Graduate Catalog

This course replaces Church History, Part I  CHIST 562, 206-0501.

Church History I: Early Christians to the Middle Ages is the first of two graduate survey courses covering the whole of Catholic history. This first course examines the central themes and events in the life of the Church from the days of the Apostles to the end of the Middle Ages using text resources. Students will study the great events of the Church’s past, the development of Christian thought and belief, and the immense contributions of popes, saints, theologians, and common Christians to the progress of the Faith through the ages. Those who complete this course should be able to describe the key issues and topics related to the development of the Christian Church from the time of Christ to the end of the Middle Ages; explain the patterns of Church life from Pentecost to the start of the Renaissance and have a familiarity with the most important leaders, events, and writings; and build on the course foundation to delve deeper into Church history and to pursue other courses and seminars on specific topics related to the broader tapestry of Early and Medieval Christianity.

This course includes written lectures and online discussion.

3 credit course.

This graduate-level course is intended to introduce the classical and medieval (scholastic) roots of the fundamental principles that make up Catholic Social Teaching (CST). In this course, students will be exploring the philosophical, anthropological, and theological ideas that inform CST allowing for a deeper and more holistic understanding of CST. Having explored these foundations, the course then presents how these principles are fundamentally challenged by the anthropological turn of modernity and the resulting “social question.” This course sets the stage for CST 510 and CST 520, which present CST as an answer to the great social challenges of late modernity through our present times.

*Cross-listed as PHIL 512

3 credit course.

This course is designed as an introduction to the Church’s social doctrine between 1891, the date of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum novarum, and the closing of Vatican II in 1965. Students will read encyclicals and other Magisterial documents from this period (along with the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which was released 40 years after the Council), and secondary literature. They will become familiar with the basic principles of this doctrine as these come to be introduced, developed, and refined over these decades. In class discussion and in the process of completing writing assignments, students will explore together the application of these principles to particular, concrete historical circumstances. Required synchronous sessions will be held each week on Monday evening.

3 credit course

This course is intended to introduce the fundamental principles that make up CST following the Second Vatican Council. It builds upon the two previous courses in this sequence, CST 500 and CST 510, by drawing upon the philosophical, anthropological, and theological ideas that have guided the earlier tradition. After having reviewed the main lines of the Council in CST 510, this course gives equal attention to the magisterial teachings in the challenging and dynamic post-Second Vatican Council period under Saint Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis.

1 credit course.

This course prepares students to understand the Catholic Church’s teachings concerning sex, marriage, and parenting as part of Catholic social justice, in order to communicate these more effectively in ways responsive to contemporary culture’s values, skepticism, and sometimes hostility.

3 credit course.

This graduate-level course is intended to introduce the classical and medieval (scholastic) roots of the fundamental principles that make up Catholic Social Teaching (CST). In this course, students will be exploring the philosophical, anthropological, and theological ideas that inform CST allowing for a deeper and more holistic understanding of CST. Having explored these foundations, the course then presents how these principles are fundamentally challenged by the anthropological turn of modernity and the resulting “social question.” This course sets the stage for CST 510 and CST 520, which present CST as an answer to the great social challenges of late modernity through our present times.

*Cross-listed as CST 500

3 credit course

This course will explore the treatment of the truth of existence including the truth of salvation (Christology) in the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Students who complete this course will be able to explain what samples from Thomas’ different texts mean and how they can be applied and how Aquinas saw the congruence between some ancient metaphysics and the ontology of the Scriptures. They will be able to analyze the way he treated the theology of God, Christ and salvation, human beings, and their actions.

*Cross-listed as THEO 619

3 credit course

Principles of Catholic Education is a graduate-level course that will examine the theoretical framework and the pastoral foundations of catechetical ministry, particularly the work of learning and teaching in Catholic parishes and schools. It utilizes primary sources, a history of catechesis in the United States, and contemporary resources to identify principles of education that reflect the divine pedagogy and the development of a clear Catholic Identity. Students who complete this course should be able to analyze contextual factors influencing teaching and learning, evaluate educational resources, and design educational strategies appropriate for authentic human formation and catechesis for a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ.

This course includes written lectures, audio and video presentations, and asynchronous online shared learning activities

3 credit course

This course will approach the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch from the perspective of the ancient Hebrews.  Students will learn to appreciate the imagery that the Hebrews used from creation and the material world to describe spiritual experience and supernatural realities.  Specifically, students will gain understanding of two currents of thought that bring unity to the first five books of the Bible as well as the entire Bible.  The first will be creation theology where the idea of sacred space is prominent with the imagery of creation as temple, and the second is that of covenant.

