Theology \ Undergraduate Studies \

Sophmore Text Course

       The second-level Theology course in the Fordham College core curriculum, as first defined in the revision of 1979 and confirmed in that of 1997, is to be an exercise of the discipline of historical criticism assisting a mature understanding of foundational religious texts. Since the inception of this course, it has been understood that, given the religious tradition of Fordham and most of its students, the texts proposed for study will be preponderantly those of the Christian Bible, Old and New Testaments, with specific books or topics to be chosen according to the interests and accomplishments of individual instructors.

       In consideration of staffing limitations for the texts course, the delimitation of "foundational" material was kept broad enough to include Patristic and medieval works of "classic" stature and perennial appeal, such as the writings of Augustine and Aquinas. Reformation texts are theoretically eligible for this category, but modern works, which cannot (yet) claim "classic" stature or surpassing influence, are generally excluded from it.

       The scriptures of the non-Christian religious traditions, including Jewish, Islamic, and (potentially) Far-Eastern, may also furnish the subject-matter for second-level courses, depending on student demand and subordinate to the critical mass of Christian scripture that reflects on the University's basic commitment.

       The approach to the texts chosen for a course on this level should be a concentrated application of critical method rather than a broad-ranging survey. Students should be led to examine individual passages in their full literary, historical, and social context, making it possible to gauge their actual distance from modern readers, and thus to see the error in premature appropriation of them to promote contemporary agendas, whether religious, political, or social. On the other hand, since the course is a Theology course, the textual witnesses are to be critically interrogated for their abiding truth-claims, not merely sampled for the esthetic experience or the window on Antiquity that they might offer.