Department Of Theology Research Articles

The role of theology in a university curriculum

In this article, I reflect on the role that the teaching of Christian theology would play in the curricula of those universities that understand themselves as places of Christian-inspired culture. I begin with a brief historical overview of the presence of theology in the context of university studies, recalling the views outlined in their respective epochs by Immanuel Kant, John Henry Newman, and Karl Rahner. Following Benedict XVI's call to expand the boundaries of rationality, I also consider how such an expansion should include theology as well as other sources of knowledge. I then suggest what characteristics theology should have when it is taught in the context of a public university campus. It happens, for instance, that some ‘Catholic’ and Christian-inspired universities decide to include some theological programs. In such a public context, Christian theology is called to explore the relationship between the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God of philosophers and scientists, to highlight the ultimate questions raised by the sciences and by philosophical thought in general, and to relate them to the content of Revelation. For theology, this means having sufficient knowledge of the other sciences, and being aware that the Word of God also has something to say about the physical universe and the whole of human history, as they are studied by contemporary scientific culture. In this respect, fundamental theology seems to have a more appropriate method than dogmatic or moral theology, at least for initiating interdisciplinary dialogue in a university context. Finally, I suggest that in order to preserve and promote the Christian identity of a Catholic university, whether legally or de facto Catholic, it is not enough to teach theology or even to have a theology department, nor is it enough to offer activities of spiritual formation. Since Christian inspiration and identity are inherent in academic life and culture, in order to preserve and nourish them, we also need the theology taught in these institutions to have a clear scientific status and a good academic level.

Using the “most significant change” technique to evaluate the teaching competence and psycho-emotional development of prospective teachers during the teaching practicum

PurposeThis paper presents the results of empirical research on the effects of teaching practice on student teachers’ teaching competence and psycho-emotional development using the “most significant change” narrative investigative technique.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a qualitative research approach, the study was conducted during the academic year 2021–2022 in two phases (January and May) with the participation of 73 student teachers of the Department of Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) during their mentored teaching practice. Student teachers’ narratives were collected and analysed using the most significant change technique (Davies and Dart, 2005). Content analysis was conducted with the contribution of seven independent judges.FindingsThe results indicate that the Teaching Practice course with the guidance of mentors has a direct and positive effect on student teachers’ teaching competence. Mentors also seem to have a positive effect on student teachers’ psycho-emotional development. The research also confirms the reliability of the most significant change narrative technique for investigating the effect of related educational interventions.Originality/valueThe study empirically validates the usefulness and potential of the investigative narrative most significant change technique for evaluating the effects of teaching practice on student teachers’ professional development with the guidance of experienced mentor teachers. The results of the study also have implications for the design and evaluation of teacher practice programmes.

Moving methodologies. Doing practical and missional theology in an African context

Moving methodologies is an edited volume with the focus on doing practical and missional theology within an African context. The volume is written by scholars from the Department of Practical and Missional Theology at Stellenbosch University. The authors of the different chapters are from different races, genders, and denominations, as well as from different sub-disciplines within the department. The diversity of different voices from various angles in this volume should be appreciated.

The Digital Public Square: Christian Ethics in a Technological Society

The Digital Public Square: Christian Ethics in a Technological Society

The Origin of Humanity and Evolution: Science and Scripture in Conversation

The Origin of Humanity and Evolution: Science and Scripture in Conversation

Technē: Christian Visions of Technology

Technē: Christian Visions of Technology

Determining the Basics of Strengthening Learning: How Students Overcome the Problem of New Testament Interpretation

