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Pontifical School of Theology

Bachelor of Arts in Theology

151 credits
For students entering the program at the Sophomore level
(holders of a recognized Baccalaureate or Freshman diploma - equivalent to 30 credits)

Courses

Common Core
PHI458Contemporary philosophy I : The phenomenology
3 credits
PHI210Greek Philosophy
3 credits
This course is divided into two parts. The first part examines pre­Socratic sources that give students the proper tools to acquire philosophical thinking in their quest for the nature of things, and in their attempt to unveil both natural and human phenomena. It thus includes the main schools of thought such as the School of Miletus (Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes), the Pythagorean school (Pythagoras), the Ionian school (Heraclitus), the Eleatic school (Parmenides), as well as the Sophists. The second part deals with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
PHI453Hermeneutics
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: PHI210
Having originated within the context of biblical interpretation, hermeneutics was freed from its dogmatic and institutional limits to become a discipline that mediated and reconciled stylistics, trans­linguistics, word­for­word linguistics and dissertation analysis, as well as a reading of the world as text. It is the restoration and disclosure of meaning that interprets and identifies the significance of the written and spoken word. The course traces the journey that this discipline has made from Schleiermacher to Ricoeur, as well as Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer, Szondi, Jaussand and Appel.
PHI201Introduction to Philosophy
3 credits
The course will introduce students to philosophical thinking and practice. It will cover, on the one hand, the main philosophical trends, highlighting their specificity and their creative input and, on the other hand, the most representative authors in the history of philosophical thought. In an effort not to separate these themes and the fundamental questions of mankind, the course attempts to show the relationship that develops between the aforementioned notions; with the aim of addressing their impact on certain world views that constantly interpolate us within contemporary societies.
PSY201Introduction to Psychology
3 credits
This introductory course is also enrolled in general education as a prerequisite for students who will pursue psychology training. This course will provide students with the basic concepts in psychology and will facilitate their access to knowledge during their academic curriculum. It includes the following objectives: understanding psychology from a historical and a theoretical perspective (Gestalt, phenomenological, experimental, scientific, psychoanalytic and cognitive, etc.); understanding the various fields of psychology (clinical, experimental, developmental, educational, social, etc.) and the different methods used (experimental, clinical, psychometric, projective, etc.); providing an appropriate approach to personality issues - basic needs, affective and emotional (feelings, emotions), intellectual (cognition, memory) and social (social influence).
SOC201Introduction to Sociology
3 credits
This course provides a basic knowledge of general sociology: a) it presents an overview of the context of the event­emergence of sociology on the basis of the main founders and focuses on methodological perspectives and applied sociological methods and techniques. b) it focuses on the key principles of social themes, which description and definition have fueled and fed the many debates that are changing the discipline in the vast corpus of scientific knowledge. This course provides students with general sociology elements, sensitizes their "sociological perspective" and develops their critical reflection on various social issues.
PHI420Logic &Philosophy of Knowledge
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: PHI333
This course initially outlines a perspective of language as an object of study that shows how much of the philosophy of the twentieth century developed as a "philosophy of language" (Analytic Philosophy). Secondly, it deals with the general theoretical framework of the argument as a discursive act, based on the theory of acts of language (speech acts), that the two philosophers Longshaw John Austin and, later, John Searle paved the way for. Thirdly, general issues related to logic are discussed, and are examined by the induction and deduction master concepts - truth and validity. A brief discussion is given on the methods and endorsements of formalization. The formal approach is exemplified, when it comes to conducting the analysis and evaluation of simple deductive arguments, called syllogism.
PHI301Medieval Philosophy
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: PHI210 or PHI210
This course is designed to analyze the highlights of the thought of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart. We seek, from the analysis of the Augustinian singular experience of truth, to understand in depth the issues relating to the problem of knowledge, the metaphysics of inner experience, the self­certainty based on the truth of God immanent in our interiority, temporality and eternity and the unitive and tripartite constitution of the same soul to the constitution of the Trinitarian life in God. We will study, starting from a critical reading of the writings of St. Thomas, the themes related to the receipt of Thomistic Aristotelian heritage, the question of creation and the evidence of the existence of God, the question of analogy and the problem of knowledge. A contemporary reading of the mystic Meister Eckhart, which largely contributed to the emergence of German philosophical speculation, will be analyzed as well. The research will, at this level, tackle Eckhart’s unitive structure of knowledge and life, that animates the vital relationship between God and man.
PHI445Metaphysics
3 credits
PHI333Modern Philosophy
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: PHI210
