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THEO 594 - Epistemology for Pentecostals

TeacherDr. G. Sommer
SemesterFallDuration8 Weeks
FrequencyEvery three years
Credits5 ECTSWorkload150 Hours
Module formatIntensive
ApplicabilityA strong grasp of epistemology is a useful foundation for many in-demand skills, including critical thinking, creativity, reflection on professional practice, problem-solving and discerning strengths and weaknesses.
Course structureSee module and courses
Contact time40 HoursSelf-Study110 Hours
Participation requirementSee access to the program
Evaluation
EvaluationHoursWeight
Phase 16040%
Reading and Journal
4020%
Preparation of Presentation and Handout2020%
Phase 24020%
Active participation4020%
Phase 35040%
Research Paper5040%
Total150100%
Content of the ModuleCan we know God? If so, how? We can believe in God, but is such belief justified? How to apply the principles of epistemology to knowledge of God and belief in God? What would make belief in God justified true belief? Discover the theory of knowledge and the nature of the mind’s connection to the world. One of the oldest sub-disciplines of the western philosophical tradition, epistemology asks the big, basic questions: what is it to know reality? What is truth or fact? How is meaning generated? We will also question if there is a “Pentecostal proprium” for theological epistemology which could enrich at least Protestantism.
Learning Objectives

This course seeks to

  • give a presentation of the importance of epistemology for theology as such
  • clarify terms and definitions
  • analyze preconditions of theological knowledge
  • consider the impact of selected people, who are important for the development of an useful epistemology
  • provide a detailed study of epistemology in church practice
  • reflect the possible contribution the Pentecostal movement could give for a sufficient epistemology for doing biblical theology
  • discuss conspiration theories and the importance of a biblical orthodox epistemology
Outline

PART I PROLEGOMENA OF THEOLOGY

  • Does Theology need prolegomena?
  • The task of philosophy
  • The internal prolegomena of theology
  • The external prolegomena of theology

PART II EPISTEMIC CONCEPTS WITHIN THEOLOGY

  • Knowledge of God
  • Revelation and Scripture
  • Reason and Faith
  • The Experiential Grounding of Religious Belief
  • Saints and Saintliness
  • Authority in Religious Communities
  • The Inner Witness of the Spirit
  • Tradition
  • Ecclesial Practices
  • Spiritual Formation, Authority, and Discernment
  • The epistemology of Jesus

PART III GENERAL EPISTEMIC CONCEPTS RELATED TO THEOLOGY

  • Understanding and its history
  • Wisdom in Theology
  • The Epistemology of Testimony and Religious Belief
  • Virtue
  • Evidence and Theology
  • Foundationalism
  • Realism and Anti-realism
  • Scepticism
  • Disagreement and the Epistemology of Theology

PART IV SAMPLINGS FROM THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION

  • Paul the Apostle
  • Origen of Alexandria
  • Augustine
  • Anselm
  • Thomas Aquinas
  • John Duns Scotus
  • Martin Luther
  • Johnathan Edward
  • John Wesley

PART V THE PENTECOSTAL PROPRIUM

  • Pentecostalism as a lay movement
  • The epistemic challenges of the 20 and 21 century
  • Is there a danger of epistemic heterodoxy within Pentecostalism?
  • The opportunities of an epistemic Pentecostal approach
ExaminationSee Evaluation
Core Literature

Textbooks:
Abraham, William J. and Aquino, Frederick D., Ed.., The Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology, First Edition. (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), iii.Cone, Christopher Prolegomena: Introductory Notes on Bible Study & Theological Method (Ft. Worth, TX: Tyndale Seminary Press, 2009), 27 

Frame, John M. The doctrine of the knowledge of God, A theology of lordship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1987), 8–9.

Kennard, Douglas W., Epistemology and logic in the new testament: early jewish context and biblical theology mechanisms that fit within some contemporary ways of knowing (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2016). Moreland, J. P.  and Craig, William Lane: Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, 2nd Edition. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017), 61.

Roach, William C., Hermeneutics as epistemology: a critical assessment of carl f. h. henry’s epistemological approach to hermeneutics (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2015)

Selby, Rosalind M.  Comical Doctrine: An Epistemology of New Testament Hermeneutics (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006)

Shin, Yoon und Simmons, JoAnne: Pentecostalism, postmodernism, and reformed epistemology: james k. a. smith and the contours of a postmodern christian epistemology (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022).

 Smith, James K. A.  Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy, ed. James K. A. Smith und Amos Yong, Pentecostal Manifestos (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), iii.

Van Til, Cornelius A Survey of Christian Epistemology (The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ, 1969),

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