Brown, Warren S., Nancey Murphy, and H. Newton Maloney, eds. Whatever Happened to the Soul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature. Theology and the Sciences. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998. Damasio, Antonio R. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. New York: Harcourt, 1999. Green, Joel B., ed. What about the Soul? Neuroscience and Christian Anthropology. Nashville: Abingdon, 2004. Jeeves, Malcolm A., ed. From Cells to Souls: Changing Portraits of Human Nature. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 2004.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/2706/thumbnail.jp

Green, Joel B.

English

Asbury Theological Seminary

Asbury Theological SeminaryePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchangeSyllabi eCommons1-1-2004BS 753 The Human Person: MultidisciplinaryPerspectivesJoel B. GreenFollow this and additional works at: http://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabiThis Document is brought to you for free and open access by the eCommons at ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. For more information, pleasecontact thad.horner@asburyseminary.edu.Recommended CitationGreen, Joel B., "BS 753 The Human Person: Multidisciplinary Perspectives" (2004). Syllabi. Book 1602.http://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/1602Joel B. Green • BS(ST)753 (FA04).wpd • Page 1 of 5BS/ST753The Human Person: Multidisciplinary PerspectivesFinalJoel B. Green, Ph.D.Office: MC108-10Office: 859.858.2206Home (Study): 859.296.2236Fall 20043 semester unitsMondays, 5:30 - 8:15 pmjoel_green@asburyseminary.eduCourse DescriptionThis seminar probes the relationship of recent findings in the neurosciences to traditional Christianunderstandings of the human person by pressing two questions: (1) How do the innovations in ourunderstanding of the human person which derive from the neurosciences impinge on the sort ofportraits of the human person we find in Christian Scripture and classical Christian faith? (2) In termsof a coherent Christian faith, ethics, and the practices generally associated with Christian life andministry (e.g., spirituality, evangelism, pastoral care), what is at stake in the interaction of science andtheology at this point?Prerequisites: OT520 and NT520 (or BS501-502), ST501 or DO501Course ObjectivesHaving successfully completed this course, students will be able to:        • identify central issues congregating at the interface of science and theology on the questionof human personhood;        • evaluate competing views of the human person in light of basic neuroscientific findings,biblical anthropology, and systematic theology; and        • propose a coherent, Christian understanding of the human person, together with itsimplications for faithful life and ministry practices.Course Reading (Required Texts)Brown, Warren S., Nancey Murphy, and H. Newton Maloney, eds. Whatever Happened to theSoul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature. Theology and the Sciences.Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998.Damasio, Antonio R. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making ofConsciousness. New York: Harcourt, 1999.Green, Joel B., ed. What about the Soul? Neuroscience and Christian Anthropology. Nashville:Abingdon, 2004.Jeeves, Malcolm A., ed. From Cells to Souls: Changing Portraits of Human Nature. GrandRapids, Michigan: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 2004.Joel B. Green • BS(ST)753 (FA04).wpd • Page 2 of 5Course Reading (Recommended Texts)Cooper, John W. Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1989.Corcoran, Kevin, ed. Soul, Body, and Survival: Essays on the Metaphysics of Human Persons.Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001.Jeeves, Malcolm A. Human Nature at the Millennium: Reflections on the Integration ofPsychology and Christianity. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1997. (Copies are availablefrom the instructor.)Russell, Robert John et al., eds. Neuroscience and the Person. Scientific Perspectives on DivineAction 4. Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory, 1999.Wright, John P. and Paul Potter, eds. Psyche and Soma: Physicians and Metaphysicians on theMind-Body Problem from Antiquity to Enlightenment. Oxford: Clarendon, 2000.The instructor will make available to participants in the Seminar a wide-ranging bibliography onthe topic of the course.Web Sites of Potential Interesthttp://artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/MindDict/index.html(an on-line dictionary devoted to philosophy of mind)http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/(an on-line, interdisciplinary journal devoted to the mind)http://aaai.org/Magazine/Editorial/magazine-contents.html(an on-line version of AI, a periodical concerned with artificial intelligence)http://www-psych.stanford.edu/cogsci/(an index of on-line, cognitive-science resources)http://www.personal.kent.edu/~brosmait/aibib_gs.html(an annotated bibliography on philosophy of mind, from Kent State faculty)http://www.uniroma3.it/kant/field/#links(guided tours of selected contributions to philosophy of the mind, from A Field Guide tothe Philosophy of the Mind) http://www.u.arizona.edu/~chalmers/resources.html(web resources related to consciousness, philosophy of mind, et al.)http://www.u.arizona.edu/~chalmers/biblio.html(an annotated bibliography on consciousness, by David Chalmers)http://www.counterbalance.net/neuro/index-frame.html(brief, mixed media presentations on the nature of the human person, by Nancey Murphy)Course RequirementsOn questions of style, especially with regard to paper organization and references,see Carole Slade, Form and Style: Research Papers, Reports, Theses (11th ed;Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000).Joel B. Green • BS(ST)753 (FA04).wpd • Page 3 of 5Students should submit written materials on time. Late papers will receive no