JCST - Jewish Christian Stu (JCST)

Historical review of Christian origins and Jewish-Christian relations. Heritage of Christian faith and practice draws upon Jewish sources. The Vatican II Declaration on Non-Christian Religions and other pertinent documents. Tasks and challenges for the coming decades.

Complementing JCST 6010, selections from prose and poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures are studied grammatically, with an emphasis on their literary, historical and theological content. Examinations of the Hebrew world of thought as a vehicle for faith-expression.

Complementing JCST 6010, selections from prose and poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures are studied grammatically, with an emphasis on their literary, historical and theological content. Examinations of the Hebrew world of thought as a vehicle for faith-expression.

Early Christian understanding of the mystery of God's life as shared with the people He has chosen. Integration of election, covenant and Torah into new perspectives. Use of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish liturgy by the writers in their reflection on the person of Jesus and the nature of the Church. Letters of Paul and the Gospel according to John studied in detail.

Gospels studied redactionally, preserving an ongoing interpretation of the works and words of Jesus in light of the early Christian experience. Detailed account of the Jewish socioreligious background for a better understanding of both the Gospels and the Jesus tradition. Distortions and misconceptions persist due to a lack of phenomenological understanding of this crucial period. Course develops a new direction.

The investigation of New Testament texts, the Epistle to the Hebrews and the seven Catholic (general) Epistles, explores early Christian understanding of the faith in Jesus and moral life and its relation to the Jewish Scriptures and the Jewish people.

Personal and societal impact of prejudice and hatred; exclusionary and destructive societal practices relating to race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity and political views; institutionalized anti-Semitism in Germany under the Nazis; social world conditions that minimize personal freedoms and lead to genocidal behavior; probing alternative educational models.

Examination of social science models for studying the circum-Mediterranean world as the context for Jewish/Christian symbols and values; comparative study of Jews and Christians as distinct but related traditions in various social world contexts; the causes and effects of anti-Semitism; impact of individualism on Judaism and Christianity in a pluralistic society.

A study of pluralism as a system along with its concomitant social values: civil rights and responsibilities, individualism and diversity, separation of church and state, community building and prejudice reduction. Deriving resources from a cross-cultural study of Jewish and Christian sources, the course will examine various societal models for values-formation and practical guides for communicating values in a pluralistic socio-religious setting.

This course will examine the biblical and theological foundations in Judaism and Christianity for promoting social services. It will study notable examples of such services through history and explore various agencies today that continue this tradition. The focus of the course will be on an understanding of the rationale as well as a motivational base for responding to social needs. The course is particularly suited to teachers seeking to foster social consciousness among students in public, private and parochial schools.

Survey of the dispersion of the Hebrew people in the circum-Mediterranean world during the Second Temple period to the formation of the rabbinic canon; contextual reading of relevant ancient texts; examination of sects and factions within the House of Israel; the influences of Hellenism and Rome; effects of the break-off of Christianity; diversity among Jewish communities.

Development of Jewish spirituality and theology from 300 B.C. until the destruction of Jerusalem. Various interpretations of the Hebrew Scriptures. Deuterocanonical (apocryphal), pseudepigraphical works and Qumran scrolls assessed for their contribution to Judaism of the time.

Evaluates the works of Moses Mendelssohn, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Hermann Cohen, Leo Baeck, Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Achad Haam, Aaron David Gordon, Abraham Isaac Kook, Kaufman Kohler, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham J. Heschel, Joseph Soloveitchik.

Uniqueness of the tragedy. Historical background of anti-Semitism and racism (Gobineau and H.S. Chamberlain). Manner and method of genocide: boycott, burning of synagogues, concentration camps and gas chambers. Those involved and the "onlookers." Jewish and Christian reactions to the moral and theological issues. Literature concerning the Holocaust. Implications for Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Covenant and Torah in ancient Israel; Law and ethics in the wisdom tradition; Torah and commandments in the literature of the Second Temple period. Sadducees and the Qumran community; the Pharisaic teaching concerning written and oral Torah. Approaches of the New Testament writers and the Rabbis to Covenant, law and ethics. Great legal codes of Medieval Jewry; canon law; law versus Gospel in Luther's thought; Calvin's reverence for law. Ethics concerning the family and sanctity of life in modern thought. Structures in society as opposed to nihilism and terrorism.