This study aims to find the dominant reasons why students experience difficulties in conducting exegesis research in writing a thesis in determining the main points of strengthening learning for the New Testament Interpretation course of the Theological Department, Faculty of Theological Sciences Tarutung State Institute for Christian Studies in 2022. The primary data of this study was obtained from the answers to interview questions for 17 out of 20 student participants who this year are contracting a thesis course. The results of the analysis of the participants' answers showed that the dominant difficulty experienced by the participants was in the preparation of descriptions and analysis of apparatus text, which was at the level of 26%, which was at the level of 0-54% or at the level of difficulty 'unable to do'. Based on the answers of the participants, it was shown that they 'did not understand' in working on the preparation of descriptions and analysis of apparatus text as an answer to the problem of this study. Other reasons equivalent to this level are the difficulty of compiling: analysis of the sentence structure of the text, biblical context/theology (the sacred nature of the text), exegesis works with general patterns, text translation, comparative analysis of text translation, analysis of words, grammars and syntax of the text. The reasons for the difficulty of the second level at 55–64% namely 'not knowing enough or not understanding enough or confused' are in the area: compiling a literary analysis of the text, and establishing a sub-sub-focus of discussion. Based on the results of the data analysis, in addition to other factors, the research team concluded that the participants had limited understanding in working on the detailed instructions presented in the teaching materials of the New Testament Interpretation course. Based on the results of this analysis, recommendations were given: [1] in order to eliminate difficulties in conducting exegesis research in thesis writing, participants must understand and follow technical instructions and examples in working on each analysis of exegesis data on the texts of the New Testament Bible and [2] the teaching lecturers emphasized the two dominant levels of abstraction research difficulties in the learning process of the New Testament Interpretation course.

Wilgefortis as an example of Transing logics: Before/after Enlightenment thinking

The German QuarterlyEarly View FORUM Wilgefortis as an example of Transing logics: Before/after Enlightenment thinking Roberto Che Espinoza, Corresponding Author Roberto Che Espinoza [email protected] Department of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA Correspondence Roberto Che Espinoza, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Email: [email protected] Stephanie A. Budwey, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorStephanie A. Budwey, Corresponding Author Stephanie A. Budwey [email protected] Department of Homiletics and Liturgics, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Correspondence Roberto Che Espinoza, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Email: [email protected] Stephanie A. Budwey, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Roberto Che Espinoza, Corresponding Author Roberto Che Espinoza [email protected] Department of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA Correspondence Roberto Che Espinoza, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Email: [email protected] Stephanie A. Budwey, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorStephanie A. Budwey, Corresponding Author Stephanie A. Budwey [email protected] Department of Homiletics and Liturgics, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Correspondence Roberto Che Espinoza, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Email: [email protected] Stephanie A. Budwey, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 14 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/gequ.12352Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

Conclusion

Conclusion Domenik Ackermann (bio) The most recent generation of scholars engaging in comparative theological discourse has elevated issues of decoloniality and questions around decentering Western Christian theology. The discourses in this issue of CrossCurrents strive to be in line with a decolonial approach both on a meta-level and on the level of theological content. Indeed, in all of the articles presented here, the contributors imply that a comparative theology that wishes to engage seriously in decoloniality must reflect on and rethink the meaning of land, with its many facets of meaning and importance. On the topic, the contributions to this special issue on theologies of land not only showcase a kaleidoscope of meanings that land can have but also reveal that there is potential for further comparative theological engagement. We delineated how places, soil, and geography have theological meanings that reach into relevant meta-theological questions, as well as cultural and even political conversations. By way of conclusion, I should like only to mention possible pathways for further conversation. Clearly, the relevance of land with respect to religious traditions' identities reaches beyond the four perspectives presented here. There has been engagement in historical theology and the question of colonization, as well as studies in scriptures about the meaning of land, soil, and Israel. However, discourse across and between traditions is still a novelty. Our discourse on land, specifically, provokes me to think about what perspectives present themselves from native traditions outside the Batak, Anishinaabe, or Naga traditions. What further insights about the significance of land can we gain from the ongoing cultural-political discourses with Native people in colonized countries (such as those in North America, Africa, and Australia, to name just a few)? How can dialogue about land include Muslim insights, especially in the context of conversations about Israel and Palestine? These are but a few questions of many that must be asked. Finally, how can land, as a [End Page 86] paradox between porosity and particularity, help us further understand multiplicity and interconnectedness? The conversations that the four of us engaged in during the process of compiling this issue were rich and insightful. It is our hope that this conversation sparks interest in a broader theological conversation. I personally thank Michelle Voss Roberts, Hesron Sihombing and O'neil van Horn for availing themselves and creating these thoughtful and thought-provoking articles. I also thank Paul Hedges for introducing us, and S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate for offering CrossCurrents as an outlet for our conversations. [End Page 87] Domenik Ackermann Domenik Ackermann studied Protestant Theology in Göttingen (Germany), Heidelberg (Germany), and Beirut (Lebanon) with a focus on ecumenical issues and interfaith questions. A Ph. D. Candidate at the Theology Department at Boston College, his research interests include comparative theological and liturgical studies on Christianity and Judaism with a particular emphasis on the function of memory in prayerful activity. His dissertation "Prayerful Memory. What Christian Theology Can Learn from Jewish Practice" explores the meaning of prayer as an experience through Jean-Louis-Chrétien and Johann Baptist Metz in dialogue with Jewish liturgical functions of prayer. Domenik is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). Copyright © 2023 Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life