This course includes written lectures, audio lectures, and online discussions.

3 credit course

This 8-week multimedia course will be a journey through the Bible as the Catholic Church’s foundational narrative, beginning with the story of creation and the fall, through God’s promise to Abraham, the covenant with Israel at Sinai and Deuteronomy and the eventual collapse of the Davidic Kingdom under the Deuteronomic covenant.  The course will climax with the solution to the problems of the law in the Old Testament and the eventual fulfillment of God’s promises through the person and work of Jesus Christ and his Church.  Students will be introduced to critical interpretive issues and will be invited to wrestle with disputed questions as they learn various ways of making sense of the Bible as a unified and coherent story with profound implications for today.

*Students who have taken SCRPT 330 as undergraduates should not enroll in SCRPT 530 but instead should enroll in another graduate-level scripture course of their choosing.

3 credit course

Romans is the Bible’s most influential book in Church history but also the most controversial and difficult of St. Paul’s letters. Many central Christian doctrines are found here such as original sin, grace, election and predestination. But above all, the letter is St. Paul’s theological masterpiece, since he there explains how God, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, has been completely faithful to all of his promises to Israel given in the Old Testament. In this exciting eight week online course, we will approach Romans, therefore, as Paul’s interpretation and exposition of the story of the Jewish Bible, a story that has reached its climax in Jesus and the restored people of God.

This course includes written lectures and online instruction.

3 credit course

Old course number 206-0460

This course is an introduction to the letters of St. Paul the Apostle.  In some sense, the proper starting point is Paul himself. No figure in early Christianity, aside from Jesus himself, is as crucial to our understanding of the message of the Gospel – both then and now.  Though “Saul” was a fierce opponent of the Church, his encounter with the risen Christ profoundly changes his heart, his mind and the mission of his life.  As a man taken up “in Christ” he lived to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). Following an introduction to Paul the Apostle, the emphasis turns to “major themes” in the Pauline epistles and then a discussion of each of the epistles themselves.  Throughout the course, students will read Paul’s letters and grapple with his theological vision.  Aside from Sacred Scripture, the primary textbook is What Saint Paul Really Said by Pauline scholar N.T. Wright.

This course includes written lectures, audio lectures, and online discussions.

3 credit course

(Formerly SCRPT 571) This course on the Gospel of St. John is designed to help students gain a familiarity with the biblical text of the Fourth Gospel (in English). In particular, students will read and study the Gospel of St. John closely, examining its primary theological and literary characteristics.  Important secondary materials will guide our study.  In addition to employing the best of modern critical interpretation, the Gospel of St. John will be read here within the framework of the Church’s living Tradition.  Students who complete this course should be able to demonstrate a good understanding of the Fourth Gospel’s major theological themes, symbols, and literary techniques.

This course includes written lectures and online discussion.

3 credit course

(Formerly 206-0402 and SCRPT 515.) This course is an introduction to the academic study of the Bible.  After being grounded in modern Church teachings about the nature of Divine Revelation, its relationship to tradition, and guidelines for interpretation, students will study Biblical interpretation in the Church and in the world, as it has evolved down through the ages.  The class will start with the Church fathers and the medieval scholastics and discuss what can be learned in their experiences in wrestling with the Biblical text.  Then students will consider how the post-Enlightenment discussion of the Bible evolved, how modern critical methods arose, what questions these methods were intended to answer, and the extent to which they succeeded and failed.  Finally, the class will discuss ways that Catholics can learn from and build upon what has been done in the past to advance the goals of Biblical interpretation in the Church.

This course includes written lectures and online discussion. This course is a 12 week course.

3 credit course

(Formerly 206-0430 and SCRPT 540.) This course provides an introduction to the Old Testament prophets with a special focus on the prophecy of Isaiah.  It will begin with a brief study of Church teachings about reading the Bible generally, the Old Testament specifically, and the necessary beginning of all Catholic Biblical interpretation with the historical dimension of the inspired text.  Thus, students will become thoroughly grounded in the rise, division, decline, narrow survival, eventual destruction, and God’s promised restoration of the Davidic monarchy as well as the inextricable relationship between history and Biblical prophecy.
The beginning period of the course will also include an introduction to reading Hebrew poetry in translation and the importance of literary genre in Biblical interpretation.   In the second part of the course, the actual text of Isaiah will be studied.  Since the book of Isaiah’s historical span is awesome and its text has profound relationships to other Biblical prophets, students will work through the entire book while noting parallel ideas in other prophets as well.  Furthermore, because Isaiah’s prophetic words are rightly famous, students will also study the ways in which the book of Isaiah has profoundly influenced the New Testament as well as the later Church.
Students who complete this course should be able to:

