HT

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

depictions of Jesus

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

A culture of violence permeates the American ethos where race and religion have germinated and grown. In the context of religious life, there exists a taxonomy of racialized data that are indicative of the social constructionism which causes race to stand as a marker for acceptance into the so-called “American Dream.” This course will examine the problematic nature that race and religion, taken as a conceptual frame, imbibes in various rationalities inclusive of theological, socio-political, economic, and 52

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

Why were some Christians in the early church persecuted and killed? Why were some Christians willing to die for God? How did the remembrance of martyrdom and the transmission of the stories of the martyrs shape the Christian imagination? This course will look at narratives regarding anger and rage that Christians had to face as recorded in the new testament and early Christian literature; analyze and discuss various “acts” of Christian martyrs; and explore the legacy of martyrdom and memory in relation to events that occur in various parts of the world today and in the recent past, where Christians are killed for being witnesses and testifying to their faith. Fulfills MDiv Gospel and Freedom requirement, MA/MA Prof. track (Public Leadership specialization)/MAPL Public Theology requirement, or free elective. [Prerequisites: HTH 100 and HTH 11x].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

The course will seek to develop an integrated understanding of the issues and themes that emerge from a study of the sacrament of baptism in relation to the quest for the unity of the church. After examining the New Testament teaching regarding baptism, including the role of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus, the course will move on to examine baptismal practices in the early church, and look at the teachings of selected patristic writers. It will then interrogate the debates and discussions regarding baptism at the time of the Protestant Reformation, including the question regarding believer’s baptism and the reactions to this. We will then look at the contemporary ecumenical issues thrown up by the search for baptismal unity, including an assessment of the Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM) Document of the World Council of Churches. The course will conclude by looking at various baptismal practices in the churches from which the students come and offer examples from other churches in various parts of the world. Fulfills MDiv Gospel and Freedom requirement, MA Professional track specialization or Free elective. [Pre-requisites: ST 100 and either CH 100 or CH 20x].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

cultural depictions of Jesus What does the claim that Jesus Christ is the “same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) mean? Given the range of images and understandings of Jesus in various cultural contexts, what can global Christianity teach us about the person and work of Christ, and what “the man for others” and “our eternal contemporary” evoke and convey in a variety and range of settings and histories? We will navigate regions and nations and denominations and look at art, architecture, liturgies, and histories in recognizing the diversity and assortment of human responses to Jesus the Christ and examine convergences and divergences and points of view, including the why, how, and wherefore of cultural depictions of Jesus. Fulfills MDiv Gospel and Freedom requirement, MA Public Theology requirement, or free elective. [Prerequisites: ST 100-formerly HTH 100-and HTH 11x].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This course is an introduction to the Reformation, seen through the life and thought of Martin Luther (1483-1546), and based on lectures, films, and close reading and discussion of his works. The course aims to provide students with a working knowledge of Luther’s main teachings and their impact and put his ideas and his legacy in historical and ecclesial context. Fulfills MDiv Gospel and Freedom requirement, MA/MAPL Public Theology requirement, or free elective; also applies to the Lutheran Studies concentration/specialization. [Prerequisites: ST 100 and CH100 – formerly HTH 100 and HTH 11x].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

Womanist theology and Ethics derives from a constructive rendering of the deep and didactic scholarship of womanist and Black feminist theorists such as Katie G. Cannon, Emilie M. Townes, Kelly Brown-Douglas, Delores Williams, Jacqueline Grant, and a host of other black women scholars. Using the formulaic power of lived theology and experiential knowledge production, Womanist theology and Ethics bridged the gap between “knowing” and the “known.” This course will examine and explicate the Womanist theologies and Ethics emanating from many of these scholars through several methodologies including biblical, ethical, sociological, historical, and cultural lenses.