About This Issue

About This Issue David J. Endres This issue considers the current state of U.S. Catholic historiography. The assembled studies chart developments in historians’ approaches to topics that include gender, race, and social change. They examine scholarly contributors and suggest areas for further research. We are grateful to our contributors. Sandra Yocum is associate professor in the Religious Studies Department and University Professor of Faith and Culture at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. She is also a consulting editor of our journal. Margaret M. McGuinness is professor emerita in the Department of Religion and Theology at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jeffrey M. Burns is the director of the Academy of American Franciscan History and a faculty member of the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego. He is also an associate editor of our journal. Brian J. Clites is assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies and associate director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Jillian Plummer is assistant professor of Catholic Studies at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. [End Page i] Copyright © 2023 The Catholic University of America Press

Schyłek kanonii akademickich w krakowskiej Kapitule katedralnej?

The Jagiellonian restoration of the University of Cracow, founded in 1364, took place in 1400. Besides the legacy of Queen Hedwig and King Wladysław Jagiełło, Piotr Wysz, the Bishop of Cracow, donated to the University two canonries in the Wawel Cathedral Chapter. Since then, the University nominated candidates to these offices thus providing them with the necessary financial support. They were called the academic canonries and the designated professors – the academic canons. Even during the time when the nobility usurped the exclusive right to nominate canons, two seats in the Chapter were always reserved for the University. The Senate of the University presented the candidates to the canonries for more than 500 years. The article deals with the academic canonries after 1945, especially in the time of the communist regime. The Senate of the Jagiellonian University exercised its law to nominate the canons for the last time in 1951. In 1954, the communist authorities removed the 550 years old Department of Theology from the University. The Author discusses the initiatives, in particular those of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, aiming to maintain the principle that the Department of Theology be represented in the Cathedral Chapter by two of its professors.

Prerequisites and factors of sustainable development through the introduction of innovative technologies in education

The article is devoted to the study of modern stage of introduction of modern innovative technologies in higher education system in the segment of Christian religious education as one of the aspects of modern theory and practice of confessional pedagogy from the standpoint of educational theology based on the saint fathers' and world experience. A brief overview of the development and current state of the educational system is given by the example of the Department of Theology at the Don State Technical University. The combination of the theological model with secular components of professional education, which is carried out both by programs corresponding to the Federal state educational standards, and by confessional university educational programs, which passed the Church accreditation of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, is considered. The article provides a substantiated conclusion about the Christian model of reproduction of pedagogical staff, capable of qualified work both in confessional educational institutions and in secular educational sphere, created in Donskoy State University. The analysis of effective experience in the use of innovative methods and forms of teaching has been carried out.

Development of moral and psychological stability of youth through the use of music in the process of teaching spiritual and moral disciplines

The article gives a brief overview of the use of music as an innovative teaching method in the teaching of spiritual and moral disciplines on the example of the Department of Theology of the Don State Technical University. Possibilities of one of effective means of formation of spiritual culture through musical art are considered. The analysis of the effective experience of the use of musical innovative methods and forms of training is carried out. Since 2020 the project "Classical music and spirituality" began to be realized, which is aimed at the spiritual and moral education of students through familiarization with the works of classical music art and culture (holding gala concerts, participation and organization of competitions, musical lectures, evenings of Russian romance, author and project manager Andrei Alexandrovich Mekushkin, the head of the DSTU Theology Department). In addition, since 2020, the introduction and use of innovative forms of learning, including music as a means of emotional harmonization, stabilization of psychological stability, education and formation of spiritual culture in the process of teaching disciplines of spiritual and moral orientation "Fundamentals of Morality" (teacher of DSTU Theology Department Olga Nikolaevna Enina).

