Fundamental Theology

If you would like to purchase this course individually, you can do that here.

Fundamental Theology is broken into two parts:

1. A 5-part Introduction (access to all lessons opens June 1)
2. Fundamental Theology

Introduction to Fundamental Theology: Sources and Methods

In this course, students will be introduced to the basic sources employed by responsible theologians and how they ought to be approached and assessed according to a well-formed theological method. Students in this course will be equipped to:

• explain what is meant by the term “revelation”
• provide, in broad outline, an articulation of the narrative thrust of Scripture from creation to sin, through restoration and to glory
• explain the concept of magisterial, teaching authority in the Church, and distinguish between dogma, doctrine, and theological opinion
• describe “tradition” and identify a variety of elements that comprise it
• critically engage with a theological text, sensitive to the distinctions to be drawn between dogma, doctrine, and theological opinion.

Download the Course Workbook for Introduction to Fundamental Theology here.

Lectures included in this course:

1. What is Revelation?
2. A Closer Look at Scripture
3. What is Meant by “Tradition”?
4. Magisterium and Magisterial Authority
5. The Formation of a Theological Opinion

Fundamental Theology

This course addresses the foundational questions of human existence and how divine revelation provides a unique and uniquely satisfying response to them, as reflected in the Church’s basic creedal statements. Students in this course will be equipped to:

• explain the Judeo-Christian understanding of God as Yahweh Elohim and how this understanding of God differs radically from any alternative view regarding the divine
• explain how the doctrine of original sin stemming from an initial fall from primordial grace, as depicted in the narrative of Garden in the book of Genesis, provides a means of addressing the problem of evil in the world in a way that also preserves the Judeo-Christian tradition’s fundamental optimism about God and creation, and how even this disaster still involves a dimension of good news.
• explain how the Judeo-Christian understanding of God connects with Christian teaching regarding life beyond death, in its various aspects, such as personal immortality, bodily resurrection, heavenly glory, and the possibility of hell
• explain what is fundamentally at stake in the Christian assertion that Jesus of Nazareth is the true human Incarnation of the One True God, and how this truth comes to bear on teachings about the Church, Judgment, and forgiveness of sins, and the possibility of acceptable sacrifice according to an authentic biblical meaning of the concept

Download the Course Workbook for Fundamental Theology here.

Lectures included in this course:

1. What Do We See When We Look Out the Window?
2. An Overview of the Formation of a Religious Consciousness in Human Beings
3. What Comes After Death?
4. The Rise of Monotheism
5. Yahweh Elohim: An Entirely New Idea About the Divine
6. Now that we know God: original sin as the explanation for what should be, what went wrong, and how it can be fixed
7. Now that we know God: the culture of Life and Love
8. What Christ brings: The Incarnation closes the gap between creator and creation
9. What Christ brings: Our brother makes sacrifice possible for us
10. What Christ brings: Our brother is our judge
11. The Holy Spirit and the Holy Catholic Church
12. Forgiveness of Sins, Resurrection of the Body, and the Life of the world to come