology course deals with the Christian action in a rational process, while relying on the Holy Scripture, and placing Tradition, Magisterium and human sciences within a contemporary situation scenario.
The course will particularly address: Biblical perspectives of moral theology, its creative evolution and fundamental principles, such as freedom, responsibility, will, the good and the bad in the act, conscience, law, sin, conversion, salvation and revelation, theological and human virtues, bliss as the end of all Christian actions.
Following a careful reading of the Veritatis Splendor encyclical and the document of the International Theological Commission on the natural law, we will present some new perspectives for moral thoughts, illustrated and enlightened by two concrete examples.
THEO421Islam
3 credits
This course is an introduction to Islam, as both a religion and a tradition consisting of various schools of thought. After examining the origin of Islam and the history and themes of the Quran, it approaches the major doctrinal and philosophical patterns of the different branches of Islam and their practices. Students are encouraged to engage a dialogue with Muslims who constitute the major religion in the region.
THEO312Johannine Corpus
3 credits
This is an introduction to the Johannine corpus, with particular emphasis on the fourth Gospel. The course will focus on the texts themselves, and on the different environments of their composition. In order to approach these testimonies of faith, passages under study are resituated in the historical context of their development and analyzed using narrative and rhetorical strategies used by the authors of communal and personal literary books.
THEO371Medieval Church History
3 credits
The middle Ages is inserted between Antiquity and Modern Times and lasts for almost a thousand years. It covers three major eras of civilization: Byzantium, the Occident and the Arab and Muslim World. Every civilization tries to forge the causes of its livelihood and life and interact with each other in different ways: sometimes by the development of trade and intellectual exchange, sometimes by the constraints of violence and war. The Church strives for this long period of being the vector of union, peace and intellectual and spiritual development. The course is assigned to teach students about the structures of permanence and change beyond the contingencies of turmoil.
THEO441Orders and Healing Sacraments
3 credits
This course aims to help students discover the theological foundations of ministries and the sacraments of healing, penance and anointing of the sick.
The question of ministries is a particularly important chapter of ecclesiology, simply because the departments are above all in the service of the Church. This issue entails multiple dimensions: historical, sociological, theological, canonic, pastoral, and ecumenical, and it is conditioned by the realities of church life and, consequently, subject to constant evolution.
THEO361Pastoral and Practical Theology
3 credits
This course is an introduction to pastoral and practical theology. If theology was the Christian faith in search of its intelligence, the theological disciplines that offer theology students the keys to the broad “Science of God” and to its salvation in the world would be numerous and various. Practical (and pastoral) theology is one of these disciplines, but with the distinction of being more oriented towards the Christian praxis which brings together the different aspects of the Christian faith and its various transmissions in communities, parishes, groups, catechesis or others. The Christian experience is understood at this point as a “response” to the Word of God received by Revelation and “recovered” in the Tradition. This experience is “imposed” in practical (and pastoral) theology in a theological place where intelligence of the Christian faith occurs.
This discipline, as entitled in this course (pastoral and practical), covers two levels of thinking and research; the first “empirical” and the second “applied”. The empirical level is that of practical theology which proceeds to an analytical reading of how faith is experienced among the People of God (theology of practice). The “applied” level is that of the pastoral theology which seeks to find the best way to convey and accompany faith among the People of God. In their quests of meaning, both types of theology, pastoral and practical, refer to theological knowledge conferred by all other theological disciplines, as well as to many other disciplines related to human sciences and others.
THEO272Patrology
3 credits
This course aims to introduce students to the theology of the Church Fathers, as a living and unique testimony of the life of the Church during this period of the expression of faith, i.e. the period of the main ecumenical councils (1st - 8th century).
First, the course will outline the socio-cultural, theological and ecclesial backgrounds of the Fathers, then the biographical traits of their lives and the list of their works. Finally, the major axes of the theological thought of the Fathers will be identified based on the analysis of some representative texts.
We will conclude by showing the role and the importance of Fathers in the life of the ancient and contemporary Church.
THEO411Pauline Corpus
3 credits
The course mainly focuses on the thirteen epistles which are part of the Pauline school. It covers the epistles ranging from the Romans to Philemon, as ranked by our Bibles.
Before studying the epistles themselves, we start with two preliminary parts. The first part studies the life of the Saint Paul according to the Acts and to the epistles; the second part presents the epistolary genre, the categories of epistles and some hints for a better understanding of the studied epistles.
THEO211Pentateuch and Historical Books
3 credits | Pre-requisite: THEO 202 - THEO 210
It is basically the first course on the Old Testament. It aims to introduce students to the biblical exegesis and allows them to be well informed about this biblical corpus, its books, its characters and its theology.
