THEO41630: Modern Catholic Theology: From Newman to Ratzinger

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• To introduce students to the principal theologians and trends associated with Ressourcement Theology (French, "return to the sources"), also known as la nouvelle theologie.
• To critically engage the issues raised by the ressourcement theologians.
• To enable students to apply this work to a number of contemporary issues ranging from modernity, liberalism, psychology, and art.

• The astonishing influence of the French post-war ressourcement theology continues to be felt both inside and outside Catholicism, from the driving reforms of Vatican II, to the politically charged work of the Radical Orthodoxy movement. This module addresses the historical situation which gave rise to it, and introduces a number of the key theologians associated with it ranging from John Henry Newman and Maurice Blondel to Henri de Lubac, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Yves Congar, Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger.
• Students will also be introduced to a number of key theological concerns addressed by these authors: is theology (and in particular that of Thomas Aquinas) an exercise in deductive reasoning from divinely revealed truths, or about faith and existential commitment? Where does the primacy of Catholicism lay, in its authority or its sacramental and spiritual ways? And what are the sources of theology? For example, what role, do patristic and medieval modes of figurative, typological and spiritual exegesis have alongside today's biblical historicism? Students will explore these issues, as they related to the political concerns of the day, as well as developing a theology that meets the challenges of our present age.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Historical awareness of ressourcement theology within the broader sweep of historical theology.
• The characteristics of ressourcement theology; its key issues, and the individual theologians associated with it.
• The theological adaptation of traditional sources for doing theology.
• Both the critical challenges ressourcement theology offers the present age, as well as the criticisms made of it.

Subject-specific Skills:

• The ability to critically engage with a number of Catholic theologians.
• An ability to identify the relations between these theologians and their sources.
• The ability to evaluate the significance of their work in the light of each other as well as wider concerns.
• The ability to apply their thought to a range of issues in biblical, theological, or religious studies.

Key Skills:

• Students will develop their communicative skills; their process of reasoning through verbal and written means; ability to construct sophisticated arguments supported by the sources, in a clear, concise and convincing manner; be able to critically engage texts and interact with the ideas and arguments of others.
• Students will develop advanced research skills, including the ability to locate, evaluate, and summarise key sources, both in print and online, and to employ recognised standards of annotation.
• By engaging historical sources and contemporary issues, students develop inter-disciplinary skills.

• Seminars provide students with a historical and theoretical framework to understand the material discussed, providing an overview and point of departure for work, introducing subject-specific knowledge and demonstration of subject-specific skills.
• Students will then have an opportunity to discuss subjects and issues, present their work in dialogue with students and staff, and evaluate these results promoting the development of subject specific skills and key skills.
• Tutorials give students the opportunity to present and discuss plans of work, receive feedback on formative work, and one to one learning, developing subject specific skills and key skills. Please note that these tutorials will not be centrally timetabled and should be organised directly between students and tutors as schedules permit.
• Formative Essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, and the skills of written presentation, which are formally assessed in a summative essay.

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