overview
In the Certificate in Theology and Ministry program, you will explore aspects of Old and New Testament studies, theology, and World Christianity. Through the use of case studies, you will learn that thinking theologically makes a difference in how you address pressing issues of life, faith, and ministry.
Courses
Learning and Living Theologically / 1 week
In this course, Seminary faculty provide an overview of theological education and introduce students to the various disciplines of the theological academy. You will learn why studying about God matters and will hear ministry leaders speak about the impact of such study on their lives and the practice of ministry. At the end of the week, you will have a better understanding of what it means to “think theologically” and will know what to expect in the following four courses.
This introductory course includes instruction from a variety of Princeton Theological Seminary faculty, representing the various departments of the curriculum, as well as pastors and ministry leaders.
Old Testament Resources for Faith and Life / DENNIS T. OLSON / 4 WEEKS
This course explores the question, “Does the Old Testament have any bearing on how we live today?” Dr. Olson will guide students through Old Testament stories of suffering and revenge and engage modern researchers and theologians, in hopes of reshaping the way we view the Old Testament in modern life.
Dennis T. Olson is the Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology and chair of the Department of Biblical Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned his MDiv from Luther Theological Seminary and his MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. His academic interests are in literary approaches to Old Testament interpretation and Old Testament and biblical theology. He specializes in the Pentateuch and other narrative literature of the Old Testament. An ordained Lutheran minister, he has chaired the Convocation of Teaching Theologians for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Olson has served as a general acquisitions editor for the Society of Biblical Literature, a member of the Society of Biblical Literature Pentateuch steering committee, and he is currently the Pentateuch general editor for a 30-volume project titled The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (Walter de Gruyter).
New Testament: The Gospel of Luke / ERIC D. BARRETO / 4 weeks
In this course, students will discover why the Gospel of Luke is worth studying today. Dr. Barreto will lead students on a journey through the Gospel of Luke, carefully noting how Luke’s unique story of the Jesus, who heals and saves, transforms how we see the world, and act in it.
Eric D. Barreto is the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament. He holds a BA in religion from Oklahoma Baptist University, an MDiv from Princeton Seminary, and a PhD in New Testament from Emory University. Prior to coming to Princeton Seminary, he served as associate professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, and also taught as an adjunct professor at the Candler School of Theology and McAfee School of Theology.
As a Baptist minister, Barreto has pursued scholarship for the sake of the church, and he regularly writes for and teaches in faith communities around the country. He has also been a leader in the Hispanic Theological Initiative Consortium, a national, ecumenical, and inter-constitutional consortium comprised of some of the top seminaries, theological schools, and religion departments in the country. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion.
Theology for Faith and Life / ELLEN T. CHARRY / 4 weeks
This course aims to help people know, love, and enjoy God better so that they and the societies to which they contribute may flourish. Studies will touch on topics such as trinitarian heresies and orthodoxy, how evil comes into the world, Christ’s divinity, and the work of the Spirit. Students will learn that theology is not just an academic discipline, it is for faith and life.
Ellen T. Charry is the Margaret W. Harmon Professor of Systematic Theology Emerita at Princeton Theological Seminary. She joined the faculty in 1997 having previously served on the faculty of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (1992-1997) and as a post-doctoral fellow at Yale Divinity School under a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation (1989-91). She designed and administered a program in interfaith understanding for theology students at the National Conference of Christians and Jews under grants sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts (1985-91). She holds degrees from Barnard College (BA), Yeshiva University (MSW) and Temple University (MA and PhD).
She has served on the editorial boards of The Christian Century, The Scottish Journal of Theology, and Pro Ecclesia. She edited Theology Today from 1997 to 2004. Her current research undertakes a thorough reconstruction of the theological relationship between Judaism and Christianity, currently entitled For God’s Sake: The Wall of Hostility has come down.
WORLD CHRISTIANITY / Raimundo César Barreto Jr. / 4 weeks
In this course, students will explore the question, “How do we make sense of our faith in light of different expressions of Christianity around the world?” Students will gain insight into the development of a pluri-centric contemporary World Christianity. Dr. Barreto will highlight the perspectives and contributions offered by Christians from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and their diasporas. The course covers historic, demographic, cultural, and theological themes, which have contributed to shape Christianity in these different regions.
Raimundo César Barreto, Jr. is assistant professor of World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. An ordained Baptist minister, he holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary, and degrees from the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Brazil and McAfee School of Theology/Mercer University. Before joining the PTS faculty, he taught at the Northeastern Baptist Seminary and at Faculdade Batista Brasileira in his home country, having also served as director of the Freedom and Justice Division of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). He remains involved in ecumenical and interfaith work in connection with a number of denominational and ecumenical ecclesiastical bodies, including the American Baptist Churches USA, the Baptist World Alliance, and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. His teaching and research span different disciplines, which include World Christianity, liberation and postcolonial/decolonial theologies, Latin American and Latino/a religions, and intercultural and interfaith relations. Among other emphases, his writings have focused on themes such as Christian public discourses in Latin America and indigenous agency in Latin American Christianities. He is the general editor of the series World Christianity and Public Religion (Fortress Press). Among his current projects, he is writing a book on the Latin American contributions to ecumenical thought and praxis, and is co-editing two volumes on World Christianity and Migration (Fortress Press) and Decolonial Christianities in Latin America (Palgrave/McMillan).
Required Texts
There are four books to purchase for the course:
Thinking Theologically
Eric D. Barreto (Fortress Press 2015)
About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions
Revised and Expanded Edition, Terence Fretheim (Augsburg Books 2009)
The Story Luke Tells: Luke’s Unique Witness to the Gospel
Justo L. Gonzalez (Eerdmans 2015)
Classical Christian Doctrine: Introducing the Essentials of the Ancient Faith
Ronald E. Heine (Baker Academic 2013)