• identify the salient points of the history of the Davidic monarchy from the time of David to the Babylonian exile and the relevance of history for understanding and interpreting the prophets;
• explain the phenomenon of prophecy in Israel and what made this phenomenon unique in the ancient world;
• understand the great challenges and great benefits that go with reading Israel’s prophets as Christian scripture;
• identify the main characteristics of Hebrew poetry, its difference from prose and the importance of literary genre in Biblical interpretation;
• give an overview of the careers of Israel’s major prophets as well as selected members of the so-called minor prophets;
• grasp the details of the life and times of Isaiah the prophet and their relationship to the book of Isaiah;
• gain an appreciation of theological themes in the book of Isaiah and the influence of these themes on the expectations of the New Testament authors;
• and gain an appreciation of how the book of Isaiah has influenced the Church down through the centuries.

This course includes written lectures, audio and video supplements, and online discussion.

Please note: To play the video files all students must have media player software such as QuickTime Player, or else have an MP4 player such as an iPod.

It is highly recommended that students have a high-speed Internet connection to allow for downloading the large video files used in this course.

3 credit course

Old course number 206-0452

The Synoptic Gospels course offers an in-depth study on the three gospels that present the life, Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus similarly — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The course also explores the differences in these three gospels.

This course includes written lectures, audio lectures, and online discussions.

3 credit course

Applied Catholic Spirituality  introduces the student to the classical “three ways,”or  stages of the spiritual life, and the practical skills by which one may embark on the Catholic spiritual life.  Beginning with the teachings of Christ as recorded in the Gospels, this course also offers contemporary insight into the experience of personal conversion from the magisterial teaching of St John Paul II.  Following the framework of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the lessons of this course offer a testimony to the rich variety of Christian practices, illustrated in the lives and teachings of the outstanding masters of the spiritual life. Students who complete this course should be able to describe the unique contributions of these masters and identify the common threads that constitute the authentic tradition of Catholic doctrine and life.

3 credit course

This course introduces the student to the history of Christian theology as fides quaerens intellectum (“faith seeking [deeper] understanding”). Our method will be to survey Christian theology as it developed historically from the end of the New Testament times to the Second Vatican Council. As we examine several of the key issues that were debated in each epoch, we shall meet some of history’s most famous [and infamous!] theologians and come to understand their sometimes contradictory, sometimes complementary, ways of thinking about the things of God. Throughout our survey, special attention will be given to:

• the development of a chronological framework which will give order and coherence to all the theological knowledge you acquire in the future.
• the problem of “development of doctrine”: how can we say that the faith of the Catholic Church today is the same as the faith of the New Testament Church if certain Catholic practices and beliefs seem not to be explicitly found in the Bible?
• special critical moments in the history of theology, such as the period of the early Church Fathers, the Protestant and Catholic Reformation, and the theological revival leading up to the Second Vatican Council.

3 credit course

(Also PHIL 508) This philosophy course must be taken by all students in the MA program. It includes three major segments on Augustine and the Platonic Tradition: an overview of the thought of St. Augustine, its debt to ancient and Neo-Platonism, and its importance during the first millennium of Western Christianity.

This course includes written lectures and online discussion.

3 credit course

Old course number 206-0105

There are some foundational issues that are necessary for the study of systematic theology. The course begins by examining the nature and method of systematic theology and the sources of Divine Revelation. The topics covered in the course include God, his existence and attributes, the relation between faith and reason, biblical inspiration and interpretation, the development of Christian doctrine, and authority in the Church.

This course includes written lectures, audio lectures, and online discussions.

3 credit course

(Formerly THEO 641 Theology of the Church) The theologian Henri de Lubac called the Church “the convergence of all of the mysteries.” The mysteries of God, the missions of the Divine Son and the Divine Spirit, Christ, man and world meet to constitute the Church. This course will help faithful students see how they participate in the great mysteries of salvation, the results of the missions of the Son and the Spirit. They will learn how to participate in Christ’s presence in the faith community and in the Church’s mission to the world. Students who complete this course should be able to explain how the scripture, tradition and magisterium relate to each other specifically in the description of the Church. The course explains the various elements of the Church of Jesus Christ through the mission of the divine Son. It also describes the operation of the accompanying mission of the Holy Spirit to realize the Church.

