THL

		THL-2590-002 Historical Themes: Medieval and Early Modern Christian Classics
Course Description The Arc of the Course I. Getting Medieval II. Faith III. Hope IV. Love Tentative Calendar Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 SECTION 4 part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6		Kevin L. Hughes, Ph.D Assistant Professor, Theology and Religious Studies Office: SAC 128 Phone: 9-4728 Email: Kevin.Hughes@villanova.edu Office Hours: I’m in MWF all day, usually, so please feel free to stop in with a question, a comment, or just to say hello. But my official office hours for the Spring will be Thursday from 2 pm to 4 pm and Monday from 2:30 pm to 5 pm. Also, I’m available for lunch many days of the week, if you’d like to chat a bit less formally. Course Description: Faith, Hope, and Love "So faith, hope, and love remain, these three. And the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13) Faith, hope, and love are traditionally called the ‘theological virtues.’ The life of a Christian, and Christian thinking about the world, God, history, human nature can be examined within these three questions: What does it mean to believe* in God? What can one reasonably hope for with God? How can one learn to love God?* Instead of proceeding purely chronologically, the course will consist of three sections, one on each of the theological virtues. Classic texts from the medieval and early modern periods will help illuminate faith, hope, and love – and how their meanings shift and change – in the history of Christian thought and practice. Among the authors considered will be Benedict, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Julian of Norwich, Luther, and Pascal.
		The Arc of the Course *I. Getting Medieval* The first section of the course will be devoted to setting the scene -- to thinking about the middle ages and the culture from which the texts we will discuss emerges. To begin this, we will read the Rule of Benedict, one of the 'touchstone texts' of medieval culture. With the Rule in hand and some brief background reading under our belts, we'll hopefully be able to enter into an ethos in which human life is conceived as a journey into God, in which people dared to imagine the possibilities of 'Christianitas', and in which faith, hope, and love were virtues to be cultivated by disciplina, a disciplined life. I think we'll see in the course that faith, hope, and love are intimately connected -- that you can't really talk about one without discussing the others in some way or another. *II. Faith* If the Middle Ages is called the "Age of Faith," what does this mean? Does it mean that medieval thinkers were credulous, willing to believe anything? Does it mean that they had 'blind faith' in God that we might envy or despise, but in any case we doubt that it's possible now? To call the medieval period the 'Age of Faith' is imprecise and makes all sorts of assumptions I don't want to make, but if it means anything, it means that the Middle Ages was a time in which the claims of faith were taken seriously as intellectual data, as something worth contemplating. In this section of the course, we will use 'faith' as an umbrella concept for a number of issues. First of all, what is faith? What is its relationship to theology? What's the relationship between faith and reason? Medieval theologians are convinced that 'blind faith' is false faith, that true faith allows one to see and understand more, not less, about the world. Bernard of Clairvaux, On Consideration Thomas Aquinas, Summa, on Faith Thomas, Summa, "On the Nature of Sacra Doctrina" Bonaventure, The Soul's Journey into God Martin Luther, Freedom of a Christian John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel Pascal, Pensees *III. Hope* The medieval Christian conceived of herself as a viator (wayfarer) or peregrina (pilgrim) -- someone 'on the way' to God. In theological terms, Christian life is suspended between the 'already' of the Kingdom of God here among us and the 'not yet' of its fullness to be revealed in the end. This section of the course may be the briefest, but in many ways it's the most interesting to me. Questions that arise here are, first of all, what is hope? Can hope be 'certain' and still be 'hope.' But secondly, we'll ponder whether we 'dare hope that all shall be saved,' through the examination of Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love. Thomas Aquinas, Summa, On Hope Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love. *IV. Love* In many ways, all of the thinkers we've read so far could fit here. Especially Julian, who gives it away in her title. For Julian, hope is rooted in love. For Thomas, faith must be formed by love. For Bonaventure, faith and knowledge must yield to love in the journey into God. Bernard, On Loving God and Sermons on the Song of Songs John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love Pascal, Memorial
		tentative Calendar Week I (1/15) M Introduction W Rule of Benedict & Southern chapter F Rule of Benedict & Bernard, Letter 64 Week II (1/22) M Leclerq, "Monastic Theology"; Bernard, On Consideration W Bernard, On Consideration F Thomas, On Faith Week III (1/29) M Thomas, On Faith, On Sacra Doctrina W Bonaventure, The Mind's Journey into God, Prologue and Chs. 1-2 F Bonaventure, Chs. 3-4 Week IV (2/5) M Bonaventure, Chs. 5-7 W Luther F Luther Week V (2/12) M Luther W Luther F Luther Week VI (2/19) M Pascal W Pascal F Pascal Week VII (2/26) (Hope) M Thomas Aquinas, on Hope W Joachim of Fiore, Disposition of the New People of God, Hildegard of Bingen, Letter 35R. F Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love Spring Break Week VIII (3/12) M Julian of Norwich W Julian of Norwich F Julian of Norwich Week IX (3/19) M Julian of Norwich W Julian of Norwich (+ "Must Christians Believe in Hell?") F Pascal, the Wager Week X (3/26) M Bernard of Clairvaux, de diligendo Dei W Bernard, de dilgendo F Bernard, Commentaries on the Song of Songs Week XI (3/27) M Bernard Comm. on SoS. W Bernard Comm. on SoS. F John of the Cross Week XII (4/9) M John of the Cross W John of the Cross EASTER Week XIII (4/18) W John of the Cross F John of the Cross Week XIV (4/23) M Pascal, Memorial W Pascal, Memorial F O. Clement, on "Difficult Love" Week XV (4/30) M Wrapping it all up W Conclusion
		Requirements Since the course material is somewhat unevenly distributed, you'll write two essays in the 'faith' section, one in 'hope' and one in 'love.' The final exam will be oral and group-based. This is a majors seminar, so your presence and participation are essential. So any more than 6 unexcused absences will lead to loss of 2 steps on the final grade.