The Thirteenth-Century Animal Turn: Medieval and Twenty-First Century Perspectives Thinking about Animals in Thirteenth-Century Paris: Theologians on the Boundary between Humans and Animals

<i>The Thirteenth-Century Animal Turn: Medieval and Twenty-First Century Perspectives</i> <i>Thinking about Animals in Thirteenth-Century Paris: Theologians on the Boundary between Humans and Animals</i>

Формирование российских интеллектуальных элит в эпоху Просвещения

During the age of Enlightenment, the processes of national elites' formation in Western Europe somewhat differed from country to country. While in Britain, especially in Scotland, intellectuals constituted a fairly homogeneous group of literati, which included university professors, educated priests, civil servants, and enlightened nobles, in France the ideological attitudes might have been shared by clerics, university professors, and "free thinkers," primarily "encyclopedists." In Russia, the situation was peculiar. At the beginning of the 18th century, the structure of the intellectual elite changed. The clerical Orthodox elite became segregated due to the restrictive decrees of Peter the Great. After the founding of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1724 and Moscow University in 1755, an academic elite emerged, and a noble intellectual elite took shape. While European intellectual elites developed within a single paradigm and built their internal oppositions most often along the lines of ideological irreconcilability (for example clericals and encyclopedists in France), Russian intellectual elites were barely connected to each other. They were formed in the context of different educational trajectories, shared no common intellectual institutions or communication platforms (it is not by chance that Russian universities had no theology departments: theological education existed in the framework of separate church schools), and they appealed to different authorities. All this contributed to the parallel existence of very different intellectual models and philosophical systems. The situation became even more complex in the 19th century with the emergence of the intelligentsia as a social group in its own right.

The Rising Global Cancer Pandemic–Complete Book

Cancer is the first or second cause of death in 134 countries, the leading cause of death in most high-income countries (i.e., 10 million deaths in 2020), and the leading cause of death by disease in American children. An estimated 19.3 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed across the world each year, and this number is expected to rise to 29 million by 2040. Most of the increase will occur in low- and middle-income countries, the countries least capable of confronting the cancer pandemic or affording expensive therapies. Cancer is unjust. Striking inequities can be traced within and between countries in cancer incidence and survival by race, ethnicity, and socio-economic-status. Survival is much higher among the wealthy than among the poor. In the US, outcomes are much more favorable among Whites than among Blacks and Latinos. Scientific contributions and ethical inquiry should help civil society in identifying and naming these inequities and, at the same time, recognizing successful strategies to promote health and articulate further constructive proposals. To examine the cancer pandemic and its inequities, this book—The Rising Global Cancer Pandemic: Health, Ethics, and Social Justice—gathers a selection of contributions presented, in an initial form, at the international conference hosted at Boston College, on October 2, 2021, by the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good in partnership with the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society and the Theology Department of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. Both the conference and this volume also aim to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the National Cancer Act signed into law by the US President Richard M. Nixon on December 23, 1971.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Legacy of Boston Personalism

Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Legacy of Boston Personalism

Jewish Religious and Philosophic Thought through the Lens of Analytical Philosophy

The reviewed Jewish Philosophy in an Analytic Age is a unique collection of essays that combine analytical philosophy to the Jewish religion. Analytical approach has been widely applied to Christianity since the 1980s and marked the legitimization of analytical philosophy of religion. This turn is primarily associated with the names of Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne and others. At the same time the texts by Jewish religious philosophers are rarely, if ever, considered through the prism of analytical philosophy of religion and analytical theology. This collection of essays is not only valuable because of its exceptional nature: the authors of the essays touch upon important topics of religious philosophy, such as the correlation of the freedom of choice and a divine knowledge of the future, the epistemological distinction of faith and belief, moral justification for lying, the problem of evil, etc. The extensive Discussion part, written by Tzvi Novick from the Theology Department of the University of Notre Dame, presents the author’s attitude towards the approach taken in the book. Readers are encouraged to think of the very essence of Jewish philosophy and possibly review its understanding. The analytical approach found in the essays sometimes transcends the boundaries of the analytical philosophy of religion, contributes to the modernization of Jewish religious and philosophical works, and introduces these texts to the domain of modern analytical philosophy. The latter is achieved through analytical generalization of Jewish texts, making them universal. The abovementioned features make the book worth reading by scholars, researches, and all those interested in the modern philosophy and the study of Jewish religion.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies Abroad in Theology: The Case of Germany