3 credit course

(Formerly 206-0204 and THEO 551.) This course is designed to introduce the student to the study of the sacraments in the context of the worshipping Church. The course will begin by setting forth a notion of the worshipping community. This will form the basis of a systematic approach to understanding the sacraments and issues related to the study of the sacraments. There will also be an analysis of each of the sacraments and their significance for the life of the faith in the community. At the end of this course, the student should be able to describe fundamental issues related to the study of the sacraments, analyze key theological issues surrounding the sacraments, and articulate the relationship of the sacraments to Roman Catholic understanding of the faith. In addition, the student should be able to describe an integrative sacramental theory and an understanding of the significance of each sacrament as understood in the Roman Catholic tradition.

This course includes narrated power point presentation, audio transcriptions, and online discussions.

Old course number 206-0307

In this course moral theology comes alive and grows in the hearts and minds of people and transforms the way in which people make sense of life; the way using Jesus, crucified and risen, and his sense of life (the Beatitudes). With the help of readings by moral theologian Fr. Servais Pinckaers and others, students should be able to understand the foundations (the Triune God’s creating, redeeming, and sanctifying activities) and components (conscience, character, and prudence) of moral theology and how they come together in a person’s repentance and continuing conversion.

This course includes written lectures and online discussion.

3 credit course

This course is an introduction to the history, theology, and symbolism of Catholic sacred architecture that focuses on how the development of Catholic sacred architecture and theology has affected the shape, configuration, and use of the Catholic church throughout various architectural styles and eras. It will follow this development from Pagan and Old Testament ideas of sacred architecture throughout the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Counter-Reformation, and Vatican II. The course will give an overview of the various declarations of the Church regarding the construction and symbolism of the church edifice.

3 credit course

There is no better place to study the four canonical gospels than in the place where the drama of salvation was acted out.  The holy places in the land where the Savior walked speak so powerfully of the work of redemption that the land is rightly called “the fifth gospel.”  The learning in this course will primarily take place not online, but on site for ten days in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Galilee.  Prior to and subsequent to the trip, there will be some fascinating reading and online discussion which will be the basis for a term paper to be submitted at the end of the class eight week period.  The primary goal of this interdisciplinary course will be to give the student insight into the Bible that can only be captured by being in the land.  Secondarily, we will learn about the Fathers of the Church, including Origen, Eusebius, Justin, Jerome, and Cyril of Jerusalem, who lived and wrote in the Holy Land.  Finally, since travel in the Holy Land will bring us face-to-face with the Crusades and Muslim-Christian relations, we will learn about Church history and inter-religious dialogue.  For graduate students, the course could be counted toward a concentration in Scripture, Theology/Philosophy, Ecclesial Service or Catholic Culture or toward the certificate program in Scripture or Church History, provided one completes a research assignment appropriate to one’s area of study.  Approval is required, contact the Registrar.

3 credit course

(This course will not be offered in 2022.) While Christianity was born in the middle East, it was Italy that became, within a few decades after Christ’s resurrection, the Crossroads of the Christian world.  For two thousand years Christians from East and West, North and South, have come to Italy to serve Christ and his Church.  In this course, we’ll be examining the lives and work of many great Christians that spent part of their lives in central Italy.  The apostles Peter and Paul, the native Italians Sts. Benedict, Clare, and Francis, the Spaniard St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Greek missionaries Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the great artists Michelangelo and Raphael, all these and more will be the subject of our study.  Our learning will primarily take place not online, but on site for ten days in Rome, Assisi, Florence, and Orvieto.  Prior to the trip, there will be some fascinating reading and online discussion which will be the basis for a term paper to be submitted after the trip.  The goal of this interdisciplinary course will be to give the student an appreciation of the depth and breadth of the Catholic culture represented by the abundant monuments to faith to be found in central Italy. For graduate students, the course could be counted toward a concentration in Scripture, Theology/Philosophy, Ecclesial Service or Catholic Culture or toward the certificate program in Scripture or Church History, provided one completes a research assignment appropriate to one’s area of study.  Approval is required, contact the Registrar.

3 credit course

Prepared by Fr. Spitzer S.J., this course is based on his new book New Proofs for the Existence of God, which examines scientific data in the light of philosophical analysis specifically into the nature of proof itself. This cutting edge course makes a strong argument for the plausibility of theism. Robert Jastrow, the former director of Goddard Institute of Space Studies, said: “[the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason] has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” This analysis adds new meaning to life, to our understanding of transcendence and destiny. Come and join us in the journey.