The students will be introduced to two great philosophical currents, both stemming from the works of Francis Bacon, rationalism (Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza) and empiricism (Locke, Condillac, Hume), leading to Kant’s philosophy of knowledge ­ critical rationalism.
PHI447Moral and Political Philosophy
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: PHI210
The course aims to consider a reflection on the foundations and the meaning of democracy, in order to find the place of morality in politics; knowing that the two concepts "moral" and "politics" are written mostly in separation rather than in conjunction. This is how we can understand the great debates relative to moral and political philosophy, from the ancient Greeks ­ particularly those of Plato and Aristotle ­ until modern or contemporary times. Starting with an approach to these two concepts, the course is essentially questioning, on one hand, the need for the interaction of these two areas of morality and politics, and also that of their separation. Students will analyze in-depth the answer to these questions by drawing on texts of classical and modern philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Max Weber, Hannah Arendt and Julien Freund, who have pondered this topical issue.
PHI327Philosophical Anthropology
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: PHI210 or SOC210
The question “What Is Man?” is at the heart of philosophical questioning. Starting from the anthropocentrism need of philosophy, the course firstly explores the meaning of the question about the essence of man through its history, the challenges imposed by the cyborg, the computational world or gender theory (Gehlen, Leach, Butler, Blumenberg, etc.). The course questions the difficulties of defining the human being through current changes by building on the thinkers of classical humanism and post­humanism. Secondly, the course presents the basic categories of philosophical anthropology and offers a thorough analysis of the being­in­relation (or the human being-in­relationships) and discussion of political, social and cultural implications, with reference to contemporary thinkers of otherness (Levinas, Buber, Marion, etc.).
PHI326Philosophy of Nature
3 credits
Among the Greeks, nature is physical, all of which appears; hence the problem of natural, supernatural and the supernatural. In Christian theology, nature is one; hence the problem of the two natures of Christ. In Latin, natura is "character", which poses the problem of nothing less than human nature. In medical sciences, nature bounds genetics. In law, it opposes the Civic. In literature, he opposes romanticism and classicism. Today, ecology seems to oppose nature and man; it is even about ''green policy'' as of 'ecological theology,' 'brief' 'ecological philosophy’.' Nature is everywhere, but is the concept of nature the same thing everywhere, in all areas? What is then "nature"? A kind or nature? And why is the definition a hermeneutical problem? That's what our course of Philosophy of Nature will try to address.
MTR222University Working Methodology
3 credits
This course will provide first year students with essential methods for the preparation of their work during the years of study at the University. These methods are common to all material and address different levels, ranging from exercises promoting correct educational attitudes in the introduction to the methods of work, the investigation of a text, and finally, to the mastery of speech essential to establish exchange with others, orally and in writing, and to assert with confidence and autonomy. In addition, the objectives of this course will address data essential for the design, drafting and the realization of research work.
Specialization
THEO205Biblical Greek
3 credits
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the reading of the Greek text of the New Testament and to its translation, by studying the main principles related to the grammatical and syntactic systems of the Greek language and the minimum required vocabulary.
THEO202Biblical Hebrew
3 credits
THEO452Bioethics
2 credits
Human beings have gained more and more power over nature due to the development of science and technology. And thanks to advances in biology, they are seeking to control health, reproduction and genetics. Hence, the eternal question is: Is what is possible desirable? This biological-techno-scientific turmoil which underlies effective medicine meets another socio-cultural and ideological debate that has influenced the representations of life and death, health and sickness, care and preventive, and curative or palliative treatments. These changes have led to a huge social and intellectual phenomenon embodied with the emergence of the term bioethics in 1971. The bioethics course covers three areas: reproductive technologies (artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, prenatal diagnosis, abortion, contraception, and genetic engineering); the application of techniques at the end of life (euthanasia, palliative care, and organ harvesting); and medical experimentation on the human body and cloning.
THEO365Canon Law I: Norms and The Individual
3 credits
THEO423Canon Law II: Weddings in the Canon Law
2 credits
THEO435Catholic Letters
1 credits
THEO431Christian Anthropology
3 credits
This course consists of three distinct parts, namely the treatise of creation, the treatise of original sin and the treatise of grace. It aims to explain the content of the Christian doctrine of creation of the human being in God's image, with different biblical positions in opposition to scientific theories of origins. Then, the course examines the doctrine of original sin and attempts to formulate the problem of evil by explaining the impact of sin on the situation of the human being. After a brief overview on the scriptural doctrine of the original sin, we cover the Augustinian doctrine of the original sin, by reviewing ecclesial decisions and scholastic theology. At the end of the course, we tackle the theme of grace in order to better grasp the significance of salvation that culminates in the incarnation of Christ and the meaning of the human being’s life as a creature totally open to Him, and this in communion with all creatures.
