Objections to Christian Belief (AP9830Y)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

Christian beliefs and practices have been subjected to a variety of critiques of varying intensity over the centuries. Christian responses to these objections have themselves taken different forms: from philosophical apologetics, through to philosophically-informed self-critical theological reflection. This unit evaluates through a philosophical lens the assumptions and material content of a range of prominent objections from, for instance, disciplines such as a variety of sciences, psychology, and philosophy itself. Topics may include the role of history in belief, the impact of religious pluralism, gender studies, political theologies, post-colonialism, Critical Race Theory, and trans/posthumanism.

Unit code: AP9830Y

Unit status: Approved (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Proposing College: Yarra Theological Union

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Learning outcomes

1.

Critically evaluate a range of philosophical concerns with Christian belief and practice
2.

Assess and communicate the philosophical perspectives that ground and shape the concerns with Christian belief and practice
3.

Critically articulate the range of philosophically informed theological responses to the concerns with Christian belief and practice
4.

Critically engage with key texts in the traditions of philosophical approaches to the theological

5.

Demonstrate the capacity to research a specific topic in a critically rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner.

Unit sequence

1x AP or CT unit

Pedagogy

Asynchronous lectures and synchronous tutorials, leading to supervision of a research paper

Indicative Bibliography

  • Arendt, Hannah. Responsibility and Judgment. New York: Schocken Books, 2005.
  • Braidotti, Rosi. The Posthuman. Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press, 2013.
  • Eagleton, Terry. Reason, Faith and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009.
  • Fergusson, David. Faith and Its Critics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  • Girard, René. Violence and the Sacred. Translated by Patrick Gregory. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1977.
  • Horkheimer, Max. Critical Theory: Selected Essays. Translated by Matthew J. Connell. New York: Continuum, 2002.
  • Jantzen, Grace M. Foundations of Violence: Death and the Displacement of Beauty. London and New York: Routledge, 2004.
  • Kearney, Richard and Zimmermann, Jens (eds.). Reimagining the Sacred: Richard Kearney Debates God. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015.
  • Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age A Secular Age. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press, 2007.
  • Westphal, Merold. Suspicion and Faith: The Religious Uses of Modern Atheism. New York: Fordham University Pres, 1993.
  • Žižek, Slavoj. Christian Atheism: How to Be a Real Materialist. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Essay 2500 35.0
Essay 5000 65.0

Variant 2

Essay 750 10.0
Essay 6750 90.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 11 Sep, 2024

Unit record last updated: 2024-09-11 10:30:38 +1000