Learning Lab – Course – Developments in Christian thought Units

Augustine and Human Nature

Human nature as fallen
Original Sin
Freewill and predestination
Grace

Approx 6 hours of guided learning.

Christianity and Science

Atheism and the narrative of warfare. Stephen Gould Non-overlapping magisterial
Aliser McGrath – Theory of Complementarity
God of Gaps, Darwinian and neo Darwinian evolution, The Big Bang, John Polkinghorne, Different Christian responses to the issues raised by genetic engineering.

Guest lectures: Dr Andrew Pinsent, University of Oxford Science and Religion.

Keith Ward, University of Oxford: Darwinian evolution

Approx. 30 hours of guided learning with 31 videos, lecture notes, original sources, 2 podcasts, activities, 11 multiple choice quizzes, 2 guest lectures.

Developing ideas about God

This set of lessons will help you to understand how beliefs about God have changed over time. We will study the causes for changing ideas and evaluate the significance of similarities and differences in beliefs.

This section will take you from the earliest ideas in the Bible right through to modern ideas about God found, for example, in Liberation Theology and Process Thought.

Remember that exam questions may span more than one topic.

Christian ideas about God have influenced individuals, communities and societies for thousands of years, so a good grounding in this unit will help you to think outside of the box for great essay writing, but it will also help you understand the world in which you live.

• The emergence of Christian monotheism in the Bible
• God as Trinity
• God as wholly simple, transcendent
• God as immanent and personal
• God as Love
• God in Liberation Theology (preparation for Christianity and the challenge of secularization; social relevance of Christianity)
• God in Process Theology

From the Bible to Liberation Theology, Marx and beyond

Presenter: Julie Arliss

• Background to Liberation Theology; God in the Bible, God as Trinity, God as wholly Simple, God as transcendent and wholly other.
• Marx and Liberation Theology
• Marx’s teaching on alienation and exploitation
• The preferential option for the poor
• Orthodoxy and orthopraxis
• Evaluation
• Beyond Liberation Theology; Process Theology

Gender, Society and Theology

Gender and Society. Historical and social factors which have influenced Christian thinking
Debates about female ordination
Gender and Theology. A comparison of Daly, Hampson and Ruether’s approaches
Different views about celibacy, marriage, homosexuality and transgender issues

Guest Lectures: Professor Daphne Hampson, University of Oxford

Dr Lena Tiemeyer, University of Aberdeen.

Approx. 8 hours of guided learning.

Pluralism

• Religious pluralism and society: migration, multiculturalism & religious diversity. Interfaith dialogue
• John Hick’s Pluralistic hypothesis and contemporary Christian theology, (exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism).
• Tolerance
• Diversity within Christianity & different views including ecumenism.

Two guest lectures:
Professor Keith Ward, University of Oxford. The Pluralistic hypothesis.

Guest lecture. Professor Tom Greggs, University of Aberdeen. Religious Pluralism.

Approx 15 hours of guided learning.

Secularism

Secularisation

• Secularisation – theory or ideology?
• Secularisation as ideology – liberal, political, critical.
• Militant Atheism
• Individualisation of religion to the personal sphere
• Christianity and public life
• Post secularism and religious resurgence. Fresh expressions. The Scriptural Reasoning movement.
• Roman Catholic response to secularisation – Vatican 2
• Christian Responses to wealth
• Marx & Liberation Theology – A preferential option for the poor; orthodoxy and orthopraxis

Guest lecturers: AC Grayling and Tom Holland.

Approx 15 hours guided learning.

Sources and Expressions of Religious Identity

Baptism
Holy Communion (Mass)
The mission of the Church

Guest speaker
Dr Leon Van Ommen. University of Aberdeen. The Sacraments
Dr Leon Van Ommen. University of Aberdeen. Symbols and Practices in Christianity

Approx 6 hours of guided learning.

Wisdom and Authority

Different sources of authority in Christianity, and their relative importance for different Christians: Bible, Church, Martin Luther, Religious experience, Protestant Christianity, Evangelical Christianity, Fundamentalist Christianity. Different Christian views on the authority of conscience. Case study: Bonhoeffer.

Guest lectures:
Professor Tom Greggs, University of Aberdeen, Faith and Reason

Johannes Zachhuber, University of Oxford, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Professor Tom Greggs, University of Aberdeen, Christianity, Bonhoeffer and Pacifism

Approx. 30 hours of guided learning with 19 videos, course notes, 10 multiple choice quizzes, activities, 3 guest lectures.