THEO232Christology
3 credits
Christology is the core and foundation of the Christian dogma. It presents, develops and explains the fundamental profession of Christian faith: "Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior." It is the principle of the whole Christian theology, and the short word of faith. The course is based on four main movements. The first is devoted to listening to the Word of God, the standard and basis of all Christological thoughts. After a brief introduction on historical research on Jesus, we will explore the original experience of the New Testament communities, seeking to present their testimony on Christ following its chronological and thematic development. The second movement follows the development of faith in Jesus in the living Tradition of the Church, through the thought of the Fathers and the most important dogmatic decisions of the ecumenical councils. The third movement deals with contemporary Christology developed through a surprising variety of Christological movements which express, each in its own way, the present status of faith and the main place occupied by Christ in the life of Christians and every human being. Finally, in the fourth movement, Christology is reflected through soteriology which shows that personal communion with Jesus through faith achieves the aspiration of people for salvation and deification.
THEO473Church in the Modern Age
2 credits
THEO360Eastern Churches and Oecumenism
3 credits
THEO425Eastern Mysticism Spirituality
3 credits
THEO231Ecclesiology
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: THEO 220
This course is an introduction to Catholic ecclesiology found in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, particularly in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, its ultimate expression and the fundamental source of renewing the concept of Church in fidelity to the Bible and to Tradition. After a brief biblical introduction of the word "Church", we will first explore the Trinitarian foundation of the Church where the latter proves to be at the same time the People of God, Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit. In the second part, we will discuss the four Church attributes as mentioned in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, namely unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity. We will conclude by studying the Church's relationship with the world, from the perspective of the expansion of the reign of God in Jesus Christ. The theme of the Christian presence in Lebanon and the Middle East will also be highlighted.
THEO432Eschatology
2 credits
In the Nicene symbol, the "resurrection of the flesh" and "eternal life" are the last explicitation of faith in the Holy Spirit. Life under the Holy Spirit possesses a dynamism that tends to a future fulfillment, during which it will reach its entire fullness. The course is divided into two stages: first, we will study the general, collective and universal eschatology, that is to say, the completion of the world, and then move to the individual eschatology or the fulfillment of the individual. This order responds better to the account of the biblical history of salvation, and clarifies at the same time an intrinsic logic: hope for the individual is placed in a broader horizon, that of hope for the world.
THEO451Family Ethics, Sexuality and Marriage
3 credits
Based on a Christian anthropology, marriage and sexuality involve human and spiritual attitudes, which, along with the physical and corporal activities related to it, engage the whole human person. The history of salvation progressively reveals the ultimate and deep meaning of sexuality and marriage, namely the love that is rooted in God's love. However, conjugal sexuality requires an awareness of the inevitable link between its many dimensions: physical, psychological, social, cultural and religious. Through their union, morality and Christian faith have values that grant dignity to human sexuality. On the other hand, forms of cohabitation and marriage, influenced by gender theories, as the PACS, cohabitation, marriage for all, are on the rise in several societies, threatening therefore the "traditional" image of marriage and family. It is urgent and useful to rediscover the principles and values of the Catholic Church teachings on the sacrament of marriage and the family in order to meet the challenges that these forms cause to its pastoral care of the family.
THEO251Fundamental Moral Theology
3 credits
This Fundamental Moral Theology course deals with the Christian action in a rational process, while relying on the Holy Scripture, and placing Tradition, Magisterium and human sciences within a contemporary situation scenario. The course will particularly address: Biblical perspectives of moral theology, its creative evolution and fundamental principles, such as freedom, responsibility, will, the good and the bad in the act, conscience, law, sin, conversion, salvation and revelation, theological and human virtues, bliss as the end of all Christian actions. Following a careful reading of the Veritatis Splendor encyclical and the document of the International Theological Commission on the natural law, we will present some new perspectives for moral thoughts, illustrated and enlightened by two concrete examples.
THEO220Fundamental Theology: Revelation and Faith
3 credits
This is the introductory course to theological studies which also addresses the foundations of Christianity, divine revelation and faith. First, it explains what theology is, by exploring its history, specifying its nature, its methods, its purpose, and by presenting its fields of reflection, and the different theological disciplines, along with a particular focus on fundamental theology. The second part of the course is devoted to the themes of Revelation and Faith, in addition to the study of the main theological concepts, the Word of God, the living Tradition, and the Church's Magisterium.
