STMM 5300 - To Hell and Back: From Evil to Reconciliation

3 credit hours
This course explores key aspects of the serious history of Christian reflection on the existence of Evil, and the response of reconciliation today. Beginning with Genesis and the Christian interpretation of the Fall, the course will address central issues of evil, how a loving God allows suffering, evil in literature through the ages, the 20th century experience of evil, systemic cruelty, contemporary efforts at reconciliation, and will conclude with a student’s theological assessment of how we understand human fault in the 21st century. The course also explores a current theological re-imagination of original sin and the agency of evil that is corrosive to human well-being and to the planet itself. Participants in the course will assess models of reconciliation that respond to sin and evil. The course includes lectures, student writing/journaling in online discussion format small-group collaboration, and other pedagogical avenues as needed. There will be no field trip.

Terms Typically Offered: summer