“Sit in your cell collecting your thoughts and remember the day of your death . . . ” To modern ears this advice from the early Christian desert father Evagrius sounds morbid; we instinctively shrink away from it. Contemporary Westerners live in the most death-denying culture ever seen in human civilization. But the still-smoldering pandemic …
View course details “The Mystery of Death”
The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within
A Book Study Offered on ZoomEight Wednesday evening, March 23—June 29, 5:00—7:00 p.m. CST/MDTPresented by Nancy Phillips and Sarah Donnelly through the Queen’s House Retreat and Renewal Centre. Join with other seekers as we slowly appreciate the wisdom found in Christine Valters Paintner‘s book, The Soul of the Pilgrim. Please source your own copy of this …
View course details “The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within”
Providence: Understanding God’s Ways in the World
Is there a divine purpose in my people’s history? Can we discern God’s action in a world of natural causes? Why has God allowed this suffering? Such questions require both simple faith and complex reasoning. Learn to live out the answers by engaging with the political, scientific, and pastoral aspects of the doctrine of providence. …
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Martin Luther: The First Protestant Mystic?
Explore the relationship between Protestantism, evangelicalism, and mysticism through the lens of Martin Luther’s life and faith. Wrestle with the overlap between Protestant faith and medieval mystical writings by looking at Luther’s own well-documented interaction with Christianity’s mystical tradition. Discover how contemporary Protestants might similarly turn to the mystical tradition for wisdom and inspiration. Evaluate …
View course details “Martin Luther: The First Protestant Mystic?”
Reading Poetry Theologically–Not for credit
Can reading poetry be one way of thinking theologically, or even of ‘doing theology’? In this course we will study poetry as a source of theological reflection and insight through close readings of individual poems and poetic sequences by some of the best poets of the English language in modern times. As we proceed, we …
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Biblical Values–Not for credit
Many people in the modern world claim to espouse biblical values. This course will examine what the Bible has to say about several issues that are controversial in the modern world, including right to life, gender, social justice and the environment . It will also reflect on the difficulty of identifying a single, or even …
View course details “Biblical Values–Not for credit”
Living a Life of Forgiving: Honoring the Life, Ministry and Legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu–Not for credit
Our sense of “being” is grounded in a healthy self-esteem and satisfaction with our lives. These can be burdened by our feeling wounded with hidden grief and mourning. Today’s uncertainty and anxiety make it even more difficult for us to engage in self-care, and to theologically frame our understanding of self-care as something positive and …
View course details “Living a Life of Forgiving: Honoring the Life, Ministry and Legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu–Not for credit”
Faith and Reason–Non-credit
This course will study the relation between faith in God and the capacities of human reason. The main topics will be the relation between faith in God and morality, religious experience, the problem of evil, the nature of faith, the traditional proofs for the existence of God, miracles and science, immortality, and religious pluralism. In …
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Sabbath: “A Life-long, Life-Giving Rhythm”
with April Yamasaki; Resident Author, Valley CrossWay Church, and Author of Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for Personal Renewal “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy,” says Exodus 20:8 as part of the 10 Commandments. Yet in Mark 2:27 Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.” Over six sessions, this …
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Reading the Bible as if our lives depended on it!
with Mary Schertz; Professor Emerita of New Testament at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, happily living and worshipping in Elkhart, Indiana. In so many ways, western culture, with its consumptive habits and elevation of self-reliance as a virtue, is what has separated us from reading biblical texts as if our lives depended on it. This course asks …
View course details “Reading the Bible as if our lives depended on it!”