THEO273History of Antique Church
2 credits
THEO373History of the Church in the Middle Ages
2 credits
THEO230 Human and Theological Virtues
2 credits
THEO355Introduction to Sacramental Theology and Liturgy
3 credits
THEO213Introduction to the Bible
3 credits
The Introduction to the Bible course aims to answer questions whose knowledge is a prerequisite to understanding the inspired Book, though written in well-defined historical, social and cultural contexts. More specifically, it is related to the history of the biblical texts writing, of sacred history that is told therein, the world of the Bible, its geography and its various political and religious movements. The course also outlines the history of biblical exegesis.
THEO422Islam
2 credits
THEO312Johannine Corpus
3 credits
This is an introduction to the Johannine corpus, with particular emphasis on the fourth Gospel. The course will focus on the texts themselves, and on the different environments of their composition. In order to approach these testimonies of faith, passages under study are resituated in the historical context of their development and analyzed using narrative and rhetorical strategies used by the authors of communal and personal literary books.
THEO336Patrology of the Eastern Churches
3 credits
THEO337Patrology of the Western Church
3 credits
THEO411Pauline Corpus
3 credits
THEO211Pentateuch and Historical Books
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: THEO 202 - THEO 210
This is the first course on the Old Testament. It aims to introduce students to the biblical exegesis and allows them to be well-informed about this biblical corpus, its books, its characters and its theology. After a brief introduction on the importance of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament, the course highlights a detailed reading of a number of texts covering different literary genres and theological currents of this corpus. This will lead to the understanding of the biblical concept of history and its theological meaning, as well as its key issues such as land, election, royalty, politics, and exile.
THEO412Psalms and Wisdom Scriptures
3 credits
The wisdom books are an assortment of the Old Testament books seeking to convey a moral teaching. This set includes the Psalms, Book of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Wisdom. Given its complexity, biblical wisdom requires a global approach to its various aspects, before covering in detail its modes of expression and its themes. This course will enable students to become more familiar with the Psalms and the other various wisdom books, in order to better grasp the development of wisdom harvested throughout the journey of the Israelites and which remains valid to this day, and to better understand the New Testament.
THEO225Sacrament I: Baptism, Confirmation and Communion
3 credits
THEO305Sacraments II: Priesthood + Wedding
3 credits
THEO436Sacraments III: Penance and Anointing of the Sick
3 credits
THEO351Social Ethics
3 credits
The course deals with both the relationships between members of the same society, and those between various societies. It opens the way to a very wide field, that of social issues addressed from the perspective of the Church’s social doctrine, and enables students to deepen their thoughts and actions on various themes: the dignity of the human being created in the image of God, human rights, labor as the key of social issues, economy, peace, politics, and role of the family. In our analysis of the different themes of social doctrine, we will use their anthropological and theological foundations in the Scripture, the main principles developed by the Fathers of the Church and the teaching of the Magisterium stated in official documents from Rerum Novarum (1891) until Centesimus Annus (1991). Finally, we will address the question of social morality from a pastoral point of view based on the current vision of the Church.
THEO212Synoptics and Acts of the Apostles
3 credits    |    Pre-requisite: THEO 201 - THEO 210
The synoptic writings are introduced in this course, namely: the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, in addition to the Acts of the Apostles which is the second volume of the Lucan work. The course starts with an introduction on the synoptic question and the adoption of the modified theory of the two documents, followed by the study of each of these writings and their most important themes. The approach is synchronic. The method adopted is criticism of the composition which is a specification of the writing criticism which reviews the editorial activity of the author in order to discover the theological thought.
THEO331The Holy Trinity
3 credits
This course deals with the mystery of Trinity which is at the heart of the Christian faith, the core of the Gospel and the Christian mark of discourse about God. It starts with an introduction designed to show the place of Trinitarian theology in the whole Christian dogma, and consists of four parts, biblical, historical, systematic and patristic, in order to rejoin in their own site in the ever-actual places of any Trinitarian theology.
THEO311The Prophets
3 credits
The course aims to study the prophets’ school of thought, their writings, their role in the history of salvation and the major themes of their preaching. This course is based on a text analysis with all the available exegetical techniques. However, these writings are sacred and revealed texts, containing a theology and a religious message that are valid for every believer. It is therefore necessary to grasp their theological meaning and discover their relevance in our life today.
THEO465Theology of St Thomas
2 credits
Seminar
SEM211Seminar
1 credits
SEM212Seminar
1 credits
SEM221Seminar
1 credits
SEM222Seminar
1 credits
SEM331Seminar
1 credits
SEM332Seminar
1 credits
SEM341Seminar
1 credits
SEM342Seminar
1 credits
SEM451Seminar
1 credits
Capstone
THEO490AExamen De Universa
3 credits

