PLENARY LECTURES
Saturday 10 July
P1 - ' CATHOLICS AND THE BIBLE '
by Fr John Hemer MHM
Sunday 11 July
P2 - 'PRAYER - WHY BOTHER?'
by Fr Fredrik Heiding, SJ
Monday 12 July
P3 - 'THE CATHOLIC MORAL VISION: A Guide to finding true happiness'
by Fr Stephen Wang '
Group A Lecture Options
A1 Contemporary Ethical Questions
Helen Costigane SHCJ
This course will look at a range of contemporary ethical questions such as (i) what is a moral response to climate change?; (ii) justice and remuneration; (iii) advertising and its effects; (iv) aspiration, ambition and greed; (v) the ethics of finance and debt; (vi) bribery and corruption. Content will take account of the latest moral issues in the public domain at the time of delivery of the course. Teaching will be by way of interactive lectures, use of film, case studies, and class discussions. No previous knowledge is assumed or required.
Suggested reading:
E. Spence and B. van Heekenen, Advertising Ethics (Prentice Hall, 2004), ISBN-13 978-0130941213
D. Jamieson, Ethics and the Environment, (CUP 2008), ISBN-13 978-0521682848
S. Hamilton and A. Micklethwait, Greed and Corporate Failure, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), ISBN-13 978-1403986368
Helen Costigane teaches Christian Ethics and Canon Law at Heythrop College, University of London.
We often hear talk of ‘Bible Christianity’ as though that were something opposed to Catholic Christianity. In this course we will aim to show first of all that the Catholic Church is THE ‘Bible Church’ par excellence. We will see how the Church wrote the Bible and how without the Church we simply wouldn’t have it. We will see how the New Testament, as well as bearing witness to Jesus, is a profound interpretation of the Hebrew Bible – beginning with Jesus’ own interpretation. We will look at various ways in which the Church uses and interprets the Bible, at what sort of interpretation is helpful to faith - and what is not. We will ask what the Bible is and what we mean when we say it is true. Sometimes Bible study can seem very dry and academic, sometimes it is deliberately divorced from any faith. We will try to see how we can study this incomparable collection of writings in a way that is both academically rigorous and still feeds the life of faith: how we can read it for all its worth.
Suggested reading:
Bailie, G., Violence Unveiled (New York, 1997).
Brueggemman, W., The Bible Makes Sense (Louisville, 2001).
Hahn, S., A Father Who keeps His Promises (Cincinnati, 1998).
Johnson, L. T. & Kurz, The Future of Catholic Biblical Scholarship. (Grand Rapids – Cambridge, 2002) 35-47
Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (Vatican Press, 1993).
Fr. John Hemer is a Mill Hill Missionary who has worked in several countries and now teaches at Allen Hall seminary.
Group B Lecture Options
B1: Prayer - Talking to Yourself?
Fr Fredrik Heiding SJ
Is there anyone at the other end, or is prayer a monologue? The nineteenth-century philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach held that God is a mere human projection. Contemporary Christians, by contrast, believe that God really exists. Yet many wish to tell the difference between their own thoughts and the voice of God in prayer. We shall search for guidelines in prayer from five Christian mystics: John Cassian, John Climacus, Bonaventure, Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila. The aim of the course is to develop one’s prayer-life with the help of these spiritual masters. The teaching style will consist of lectures followed by conversation in the group on the basis of selected primary sources.
Suggested reading:
Burrows, Ruth, Interior Castle Explored: St. Teresa’s Teaching on the Life of Deep
Union with God (London: Sheed & Ward, 1981)
Climacus, John, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, The Classics of Western Spirituality (New York, Paulist Press, 1982)
Cavallini, Giuliana, Catherine of Siena (London: Continuum, 1998)
Delio, Ilia, Crucified Love: Bonaventure's Mysticism of the Crucified Christ (City: Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 1998)
Stewart, Columba, Cassian the Monk (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Fr Fredrik Heiding, a Swedish Jesuit,
is currently writing a doctoral thesis
on Ignatian Spirituality at the University of Oxford.
B2: The Sacrament of Marriage, Sexuality, the Family and Children and the Teaching of Scripture
Fr Peter Burrows
Owing to Fr Peter's indisposition this course was cancelled and participants joined B1 above. |