Cours offerts à distance

The focus of this course is the enduring relationship between human experience and divine revelation within the Christian tradition. Beginning with God’s self-revelation in sacred scripture, we will explore the question of whether God self-reveals in other ways, such as art, music, poetry, and we will explore the human experience of such revelation through the framework of Christian theological aesthetics. Through key scholarly texts, religious artwork and music, we will explore the relationship between human experience and the god of the Christian faith. Examples will include ancient frescos found in early Christian churches, Church symbology and contemporary religious street art in Mexico. And we will listen to a variety of religiously inspired music such as Gregorian chants, Mozart, Native drumming, Kanye West, and U2.

Learning Outcomes for Students: to understand how aesthetic experience has shaped and continues to shape human understanding of the Christian god; to help students cultivate a differentiated awareness of how their spiritual life and aesthetic experience intersect; and to articulate their own perspectives in dialogue with the texts they read and material presented in class.

Class attendance and participation, class readings (3-5 hours per week), one short written assignment, one written assignment, and the final oral exam.

25%  article summary and critique (short paper)

45% written essay

30% final exam

Course reading selections will be posted on the Course site on Brightspace.

La Bible: un livre ou des livres? Histoire ou récit? Survol de l’histoire du peuple juif et de la culture qui a donné naissance à la Bible. Examen de la Bible et de son contenu. Lecture et interprétation de ce texte. L’événement Jésus. L’impact de la Bible sur l’histoire et sur la culture contemporaine.

Introducing the practice of spiritual discernment.  Discernment as art. The meaning and parameters of “interiority”. Basic principles for spiritual growth.  Schools or “types” of discernment systems.   The interplay of thought and feeling. The preconditions of theological formation, faith development, and psychological conditioning.  The role of images of God, Ignatian discernment and other “systems”, including from other Christian Traditions, religious experience, communal discernment, and “waiting” (hope and patience).   This course includes designated in-class times of prayer. 

Learning Outcomes for students include identifying and differentiating feeling; to help students to cultivate a differentiated awareness of their inner life; to articulate some of the challenges and limits in discernment; to articulate different systems of discernment in Catholic spiritual tradition; to help students to continue to develop the skills for their practice of discernment.

Class attendance and participation, class readings (anywhere from 10 to 35 pages each class), five 1-page reflection (single spaced), one written assignment (5-6 pages), and the final oral exam.  Students will also be encouraged to keep a prayer journal. 

5 one-page reflections     30% (5 x 6%)              

One written assignment:  30%                                        

Final exam (oral):            40%

Obligatory Texts

• Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon Au, The Discerning Heart. (Mahwah, N.J., Paulist Press, 2006)
• Philip Sheldrake, Befriending Our Desires. Collegeville, MI, liturgical Press, 2016.
• Class readings (compilation available online at Brightspace).

Recommended Text

     Toner, J., A Commentary on St. Ignatius' Rules for the Discernment of Spirits. St. Louis, Missouri, The Institute                          of Jesuit Sources, 1982.

Étude de l’effort de l’être humain pour exprimer son expérience du sacré et nommer son sens d’un «au-delà». Survol des différentes formes prises par cette expression: émerveillement devant le cosmos et ses symboles, les récits fondateurs, les rituels. Signification de cet effort pour une compréhension de la quête de l’esprit humain et des tentatives d’élaboration d’un ordre dans la société et la communauté.

À partir d’une réflexion sur la mission de l’Église et de l’observation d’Églises en croissance dans le monde, ce cours offre des pistes théologiques et pratiques permettant aux paroisses de devenir missionnaires.  Les étudiants acquerront une meilleure connaissance de la mission de l’Église, de la théologie et de la pratique de l’évangélisation, du dialogue interreligieux, de la théologie du salut, du témoignage chrétien et du Mouvement pour la croissance de l’Église.