After a brief introduction on the importance of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament, the course highlights a detailed reading of a number of texts covering different literary genres and theological currents of this corpus. This will lead to the understanding of the biblical concept of "history" and its theological meaning, as well as its key issues such as land, election, royalty, politics, and exile.
THEO412Psalms and Wisdom Scriptures
3 credits
The wisdom books are an assortment of the Old Testament books seeking to convey a moral teaching. This set includes the Psalms, Book of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Wisdom.
THEO335Research Seminar: Dogmatic, Patristic and Sacramental Theology
2 credits
Research seminars are designed to initiate students in dogmatic theology by examining the right methodological approaches while focusing on a book, author or theme. During the weekly meetings in small groups, participants to seminar are invited to engage in discussion by exposing their thoughts and projects on a chosen theme, before producing a research paper.
THEO215Research Seminar: Holy Scriptures
2 credits | Pre-requisite: THEO 201 - THEO 202- THEO 210
Research seminars are designed to initiate students in doing biblical theology by examining the right methodological approaches while focusing on a biblical book or biblical theme. During the weekly meetings in small groups, participants to seminar are invited to engage in discussion by exposing their thoughts and projects on a chosen theme, before producing a research paper.
THEO455Research Seminar: Moral and Pastoral Theology
2 credits
Research seminars are designed to initiate students in moral and/or pastoral theology by examining the right methodological approaches while focusing on a book, author or theme. During the weekly meetings in small groups, participants to seminar are invited to engage in discussion by exposing their thoughts and projects on a chosen theme, before producing a research paper.
THEO341Sacraments of Christian Initiation
3 credits
The course aims to highlight the theological foundations of the Sacraments of Initiation: baptism which gives access to the Body of Christ and the divine adoption, completed by the confirmation that is the work of the Holy Spirit living in the heart of the believers as in a temple, and crowned by the Eucharist which is the real and historical incorporation into the ecclesial body of Christ. The course is largely based on the baptism catechesis of Cyril of Jerusalem, Theodore of Mopsuestia and John Chrysostom, and shows the evolution of sacramental doctrine of the Church with special emphasis on the teaching of the Council of Trent.
THEO212Synoptics and Acts of the Apostles
3 credits | Pre-requisite: THEO 201 - THEO 210
The synoptic writings are introduced in this course, namely: the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, in addition to the Acts of the Apostles which is the second volume of the Lucan work.
The course starts with an introduction on the "synoptic question" and the adoption of the modified theory of the two documents, followed by the study of each of these writings and their most important themes.
The approach is synchronic. The method adopted is criticism of the composition which is a specification of the writing criticism which reviews the editorial activity of the author in order to discover the theological thought.
THEO331The Holy Trinity
3 credits
This course deals with the mystery of Trinity which is at the heart of the Christian faith, the core of the Gospel and the Christian mark of discourse about God. It starts with an introduction designed to show the place of Trinitarian theology in the whole Christian dogma, and consists of four parts, biblical, historical, systematic and patristic, in order to rejoin in their own site in the ever-actual “places” of any Trinitarian theology.
THEO311The Prophets
3 credits
The course aims to study the prophets’ school of thought, their writings, their role in the history of salvation and the major themes of their preaching. This course is based on a text analysis with all the available exegetical techniques. However, these writings are sacred and revealed texts, containing a theology and a religious message that are valid for every believer. It is therefore necessary to grasp their theological meaning and discover their relevance in our life today.
THEO321Theology of Religions
3 credits
The course presents the Christian theology of religions within a perspective of fundamental theology in dialogue with other theological disciplines (anthropological, Christological, Trinitarian, ecclesiological and practical). Teaching focuses on the development of theology from the Second Vatican Council and aims to introduce students to the extensive reading of the relevant main texts of the Magisterium.
THEO352Theology of Spirituality and Oriental Mystic
3 credits
The dwelling of God in the human being and participation in the Trinitarian life are at the heart of the Christian faith. This course aims to deepen the scope of this statement in the light of biblical and spiritual tradition, by highlighting the essential dimensions of the Christian spiritual life: experimental (experience of God, marriage ...), Trinitarian (divine filiation, God’s will, the paschal mystery, christocentricity, living in the Holy Spirit, gifts, charisma ...) ecclesial, liturgical (prayers), dynamic (path towards the union with God, stages of spiritual growth) and by presenting some great schools of Christian spiritualities and important figures who marked the history of Christian spirituality.