Mission

The Canonical bachelor degree in Theology is a five-year basic program. It aims to impart a solid philosophical education, which is a necessary propaedeutic for theological studies, and to offer an organic exposition of the whole of Catholic doctrine, covering a coordinated presentation of all the disciplines, along with an introduction to theological scientific methodology.

Program Educational Objectives

1. Graduates will acquire a deep understanding of the entire catholic doctrine grounded in divine revelation, which allows them to gain nourishment for their own spiritual life, and to announce and safeguard it in the exercise of the ministry.
2. Graduates will acquire a personal theological synthesis, a mastery of the method of scientific research and thus be able to explain sacred doctrine appropriately.
3. Graduates will be ready to fulfill pastoral ministry and other functions in the Church, especially in the administration of a parish, in catechetical and homiletic skills, in divine worship, and particularly the celebration of the sacraments.

Program Outcomes

a. Ability to understand major philosophical systems, especially those which exercise a greater influence in the region, and to discern what is proven to be true therein and detect the roots of errors and refute them.
b. Ability to understand the characteristics of the contemporary mind, and enter into dialogue with men and women of today.
c. Ability to read the Holy Scriptures in their original languages.
d. Ability to explain biblical texts according to a valid method of exegesis and in the light of a comprehensive view of the whole of Sacred Scripture.
e. Ability to announce in a suitable way the teaching of the Gospel and of the doctrine of the Catholic Church to the people of today in a manner adapted to their understanding.
f. Ability to exercise a pastoral ministry in the Church.
g. Ability to understand doctrine of non-Catholic Churches and non-Christian religions and enter into dialogue with them.
h. Ability to examine theological questions by their own appropriate research and with scientific methodology.
i. Ability to go on to the second cycle and pursue higher theological studies.
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Fax : (+961) 9 600 100
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