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Course Description:
This course introduces the student to critical
thinking regarding the essentials of Christian faith
including the nature of orthodox Christian belief and the
practices that Christians have historically engaged in as
part of their commitment to the Church of Jesus Christ. The
course considers how one uses the authorities of Scripture,
reason, tradition and experience as they form the bases for a
Christian worldview. A trip to a variety of worship
communities in Chicago is a requirement for the course.
Prerequisites:
COR 101
Instructors:
Instructors for the course will come from the
Philosophy & Religion Department. However, due to the
interdisciplinary nature of the course, guest lecturers from
English, art, sociology and the natural sciences will also be
utilized throughout the semester as needed.
Frequency of Offering:
Every semester. REL 101 and REL 301 have been
deleted to make room in faculty schedules for this new
course. We expect to offer 4-5 sections of the course with a
limit of 32 students per section. The course will have a
heavy writing component and so faculty will need assistance
from the English Department in preparation for this aspect of
the course.
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Course Objectives:
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Enabling Activities:
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Evaluation:
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| The student will learn to: |
To meet the objectives the student will: |
The level of mastery of the objectives will be measured by: |
| 1. Identify the 4 sources of Christian authority and the
elements of orthodox Christian belief |
1. Write a statement of belief incorporating the 4 sources of
authority and the of key elements of the Christian faith |
1. Faculty evaluation the paper |
| 2. Identify the 4 movements of worship, the role of sacred
space, and the historical development of Christian worship |
2. Read a text on worship |
2. Examination on the text |
| 3. Identify and/or begin to develop the spiritual
disciplines and their role in the Christian life |
3. Keep a journal on one’s spiritual development and read
materials addressing spiritual development |
3. Faculty evaluation of the journal |
| 4. Distinguish between good and bad arguments |
4. Read a primer on logic and critical thinking |
4. Examination on logic and faculty evaluation of written
arguments |
| 5. Evaluate apologetic writing |
5. Read an apologetic for theism and write a critique of it |
5. Faculty evaluation of the student critique |
| 6. Identify the various traditions within the Christian Church |
6. Read a survey on the history of the Church |
6. Examination on the text |
| 7. Identify and interpret various genres of literature in
the Scriptures |
7. Read selections of Scripture, a good secondary source, and
keep a notebook on interpretation |
7. Examination on the materials and evaluation of the
notebook |
| 8. Distinguish between the mono-theistic religions and their
views on worship and the role of the Scriptures |
8. Take a trip to Chicago to visit Muslim, Jewish and Christian
houses of worship |
8. Evaluation of journal or paper |
Course Content Outline:
(based on M-W-F schedule)
- SESSIONS 1-14: The Authority of Experience
The course begins with an examination
of Christian worship: i.e. what Christians do. This
first section of the course will focus on the history
and various practices of Christian worship including
biblical, medieval, reformation and contemporary
models of worship.
The focus then moves from the corporate experience of
Christians to the practices of the Christian
disciplines and their role in the Christian's life.
The individual disciplines will be investigated and
examined with particular attention paid to the role
they play in developing mature Christians.
- SESSIONS 15-21: The Authority of Reason
This section of the course will have
two primary purposes: (1) to help students think
critically via elementary inductive and deductive
logic, and (2) to help students understand, and
develop, an apologetic for a Christian worldview.
Students will study informal arguments and learn to
identify informal fallacies used in a variety of
contexts. Students will also learn to use basic
deductive logic as an aid in paper writing.
Students will also read an apologetic for the
Christian faith (e.g. Chesterton's Orthodoxy,
Lewis' Mere Christianity or Swinburne's Is
There a God?). Students will summarize and
evaluate the arguments presented in these works and
then develop their own approach.
- SESSIONS 22-30: The Authority of Tradition
This section of the course focuses upon
the important role that the Church tradition. The Commonitorum
(i.e. "what all Christians, everywhere have
always believed") will help us distinguish
between the common tradition of all the Churches and
the individual traditions of various groups like the
Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists.
Students will read a Church history survey, or take
notes on lectures, and come to identify their own
Christian tradition in light of the common tradition
of the Church.
- SESSIONS 31-45: The Authority of Scripture
This section of the course introduces
students to important ideas concerning the nature of
Scripture, its interpretation and its role in
Christian theology.
Students will keep a notebook on insights and
observations on Scripture reading. The notebook will
serve as the basis for learning to do elementary
interpretation.
Students will also read a secondary source (e.g. Fee
& Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All
It’s Worth or White’s From Adam to
Armageddon: A Survey of the Bible) helping them
understand contextual, historical, literary and
spiritual issues.
Possible Texts:
- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
- John Cobb, Becoming a Thinking Christian
- Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
- Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
- Stephen Gunther, Wesley and the Quadrilateral
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
- Alister McGrath, An Introduction to Christianity
- Alister McGrath, I Believe: Exploring the Apostles' Creed
- Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections of Christian Leadership
- M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled
- Richard Swinburne, Is There a God?
- Robert Webber, Worship Old and New
- Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World
- Anthony Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments
- Willimon & Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer in the Christian Life
- Willimon & Hauerwas, Resident Aliens
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Admissions 