Course traces the major themes of the Jewish mystical tradition from Biblical through Rabbinic, Kabbalistic and Hasidic epochs, using translations of classical sources. Approach is both phenomenological and historic, with comparison between Jewish mystical thought and other mystical systems explored.

Development of Hebrew thought concerning immortality and resurrection. Background of the early apocalyptic thought and hope expression. Models for community life and morality inspired by belief in the afterlife. Use of biblical ideas (Kingdom of God, new creation, retribution) in the Jewish and Christian liturgies. Modern views on the meaning of life and the eternal destiny of human beings.

Important contributions of Jews to every area of western culture, studied in the context of the integrated approach to education from the biblical and Rabbinic periods. Themes in ancient literature followed into medieval and modern times as related to philosophy and practice.

Review of biblical tradition (including New Testament) and rabbinic literature (such as Pereq Hashalom) on the dynamic meaning and application of peace in the transpersonal and interpersonal realms. Study of war and violence and the vision of universal peace in Jewish thought, from early times to the modern period.

Christian faith and prayer (liturgical and personal) is rooted in the biblical heritage as experienced by the Jewish community. The challenge of early Christian adaptation to cultures of the Mediterranean and north Europe forms a background to a discussion of inculturation of liturgy of the Sacraments in modern society.

Themes of land, Jerusalem and Temple as related to God and His people in the Hebrew Bible as part of both Jewish and Christian thought. Assesses the interpretative development of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple through the different strata of early tradition, focusing on specific prophetic motifs for evaluating the issue of theodicy.

This course seeks to engage students in a critical consideration of the moral, religious and theological implications of the Holocaust. This course will start with the classic positions of Fackenheim, Greenberg, Berkovits, and Rubenstein. It will then move to the thought of the last two decades, incorporating both Jewish and Christian thinkings, including: Levinas, Hauerwas, Tracy, and Jonas. We also look at a variety of contemporary religious positions. Topics covered will include challenges to religion, lessons for preventing future genocide, and possibility of forgiveness, the need for ethics and bioethics.

Selected topics in Jewish-Christian Studies chosen by the instructor.

This course will survey the ways that one can concptualize a religion other than one's own. Students will start start with general philosophic and sociological positions, and then study in depth, as our example, the Jewish perspectives on these topics. The course will offer a wide exposure to diverse Jewish thinkers.

This course will compare and contrast the basic tenets of Judaism to Catholicism, Lutheranism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. We will ask ourselves how to evaluate the commonalities and the differences and will ask many more questions: What are the different types of comparisons and dialogue? Do we worship one God? Are there overlaps in covenant, monotheism, revelation and ethics? Can our sacred texts and rituals be compared? Is there a difference between comparative religion, interfaith and multi-faith? Does a chart showing a variety of religions do justice to any of them? Most of the class will focus on the comparisons between Judaism and Catholicism. <b> The objective of the class is to learn to explain religious commonality and differences in our pluralistic world. </b>

Building on a shared awareness of ecological challenges today, as detailed in Pope Francis’ encyclical (May 2015), ¬Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You), this course will delve into the issues and opportunities for integral creation care, both human and environmental, that can be shared by Jews, Christians, and persons of other religious traditions. Topics will include a shared vision for ecological awareness; socio-economic factors affecting human ecology; responsible use of technoscience; global environmental ecology; cultural ecology. The course aims to find common purpose for inter-religious and inter-cultural initiatives to manage the ecological challenges and their implications for the future. It will be useful for educators in public, private, and parochial schools in addressing social studies, the common core, contemporary issues in technology and science, as well as health issues facing all people today.