Principalities and Powers in Pastoral Practice: Who believes in angels, demons, and the spiritual world? Could it be that the answer to this question demarcates global, class, and ecclesial differences among Christians, especially in terms of appropriate forms of pastoral and spiritual care? This course will explore the ways biblical and theological visions of the spiritual world have been (a) critiqued within modernity (b) reflected on by liberation and third world theologians, and (c) discovered and appropriated by post-colonial theologians. This course will move from an examination of the treatment of the spiritual world in modern and post-modern thought to a theological and psychological paradigm for pastoral care that takes seriously cultural and theological contexts where the spiritual world characterizes common life. Ultimately, the course hopes to pose the fundamental question of whether belief in the spiritual world is primarily a cultural specific vision (and thusly to be localized) or primarily a Christian specific vision (and thusly to be universalized) or both. Prereq: PCC500; by permission for masters students.
- Teacher: Esther Acolatse