Assessment

Continuous Assessment 100%

Module Aims

This module aims to provide learners with an overview of the Christian faith from a Catholic perspective. It explores the faith’s most central beliefs, practices, and themes and their implications for our understanding of the human being and his or her place in the world. Its objective is to equip learners with a theological foundation that will enhance their ability to communicate Christian beliefs at primary level and to do so confidently and with understanding. The module also situates Christianity within the nexus of other religions and secular culture.

Indicative Syllabus

The module introduces the learner to the Christian salvation story and its most central claims and assumptions in a step-by-step approach and from a Catholic perspective. It is organised in such a way as makes it accessible to those with little prior knowledge of the Christian faith.

The module begins by introducing the learner to philosophical arguments for the existence of God and with the classical Greek and Judaeo-Christian understandings of the human person. These provide the foundation for the core of the module—an exploration of the more specific claims about God and Jesus Christ made by Christian Revelation. The final lectures of the module discuss wider questions about the different Christian denominations, Christianity’s relationship with other religions and with secular culture.

Learning Outcomes

• — LO 1: Explain key moments of the Christian story, such as Creation, the Fall, the Incarnation, the Passion, the Resurrection.
• — LO 2: Give basic definitions of core theological concepts of the Christian faith, such as faith, revelation, sin, grace, redemption.
• — LO 3: Communicate theological ideas in accessible ways and with a degree of confidence.
• — LO 4: Understand, summarise, and analyse theological texts.
• — LO 5: Show some awareness of Christianity’s relationship with other faiths and with secular culture.

Bibliography

• — Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum (18 November 1965).
• — Bevans, Stephen. An Introduction to Theology in Global Perspective. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2009.
• — Connolly, J. R.. ‘Christian Faith: A Contemporary View,’ in The College Student’s Introduction to Theology, ed. Rausch, T. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993).
• — D’Costa, Gavin. The Catholic Church and the World Religions. A Theological and Phenomenological Account. London: T&T Clark. 2011. 
• — Hession, Anne and Patricia Kieran (eds.) Exploring Theology – Making Sense of the Catholic Tradition, Dublin: Veritas, 2007.
• — Kreeft, Peter. Catholic Christianity. A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2001.
• — Kreeft, Peter and Robert K. Tacelli. Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1994.
• — Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. London: Collins, 2014 (first published 1952).
• — McGrath, Alistair. Theology. The Basics. Oxford: Blackwells, 2008.
• — O’Collins, Gerald. Rethinking Fundamental Theology. Toward a New Fundamental Theology. Oxford: OUP, 2013.
• — Rausch, Thomas. Systematic Theology. Collegeville, MN: Michael Glazer, 2016.
• — Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners. London: Sheed and Ward, 1964.
• — White, Thomas Joseph. The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism. Washington, D. C.: CUA Press, 2017.
• — Wicks, Jared. Doing Theology. New York: Paulist Press, 2009.