Faculty of Theology > Church & Culture Progr...
Church and Culture Programme
1 September to 1 December 2012
Every second Autumn term since 1990 the Faculty of Theology has arranged its Church and Culture Programme for English Speaking Guest Students, emphasising that not least students from Third World Countries, who have often been sponsored by Danish Churches and NGO's, are welcomed.
The Programme has had participants from a great number of countries in Africa e.g. Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania and Madagascar, Asia, e.g. China, India, Malaysia and Mongolia and USA and Europe.
Theme for Autumn 2012
The programme has dealt with all kinds of issues relating to the question of Christianity and Culture. The Church and Culture Programme in Copenhagen Autumn 2012 will focus on
Danish Theology in International Contexts
During the term from September to December three parallel courses will be conducted on the cultural and religious setting in Denmark and on the contributions by two outstanding Danish theologians in the 19th Century: N.F. S. Grundtvig and Søren Kierkegaard, whom we will study in their international contexts. To this will be added optional courses and special lectures and seminars on topics related to the main theme.
Programme for Autumn 2012
The programme includes three courses from 1 September to 1 December 2012:
Christianity and Secularism in Denmark (three periods a week)
Course instructor: Hans Raun Iversen
Denmark is among the most secular countries in the world. American sociologist Phil Zuckerman has labelled our country "Society without God". Religion is, however, not without significance in Denmark. 90 percent of the population are members of religious communities, 80 percent of the National (Evangelical-Lutheran) Church. Atheists in Denmark are often "Lutheran Atheists". In the background of brief introduction to Danish History, in particular Church History, this course will explore the special Danish form of secular religion combined with religious secularism which was part of the background of the Cartoon Crises sparked off from Denmark in 2006. The course will end by an introduction to the theology of N.F.S. Grundtvig, who is considered the modern father of Church and State in Denmark.
Course Books: Martin Schwartz: A Church History of Denmark, Ashgate 2002, Peter Gundelach, Hans Raun Iversen and Margit Warburg: Institutions and Mentalities in Denmark. Backdrop to the Cartoon Crises, Copenhagen (forthcoming) Phil Zukerman: Society without God, Ney York University Press 2008 and Hans Raun Iversen: Church, Society and Mission. Twelve Danish Contributions to International Discussions, Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen 2010, A. M. Allchin: N. F. S. Grundtvig. An Introduction to his Life and Work, Aarhus University Press.
Introduction to Søren Kierkegaard's Authorship (three periods a week)
Course instructor: Brian Söderquist
A study of the works of Copenhagen's most radical author, the ‘father of existentialism,' Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Kierkegaard's entire authorship is centered around the existential project that every human being is confronted with: to become oneself and none other than oneself. And as he sees it, becoming oneself does not happen passively and is never achieved once and for all, but rather requires constant effort. He thus often describes this project as one of taking responsibility for "choosing," "gaining," or "finding oneself." This course examines his witty, humorous, but also deeply earnest exploration of the psychology of self identity. And Kierkegaard's thoughts about the struggle for personhood take us through perhaps unexpected territories: beginning with the breakdown of culture-specific ethnic and religious that have traditionally defined the self, he explores the culturally destructive power of Socrates' irony, the art of seduction, theories of beauty and boredom, a scathing critique of religious culture and politics, religious demands that conflict with ethical duty, the chronic sicknesses of the soul, the look of the Other as a defining factor in self-identity, the struggle to see with the eye of faith, the joy of being embodied here and now, and finally, love.
We will remain especially attentive to the ways in which Kierkegaard's thought is critical of inherited ethnic and cultural definitions of self, and why he nonetheless considers human relationships to be absolutely essential to understanding oneself and one's obligations to other human beings.
The course will be reading intensive as we explore some of Kierkegaard's central works including The Concept of Irony, Either/Or, The Concept of Anxiety, Fear and Trembling, The Sickness unto Death, Works of Love, and a handful of his edifying discourses.
Text and Contexts. Methodology and Theology from Grundtvig and Global Christianity (three periods a week)
Course instructor: Jonas Adelin Jørgensen
It is a trivial fact that Christian beliefs, practices, and theologies are affected not only by texts by also by contexts. But what exactly is the relation between texts, contexts, and theology - and what should it be? The purpose of the course is to introduce and critically discuss the question of text and context as a methodological and theological problem in modern and contemporary global systematic theology.
Course literature:
Bevans, Stephen, 2009, Introduction to Theology from Global Perspective, Orbis, Maryknoll
Articles and chapters:
Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler, 1883, In Memory of Her, Crossroads, New York
Frederiks, Martha, 2003, "Miss Jairus speaks: developments in African feminist theology, Exchange, 32/1 (2003), s. 66-82
Gutiérrez, Gustavo, 1993, "Option for the Poor", i Ellacuria & Sobrino (red), Mysterium Liberationis, Orbis, s. 235-250
Grundtvig, N.F.S, 1817a "Om Mennesket i Verden", Dannevirke, Andet Bind, København, s. 118-206, 1817b, "Om Aabenbaring, Konst og Vidskab", Dannevirke, Tredie Bind, København, s. 201-298
Kabasélé, François 1998, "Christ as ancestor and elder brother" i Schreiter (red.), Faces of Jesus in Africa, Maryknoll, s. 116-127
Küster, Volker, 1993, "Theologie und Biographie. Zur Praxis kontextueller Theologie", Theologie im Kontext. Zugleich ein Versuch über die Minjung-Theologie, Steyler Verlag, Nettetal, s. 105-184
LaCocque, André & Ricoeur, Paul, 1998, Thinking Biblically, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Lonergan, Bernard, 1971, Methods in Theology, Darton, Longmann and Todd, London
Schreiter, Robert, 1983, Constructing Local Theologies, Orbis, Maryknoll
Sedmak, Clemens, 202, "Jesus - Teacher of Theology", Doing Local Theology, Orbis, Maryknoll, 2002, s. 21-42
Sobrino, Jon & Ellacuria, Ignacio, 2002, Systematic Theology: Perspectives from Liberation Theology, Orbis, Maryknoll
Tracy, David, 1981, The Analogical Imagination, Crossroads, New York
