Courses

• STH TM 857: TM857: Theologies of Mission and Development for a Globalized Era
  This interdisciplinary course will look at two terms that are very important to contemporary experience but that often create cross-cultural confusion. Moving beyond thinking of "mission" just as service and/or evangelism and "development" in a materialist, industrial sense, we will attempt to create new awareness suitable for an era of climate change, economic inequity, and resource wars. Guiding our analysis will be information from worldviews that do not see things as split into sacred and secular realms. Self-reflection will go into the historically dominant role of the United States and American Christianity in forming current policies and practices and we will consider what alternative views might mean for the world's future.
• STH TM 860: African Traditional Religions
  African traditional religions are considered in light of other primal religions, their significance in contemporary society, liberation struggles, and environmental endeavors. The course also analyzes the African traditional religions?Christian encounter, with a view towards the dynamics of conversion and Christian contextualization. Finally, the development of the theology of religions in African Initiated Churches is considered. Also offered as TM 960 for doctoral students.
• STH TM 863: African Christianity
  Seminar exploring African Christian theologies and cultural issues, with special emphasis on Southern Africa. The course covers such themes as the nature of God, the problem of evil, environmentalism, gender, and indigenous churches. Also offered as STH TM 963 for doctoral students.
• STH TM 910: History of Christian Mission
  A seminar in the history of Christian missions, from the early church to the present. Issues of historiography, method, and the emergence of non-western church history. Required course for doctoral students in mission studies.
• STH TM 930: History of Missiology
  Seminar on the classic Protestant mission theorists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Required for doctoral students in mission studies.
• STH TM 931: Readings in Contemporary Missiology
  Readings and discussions of important works in missiology from the 1960?s to the present. This course begins where TH/TM 930 ends. Required for doctoral students in mission studies
• STH TM 960: African Traditional Religions
  African traditional religions are considered in light of other primal religions, their significance in contemporary society, liberation struggles, and environmental endeavors. The course also analyzes the African traditional religions?Christian encounter, with a view towards the dynamics of conversion and Christian contextualization. Finally, the development of the theology of religions in African Initiated Churches is considered. Also offered as TM 860 for masters students.
• STH TN 721: New Testament Introduction
  Content of the New Testament writing in its historical setting and special attention to its relevance today. Required of MDiv, MTS, and MSM students. This course is a prerequisite for all New Testament II courses. MDIV & MTS CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TN 723: New Testament Greek I
  Introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of the Greek New Testament. For students with no training in Greek. (Credit for STH TN 723 is only given after successful completion of STH TN 724.)
• STH TN 724: New Testament Greek II
  Continues and presupposes STH TN 723.
• STH TN 803: Jesus in the Gospels
  A theological and exegetical study; attention to literary and religio-historical problems.
• STH TN 804: The Christian Bible: a History
  This course provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the nature of biblical authority carefully and prayerfully in light of the many competing claims about what it means, and has meant, to read the Bible.
• STH TN 805: Pauline Studies
  Paul's life, letters, and thoughts are considered historically and in their bearing upon Christian theology.
• STH TN 806: The Johannine Literature
  The interpretation of Jesus and Christianity in the Gospel of John, the Johannine letters, and the Revelation of John.
• STH TN 810: The Social Setting of Early Christianity
  The focus of the course will be the economy, society, and culture of the Greco-Roman world in which the first Christians lived. The purpose of the course is to introduce the student to the social world that produced the New Testament and other early Christian literature, including martyrdoms and apologies. We will read primary and secondary sources on Roman history (early imperial period), ancient Judaism (from Alexander the Great to the revolt by the messianic figure Bar Kochba), Greco-Roman religions (with focus on the "pagan spirituality" of the ancient mystery religions), and the reaction by Roman magistrates and pagan intellectuals to the new Christian movement. Such context is essential for reconstructing the life, religion, society, and culture of the ancient Christians.
• STH TN 813: Letter to the Romans
  Analysis of Paul's most systemic letter with special attention to the themes of election, justification by faith, ethics, and new Israel. Romans' historical impact on Luther, Wesley, Barth, and Bultmann.
• STH TN 816: Greek Reading I
  Political, religious, cultural, and social features of the world of early Christianity and of the diverse world views held by early Christians and their Jewish and pagan contemporaries. Walters or Knust. MDiv New Testament II Core Elective if taken with TN 723/TN 724/TN 816 for a total of ten credit hours.
• STH TN 818: New Testament Theology
  History of New Testament theology and its relationships to dogmatics. Variety and unity in the New Testament. The message of Jesus and the kerygma of the Apostolic Church. Problem of faith and language.
• STH TN 820: The Gospel of Mark
  English exegesis of the gospel according to Mark.
• STH TN 825: Gender & Family in Early Christianity
  A study of early Christian perspectives on gender, sexuality, marriage, divorce, household arrangements and family life, as expressed in New Testament and other early Christian writings, within the context of ancient Mediterranean teachings and practice. Topics will include: the impact of slavery on family arrangements, the roles of women in the household and society, ancient beliefs about masculinity and femininity, and the function of arguments regarding "natural" sexuality in earliest Christian discourse.

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