writtencomments. Assignments that are more than one week late will be penalized one-third of agrade per day.Students wishing feedback on written assignments prior to their due date may submitcomplete drafts at least 4-5 days prior to the due date.1. Seminar Preparation, Attendance, and Participation: Attendance at and readiness to participatein all sessions of the Seminar is expected. Persons who attend all sessions of the seminar will have 2points added to their final grade. Persons who participate frequently and substantively in the Seminardiscussion, demonstrating their reflective interaction with course reading, will have as many as 2points added to their final grade.2. Three Reflection Papers: In preparation for the Research Paper (below), three reflection papers(typed, double-spaced, 1000-1250 words [i.e., 4-5 pages], with a standard 12-point font like TimesNew Roman and one-inch margins), each contributing 15% toward the final grade, will be submittedaccording to the schedule below. These papers will not take the form of a coherent argument, butinstead will take the form of a series of items, each developed in paragraph form, drawing on classpresentations, discussions, and course reading, addressing the following questions:• If a portrait of the human person were to take seriously the contribution of the naturalsciences, what could it not neglect? Due at the beginning of class, 11 October.• If a portrait of the human person were to take seriously the contribution of biblicalstudies, what could it not neglect? Due at the beginning of class, 25 October.• If a portrait of the human person were to take seriously the contribution of theologicalstudies, what could it not neglect? Due at the beginning of class, 8 November.3. Research Paper: A major, integrative, constructive and critical essay that proposes a coherent,Christian understanding of the human person, oriented toward a single Christian practice (e.g.,mission, hospitality, education, baptism, burial of the dead, preaching): approximately 3750 words(i.e., ca. 15 pages, typed, double-spaced, with a standard 12-point font like Times New Roman andone-inch margins, plus bibliography) in length, typed, double-spaced. For more information onresearch paper expectations and grading criteria, see the Course Center. Due 13 December. (55%)Course Schedule 13 Sept   1. What Is at Stake in Theological Anthropology? Ecclesiological, Ethical,Missional, and Psychological Ruminations. Body and Soul: A Historicaland Contemporary Survey of PositionsRequired Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 1-29, 213-28; Green, ed., pp.5-12, 171-89; Green, “Body and Soul, Mind and Brain: Critical Issues”(available in the Course Center); Jeeves, ed., pp. viii-xiv, 233-49.Joel B. Green • BS(ST)753 (FA04).wpd • Page 4 of 5Recommended Reading: Wright and Potter20 Sept   2. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #1: Science (and Religion)Required Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 31-125; Damasio; Green, ed.,pp. 13-46; Jeeves, ed., pp. 1-164.Recommended Reading: Jeeves; Russell et al., eds.27 Sept   3. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #1: Science (and Religion)Required Reading:  Brown et al., eds., pp. 31-125; Damasio; Green, ed.,pp. 13-46; Jeeves, ed., pp. 1-164.Recommended Reading: Jeeves; Russell et al., eds.  4 Oct  4. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #1: Science (and Religion)Required Reading:  Brown et al., eds., pp. 31-125; Damasio; Green, ed.,pp. 13-46; Jeeves, ed., pp. 1-164.Recommended Reading: Jeeves; Russell et al., eds.11 Oct  5. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #2: Biblical StudiesDue: Reflection Paper #1.Required Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 149-73; Green, ed., pp. 47-100; Jeeves, ed., pp. 165-98.Recommended Reading: Cooper.18 Oct  6. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #2: Biblical StudiesGuest Presenter: Dr. Jerry SumneyRequired Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 149-73; Green, ed., pp. 47-100; Jeeves, ed., pp. 165-98.Recommended Reading: Cooper.25 Oct  7. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #3: Theological StudiesDue: Reflection Paper #2.Required Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 127-48, 175-94; Green, ed.,pp. 101-32; Jeeves, ed., pp. 165-78, 199-232.Recommended Reading: Cooper. 1 Nov   8. The Human Person in Biblical, Theological, and ScientificPerspective—Narrative #3: Theological StudiesRequired Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 127-48, 175-94; Green, ed.,pp. 101-32; Jeeves, ed., pp. 165-78, 199-232.Recommended Reading: Cooper; Corcoran, ed. 8 Nov  9. The Human Person and the Focus of Christian MissionDue: Reflection Paper #3.Required Reading: Green, ed., pp. 133-44.Joel B. Green • BS(ST)753 (FA04).wpd • Page 5 of 5Recommended Reading: Joel B. Green, Salvation (St. Louis: Chalice,2003).Guest Presenter: Dr. Michael Rynkiewich15 Nov 10. Mind-Brain Matters and Ethics at the Margins of LifeRequired Reading: Brown et al., eds., pp. 195-212.Recommended Reading: Kevin Corcoran, “The Constitution View ofPersons” (available in the Course Center).22 Nov No Class: Reading Week29 Nov 11. Personhood, Psychology, and Pastoral CareGuest Presenter: Dr. Stuart L. PalmerRequired Reading: Green, ed., pp. 145-70.Recommended Reading: Jeeves 6 Dec 12. The Nature of Persons, Personal Identity, and EschatologyRequired Reading: Nancey Murphy, “The Resurrection Body andPersonal Identity: Possibilities and Limits of Eschatological Knowledge,” inResurrection: Theological and Scientific Assessments (ed. Ted Peters etal.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002) 202-18 (available in the coursecenter).Recommended Reading: Cooper, Corcoran.13 Dec Due: Final Paper.

BS 753 The Human Person: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2706&amp;context=syllabi

BS 753 The Human Person: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Asbury Theological Seminary