Seminars

Practical information

Level: master
Size: 7,5 ECTS
Language: Engels
Lecture day: Friday 
Location: Groningen

Description

This course studies theological responses to major historical crises in state and society. We focus on two episodes in particular: one occurred in late antiquity and the other in the early modern era.

The sack of Rome in 410 epitomizes a historical development leading to the fall of the Roman Empire. The event shuttered contemporaries and gave rise to theological discussions and reflections. We will read texts of Augustine (especially the first books of The City of God), Orosius, and Salvian of Marseilles.

Many centuries later, in 1672, the Dutch Republic came under assault militarily from various sides (England, France, the bishops of Cologne and Münster) while it also suffered from deep internal divisions. This so-called 'Disaster Year' is being commemorated in the Netherlands in 2022. In this course we will analyse theological responses to the events that plunged the country into a profound crisis. We will also ask what the theological positions of the past could mean in today’s crises.

Practical information

Level: master
Size: 7,5 ECTS
Language: Engels
Lecture day: Wednesday 
Location: Groningen

Description

This course will provide an overview of central concepts of Lutheran theology and will address their relevance for our present-days theology and society. It comprises close reading of Luther, thematic lectures, and group discussion. Among the subjects will be the early Luther and freedom, the understanding of faith (as a gift that creates freedom), the doctrine of justification, the Lutheran catechisms, the problem of authority, etc. Lutheran theology will be analysed as a game-changer against the background of medieval thinking. Attention will also be paid to later developments in Lutheran theology and the possibility to  create new theological concepts in our burnout society stripped of grace.

Practical information

Level: master
Size: 7,5 ECTS
Language: Engels
Lecture day: Friday
Location: Groningen

Description

The seminar is about diaconal work in Europe, or faith based work for social justice, social care and inclusion for all people, especially for people in the most vulnerable situations in society. All Christian diakonia is meant to create a space for new breathing, for liberation, for dignity and for comfort which allows for the regenerating of life.

Diaconal work, often referred to as Christian Social Work, used to have in Europe a close relationship with churches and ecclesiastical practices. In recent decades most of these Christian inspired activities and organisations developed themselves as (semi-)independent NGO’s, still working by the same mission of enhancing human dignity, initiating and supporting actions that contribute to social justice and inclusion. Diaconal services in diverse European countries show remarkable differences in shape, expression, financial sources, and in their relation to church, state and other NGO’s.

This seminar has a focus on the identity of Diakonia as a contextual practice. It includes the following topics:

1. theological foundations and outlooks on Diakonia in Europe
2. the position of diaconal work in society 
3. the ethics of the diaconal practice with an emphasis on the dynamics of power within relations of care

Practical information

Level: master
Size: 7,5 ECTS
Language: English
Lecture day: Wednesday
Location: Groningen

Description

In this course we will start with an historical, conceptual and theological exploration of the concept of human dignity. We analyse different meanings and uses, such as:

• dignity as merit
• dignity as an inalienable right
• dignity as the capacity for self-determination and autonomy
• dignity as human flourishing

We will relate these views to theological views on human dignity. Along two lines we will elaborate on this theoretical exploration:

• along the line of the relationship between dignity and human rights including the debate on the historical and systematic foundation of both concepts in the Christian tradition
• along the line of the role human dignity plays within end-of life decisions and debates, starting from the debates on euthanasia in the Netherlands, again including theological positions within this debate

In a third step we bring the different elements of this course together and make an effort to formulate a ‘politics of care’. All students can contribute from their own contexts to a theologically valid justification of care for the dignity of vulnerable people and to the ways these can be shaped in various, religiously plural, political contexts.

Practical information

Level: master
Size: 7,5 ECTS
Language: English
Lecture day: To be announced
Location: Groningen, the Netherlands

Description

In this course, taught by lecturers from the Netherlands and Kenya, we will discuss a number of key issues in feminist theology, their rootedness in and their implications for the ordinary (faith) lives of Christian individuals and communities. Starting with one of the central discussions in feminist theological anthropology, notably the conceptualisation of the body, we will look into the discussions about (human) existence as relational and dependent upon others, and about human dignity. Alternative conceptualisations of wo/man from Western and African perspectives will be studied, such as the fundamental relationality of human existence, and wo/man in the image of God, and discussed for their implications for the (faith) lives of individuals and collectives. These questions will be explored and related to social realities of domestic violence and poverty in various cultural contexts.

Teachers

Practical information

Level: master
Size: 7,5 ECTS
Language: English
Lecture day: Friday
Location: Groningen

Description

In this course, we will explore recent theological developments in the theology of religions in so far as they as they have a bearing on the possibilities and praxis of intercultural encounter, learning and witness and life together. Specific attention will be given to the question of the finality of the revelation of God in Christ, the role of the Spirit and a spirituality that allows for confidence and openness and ‘prophetic dialogue’. We will study some of the challenges of interreligious encounter with specific examples in view, particularly, but not exclusively with Islam. We will also discuss the implications of new phenomena such as dual religious belonging and so-called insider movements for interreligious encounter and witness. A final area of attention will relate to the political and social challenges of living together in religiously pluralist societies.