Gospel and Cultures

Gospel and Cultures

CL8530, Luther Seminary, Fall 2012

    This is a doctoral level seminar in the Congregational Mission and Leadership PhD program at Luther Seminary.

    This website is an adjunct to a course taught at Luther Seminary by Mary Hess and Gary Simpson. A full syllabus can be downloaded.

    Required texts for fall of 2012

    “Theology is what occurs when the Christian community knows itself to be living between text and context, between the revelatory answer and the human question (that is Tillich’s formulation), between the Bible and the newspaper (that is Barth’s formulation), between the tradition bequeathed to it from those who have gone before and the unfinished book of time present and future. Or perhaps we could put it even more simply: Theology is that ongoing activity of the whole church that aims at clarifying what ‘gospel’ must mean here and now.” (Douglas John Hall, “What is theology?” in Cross Currents, Summer 2003, p.177.)

    So how are we to do this? And what do we mean by the “whole church” and by “here and now”? The key exploration of this course centers on the relationships among Gospel and cultures. This year (fall of 2012) we will focus particularly on the impact of global digital media on faith communities’ ability to engage the societies and cultures in which they witness.

    Previous syllabi for this course

    02fall, 04fall, 06fall, 09spring, 10fall

    Books reviewed by past participants in the class

    Digital Cultures

    Academic Organizations