encourage students to think about the challenges facing the
church in the modern period
reflect on how in particular students cope with beliefs and
ethics in the modern period
encourage those on the edge or outside of the church to feel
the end of the courses, students will
why Christians must rethink their understanding of faith in
each new age
enjoyed in thoughtful reflection upon the challenges posed to
belief and ethics
appreciate the importance of reaching those in exile from the
1: Then and Now: the Big Picture
2: Beyond theism.
2: Christology and Doctrine
1: Finding Jesus
2: What do
we do with the creeds?
3: Reading the Bible
1. Reclaiming the Bible from the Fundamentalists
2. Understanding the
Bible as a Jewish Book
4. A modern Ethic.
1. Hot button issues: Gays and Lesbians
2. Living in sin.
belonging to the Church
1. The Church and
2. Why one should
still belong despite the patriarchy, homophobia and intolerance of
six page (double spaced) book review of Why Christianity Must
Change or Die by John Shelby Spong.
fifteen page research paper on a title linked to one of the themes
in the course and agreed with the Teaching Assistant.
book for purchase:
John Shelby Spong, Why Christianity Must Change or Die
Shelby Spong, Living in Sin?
John Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism
John Shelby Spong, Born of a Woman
John Shelby Spong, Resurrection: Myth or Reality
John Shelby Spong, A New Christianity for a New World
Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity Rediscovering the
Life of Faith
Marcus Borg, The God we never knew: Beyond Dogmatic
Religion to a more contemporary faith.
Lloyd Geering, The world to come
Lloyd Geering, A Christianity without God.
John D. Crossan, Jesus A Revolutionary Biography.
Robert Walter Funk, A
Credible Jesus. Fragments of a vision