Germany is one of the Western countries where undergraduate and graduate education is given at the university level in the field of Islamic Theology. Germany deserves special attention because of the more than five million Muslim population it hosts and because it has a well-established tradition in orientalist studies of Islam. In addition, the Muslim population of Turkish origin due to business immigration from Turkey that started in the 1960s, the recommendation of the Science Council in 2010, and the Islamic Theology Centers opened with the financial support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, highlight the example of Germany in our paper. It is possible to talk about an Islamic theological education in Germany that is structured in three ways. The first is the Oriental Institute, which was established as a sub-discipline of the Christian teleology department at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen as early as 1477. In addition to the Orientalist departments working with an orientalist perspective, the “Islamic Sciences/Islamwissenschaft” departments exist in more than 20 universities today and the “Islamic Theology Institutes/Centers,” which started to be opened in the early 2000s, are the third structure. In our paper, we will focus on Islamic Sciences departments instead of Orientalist departments, which are shaped with an orientalist perspective, and Islamic Theology, which was established primarily to train Islamic religion teachers and religious officials. There are Bachelor’s and Master's Degrees in different universities and colleges named Islamic Sciences, Islamic Religious Education, Islamic Studies, Islamic-Religious Studies, Islamic Oriental Studies, Asian Studies, Arabic Studies, Iranian Studies, Turkish History Studies, Languages and Cultures of the Islamic World, Religious Sciences. In addition, there are master's degree programs in the names of the Modern Islamic World, the Islamic World in the Modern Era, Arab-Islamic-Semitic Studies, and the Diversity of the Islamic World. It should be accepted that these faculties will have different contributions to Islamic Theology in accordance with their founding goals, mission, and curricula and that they should have mutual relations with the Faculties of Theology / Islamic Sciences in Turkey. Our communique aims to discuss the contribution of Theological education in Germany to Theological education in Turkey, taking into account the differences between the Faculties of Islamic Sciences and Theology. Despite the Islamic Sciences Departments, where academics and students do not have to be Muslim, Islamic Theology Centers take into account the views of religious communities in Germany while forming their academic staff in accordance with the aims of training religious officials/imams. In addition, while a “denominational” education is emphasized in the departments that provide teacher education, a “supra-sectarian” education emphasis in Islamic Theology departments draws attention to their programs. Again, in Islamic Theology, different from Islamic Sciences departments, tafsir, Systematic theology (basic theology, dogmatics, ethics/ethics, Islamic ecumenism), Historical theology (sunnah, kalam, mysticism, philosophy, etc.), Islamic law and legal methodology, Practical 'theology' and Religious Education fields exist based on Science Council recommendation.

The effects of ideal standards and parental approval on mate choice among emerging adults

The current study examines how ideal standards and parental approval interplay in the decision to marry via three consecutive studies among Turkish emerging adults. The first study explored desirable traits for a potential spouse, and participants ( N = 309) rated and rank-ordered 56 traits. Findings revealed that trustworthiness, honesty, and loyalty were the most desired traits. Informed by the first study’s findings, we designed vignettes, tested their validity via three pilot studies, and finalized scenarios for the experimental study. In Study 2 ( N = 331), we recruited highly liberal (secular) emerging adults and randomly assigned them to one of the four experimental conditions (2x2 design; ideal standards high vs. low, parents approve vs. disapprove). Each participant read a vignette about a potential partner and responded whether they would be willing to marry that person (yes or no). Analysis revealed that participants were 13.93 times [ CI (6.40, 30.32)] more willing to marry a partner who met ideal standards and 4.24 times [ CI (1.93, 9.30)] more willing if the parents approved the partner. Study 3 replicated Study 2 with a conservative sample, using the same experimental design and vignettes. We recruited participants through theology departments and online religious groups ( N = 484). Main effects of both having an ideal partner [ OR = 5.00, CI (2.62, 9.54)] and parental approval [ OR = 4.00, CI (2.12, 7.53)] were significant as well as the interaction term [ OR= 7.38, CI (2.32, 23.51)]. The current study highlights the importance of parental approval and ideal standards on marriage decisions among secular and conservative emerging adults.