This course contains video lectures with audio, written lecture materials, power points, and online discussion.

3 credit course

This course will explore the treatment of the truth of existence including the truth of salvation (Christology) in the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Students who complete this course will be able to explain what samples from Thomas’ different texts mean and how they can be applied and how Aquinas saw the congruence between some ancient metaphysics and the ontology of the Scriptures. They will be able to analyze the way he treated the theology of God, Christ and salvation, human beings, and their actions.

* Cross-listed as PHIL 621

3 credit course

Old course numbers 206-2301 and THEO 631

This course provides an introduction to Catholic theology of Jesus Christ.  Upon completion of this course, you will have probed the biblical witness to the mystery of Jesus; read important selections from the history of Christology, including those from the great councils of the first centuries of the Church; and examined contemporary systematic questions.  Introduction to Christology will provide a catechetical overview of the Church’s teaching on Christ, as well as an opportunity to engage in mature theological inquiry concerning this great mystery of the Faith.

This course includes written lectures and online discussion.

3 credit course

Presenting the Faith in the Modern World:  Dealing with the Hard Questions introduces the student to the more fraught and challenging applications of Catholic teaching to real life situations in contemporary Western society.  The course is designed to prepare students for real engagement with both contemporary secular and religious views at odds with Catholicism.  The course will equip those who hold teaching (or other public positions) with practical guidance on how to dialogue pastorally and constructively with persons who hold contrary viewpoints.

This survey course will introduce the basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching, which have been called the Church’s “best kept secret.” This course will help students to identify and explain the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching; trace the history of Catholic social thought, especially the key Church documents and papal encyclicals from Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum in 1891 to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ in 2015; understand the theological foundations for Catholic Social Teaching in Scripture and Tradition; and develop an ability to apply these teachings to specific situations and issues, including immigration, war and peace, economics, and the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death.

3 credit course

The practicum enables students to implement the skills that they have learned in the MA in Theology and Educational Ministry program through practical workplace training. One must complete the Practicum Proposal Assignment for RELED 560 and register for the MA in Theology and Educational Ministry program practicum prior to the start date of the first activity. Under the supervision of the onsite supervisor, in conjunction with the course professor, students will work in a limited way in their chosen field, observing and documenting the professional skills, ministerial attitudes, and theological connections or understandings related to the ministry experience and how they relate to the completion of the proposed practicum.

3 credit course

The graduate thesis is a culminating project that incorporates scholarly research on a topic studied or referenced within the CDU MA (Theology) graduate program coursework. Upon completing the thesis, the student should be able to accurately and thoroughly develop a thesis, citing approved primary and secondary sources. This thesis should be between 30 and 50 pages (7,500-12,500 words), plus bibliography. Upon registering for the graduate thesis, students will submit a topic with initial bibliography for approval to Academic Leadership. Academic Leadership will then assign a thesis advisor, who will guide and review a formal thesis outline and bibliography, a fully developed draft, and the final thesis. All work must be adhere formats and conventions as described in Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers, 8th or 9th Editions. Three credits are awarded once the thesis director and Academic Leadership approve the thesis. All student work must be completed within the 16-week term in which s(he) registers.

If a student proposes a project involving research on human subjects, he or she must first submit the proposal to Academic Leadership with a faculty advisor in mind. If the Academic Leadership approves the project and determines upon review of HHS standards that the topic indeed involves research on living persons (as opposed to merely anonymous data about people), both the student and the faculty advisor (if necessary) will be required to attend appropriate Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training. Please note that CDU charges a Human Subjects Thesis fee of $400 to cover the faculty training (if necessary), in addition to the cost of CITI student training that is borne by the student. These expenses are in addition to the tuition charged for the thesis course. Once the training is complete, the student submits the project for review by the institutional review board before implementation, using the IRB portal of American Public University. CDU has a memo of understanding with APUS that CDU will submit for IRB review each proposal, including any surveys, instruments, and other tools, that will be used for specific research on human subjects under the requirements of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation 45 C.F.R. Part 46. To facilitate the IRB application process, the student is urged to take an explanatory webinar and follow this checklist and complete the Clearpath Learning App as he or she builds the application in the portal. After the IRB has the opportunity to address questions or concerns about the application, a decision will be made to approve or disapprove the proposal within one month of submission. Upon approval, a student may begin his or her research. If the project takes over 12 months, a renewal form must be submitted. The APUS website contains other useful information such as the APUS IRB Manual, which includes sample consent forms to use in the process of conducting approved research.