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This immersion course travels to Tuskegee, Selma, Montgomery, and Atlanta to experience and learn from the geography of repression and resistance that encompasses the rich and living history of the Civil Rights Movement. Students will visit sites of memory that recall the agency of those who have endured disparagement and dismissal in their struggle for civil and human rights. The Equal Justice Initiative and other Civil Rights sites of conscience and memory in Montgomery provide a focal point for this immersion course that both lays bare the ongoing racism in the system of incarceration and that issues a call to an ongoing ministry of reconciliation and repair in our own places and lives. The trip and immersion in the geography of protest serves the purpose of teaching Dmin students how to use nontraditional pedagogy to guide ministry. A special highlight is the visit the Equal Justice Initiative work in Montgomery where a museum of the civil rights movement addresses the disproportionate incarceration of Black citizens. Students will gain insight into the urgency of a pastoral and prophetic response to this contemporary injustice. As an advanced history course, the trip offers a study of many facets of interpretive work, as Montgomery and Atlanta have been at civil justice work for a good while. One can also see the first Whitehouse of the Confederacy in Montgomery for another view. The EJI is the latest in museum, popular and public, pedagogy, using great art to encourage creative responses. Local interpreters, street art and other spontaneous commentary, is there to examine. [Open to senior MDiv and MA students with permission from the instructors]. Applies toward the Black Church specialization. Limited enrollment. Craig L. Nessan and Maria Erling

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This course will provide a thorough examination of a variety of research methods available for advance level research for writing PhD. dissertations. Special attention will be given to the process of writing research proposals.

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

A culture of violence permeates the American ethos where race and religion have germinated and grown. In the context of religious life, there exists a taxonomy of racialized data that are indicative of the social constructionism which causes race to stand as a marker for acceptance into the so-called “American Dream.” This course will examine the problematic nature that race and religion, taken as a conceptual frame, imbibes in various rationalities inclusive of theological, socio-political, economic, and legal communions. [Open to STM and DMin students; the rigor will be a 900-level course, applies to Black Church specialization].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This two-semester reading and discussion seminar is designed to assist Ph.D. students to write a Comprehensive Exam in public theology, and to develop new competencies to practice and to teach as a public theologian. Both a study of a discrete emerging sub-discipline and of a classical way of engaging theological discourse with public life, this course explores the interdisciplinary and intersectional character of exemplary works in public theology--from roughly the early twentieth century to the present. Primarily focusing on authors writing from within (and on) Christian traditions, the course also includes brief forays into Jewish and Islamic public theologies.

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This Ph.D. course prepares students to teach World Religions with critical awareness, pedagogical skill, and theological integrity in diverse academic and public contexts. Beginning with a close examination of the World Religions paradigm—its colonial origins, pedagogical utility, and theoretical critiques— students will explore how to design and deliver inclusive, critical, and context-sensitive curricula. Drawing on foundational texts such as Charles Long’s Significations, Tomoko Masuzawa’s The Invention of World Religions, and Jonathan Z. Smith’s comparative frameworks, and critiques of essentialism and religious universalism, the course engages the practical complexities of teaching about religious difference in global and pluralist settings. Students will evaluate and critique major world religions textbooks, examine classroom case studies, and develop their own syllabi or course modules. Emphasis will be placed on responsibly representing marginalized traditions (including Indigenous, African, and diasporic religions), addressing public misconceptions, and fostering critical religious literacy. This course 57

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This upper-level graduate seminar will explore the following questions: What is U.S. Christian nationalism, how did it evolve historically, theologically, and politically, and how does it function today as both a cover and an engine for white supremacy and patriarchy? Who are its adherents, and what are the specific beliefs it promotes? What are some of the conscious and unconscious psychological motivations that draw people in? Is it ever possible to engage in constructive dialogue across the current political divide, and if so, how? As public theologians, where do we go from here? Open to PhD, DMin and STM only. Meets weekly in person on Gettysburg campus. [Open to STM and DMin students; the rigor will be a 900-level course].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com

This course seeks to trace the question of authority and public theology in the emerging church in the first centuries of its existence, especially in relation to the Roman empire, by analyzing the controversies triggered off, among others, by Cyprian of Carthage, the Constantinian legacy, including the Council of Nicaea, and the Augustinian attempts to confront Pelagianism and Donatism. Working with the hermeneutical principle that one should reach back in order to move forward, wrestling with the question of authority and public theology in the evolving church will enable the students to get better acquainted with the complexity of the issues and themes that confronted the early teachers of faith, whose contribution to doctrine and life and church-state relations continue to impact and influence public theological reflection and societal praxis today. [Open to STM and DMin students; the rigor will be a 900-level course].

Subject

HT

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.prod.website-files.com