“Flourishing Life on the Way to God’s Good Future”: Christian Ethics
This assignment asked students to examine the idea of flourishing life in its penultimate sense and to explore its implications for Christian Ethics. Students incorporated in their essay, where appropriate, notions like shalom as a moral vision, social dimensions of sin as relational brokenness, roles of grace, love, justice, and marks of the reign of God, etc., and how these resources contribute to the pursuit of flourishing life in this secondary sense within Christian tradition.
Interpretive Exercise 3: New Testament Interpretation
This assignment required the student to integrate historical research with close textual study to reimagine how an “ordinary” first-century resident of Philippi might have encountered Paul’s ministry. The student created a 400-500-word reflection, presented as a narrative, dialogue, or monologue, that explored how such an individual might have responded to Paul in Acts 16 and to the Christological vision in Philippians 2:1-18.
Theology “In the Wild”: Christian Theology
This assignment required the student to analyze how a chosen sermon, article, or song articulated theological claims about God and God’s relationship to the world. In the first section, the student identified the doctrines employed and the assumptions underlying the author’s argument. The second section asked the student to offer an evaluative response, articulating points of agreement or disagreement and presenting a coherent theological position of their own. The final 8-10 page paper demonstrated the student’s ability to interpret and assess theology in contemporary contexts.