Here and there
Fr. Powell writes:
My senior/grad theology seminar here at
the Univ of Dallas is called “Postmetaphysical
theologies.” The class has a blogsite called “suppl(e)mental.”
A major part of the students’ grades hangs on “doing theology” in
public. My goal here is to
acquaint these budding Catholic theologians with the weirdnesses of
reading, writing, and writing
about Christian theology for an audience outside the academy.
The theologies we will be covering in the seminar are decidedly
non-Catholic, sometimes downright
(though never explicitly) anti-Catholic, and represent some of the best
contemporary theology out
there. My goal here is to introduce my very, very orthodox
theologians-to-be to the veritable
circus of theological methods, vocabularies, personalities, and schools
that push and pull the
faith of the Church in both creative and destructive directions.
I see myself as something of a “Professor of Defense Against the Dark
Arts.”
The site is here.
Majorie Cambell posts that
There's a new kid in town . . . opening in San Francisco on March 7, 2008: the Cinema Vita Film Festival. "The Cinema Vita Film Festival has been established to encourage young, emerging filmmakers and to showcase movies about contemporary issues concerning the meaning and value of life. Coordinated by the San Francisco Archdiocesan Office of Public Policy, the Oakland Diocesan Respect Life Ministry, Marriage for Life, and Ignatius Press, the festival is based on the recognition that art, especially the medium of film, shapes the popular imagination and has a tremendous influence on culture.
You can find details here.
In other news there will be a Catholic Writers' Conference Online from May 2-9 this year. For those interested in this online conference you can find details here.
Known as 
Excellent! It's ABOUT time the REAL theologians began to see themselves as Defence-Against-the-Dark-Arts professors!
This, after all, was the whole point of our Lord's plan: the defeat of the Dark Lord. It's quite evident St. Matthew could claim precedent over JKR: the story of the Flight into Egypt is the story of "The Boy Who Lived". (hee hee) A significant discussion on the warfare of our Lord can be found in Chesterton's major work on Him, The Everlasting Man.
And the parallel only starts there. In the "old" form of Orders, one of the Minor Orders is called "Exorcist", and by our confirmation we are all enlisted in the Church Militant - we have an Enemy, and our Lord came to bring a sword to our assistance.[see Mt 10:34] But then He is the "Lord of Hosts(=Armies)" [Is 6:3] as we attest at every Mass in the Sanctus.
Moreover, while there are important links between the sacred clergy and the red blood cells (celibate, formed in a special place, carrying the Life to the most remote places, spending their lives in service of the Body, and so on), here we see a link to white cells: the leucocytes, the megacaryocytes, the whole panoply of the defenders of the Body. It is most dramatic to see that these defenders must know the Enemy intimately, forming their antibody defence by conforming perfect opposition to the invasion. It is mystical and inspiring to contemplate.
I wonder if this will engender the formation of a "Benedict's Army"...
--Dr. Thursday
Yes, in preparation for a master's in theology, my philosophy turns to philosophers that I had made it a point to avoid! But if I can understand where they came from then I hope to dispute their errors in the future.
The theologies we will be covering in the seminar are decidedly non-Catholic, sometimes downright
(though never explicitly) anti-Catholic, and represent some of the best contemporary theology out
there.
I might suggest a change in word choice. Perhaps instead of "best contemporary theology," it should be "most persuasive" or "best written"? This sounds like the substance of it is good, and so I misunderstood at first that the point of the class is to teach the error of this theology, or, indeed, how to combat it! The word choice sounds like an endorsement--how is it, exactly, that theologians writing in opposition to Catholicism can be writing the "best contemporary theology"? Or is that the point--to show the Catholic theologians what they need to combat and what rhetorical tools they need to write it?
Thanks for the link, Jeff...
Lit-chic,
When I say that this stuff is the "best out there," I mean two things: 1) it is The Latest Thing and 2) people who "do" this kind of theology would hold it up as the highest quality. I tried to find the best reps of the most prominent schools of thought...let me say too that my intention in this class is not to set these theologians up for a fall...they are formidable thinkers and I think some of them have something to teach the Church...overall, of course, they are not teaching the Catholic faith, but they are giving us a WHOLE lot to think about.
One of the reasons that I chose my Master's program...it IS a defense against the dark arts of current scriptural theology. Raymond Brown, Fitzmyer, etc.
I prefer CATHOLIC theologians, and it's scary that Evangelicals actually have better scripture theology than modern Catholics...but for my profs and those they use to instruct us...most of which go back thousands of years....
Methinks your approach is a little too unorthodox Fr. Powell. It's a shame to muddy the waters by teaching anti catholic theology. Throw enough mud and some of it will stick.
JM,
All I can is: I know my students. They are teflon-coated...and so am I.
Fr. Philip, OP
The first essays are posted...check them out!