Death and Eternal Life TH4350de/TH5350d

Spring 2020 Thursdays 7–9:40 PM Instructor: Stephen D. Lawson lawson@austingrad.edu Office: 209 Office Hours: Mondays, 1–3 and by appointment Phone: (512) 476-2772, ext. 209 Course Description Death is all around us, indeed within us. It penetrates every moment of our lives. The meaning of every living presence, every encounter with another being, is colored by the inevitability of departure, the interminable absence toward which everything tends. This course will consider theological questions in light of the fact of death. Topics that we will examine include, but are not limited to, the nature of the soul, the nature of time, the problem of suffering, judgment, heaven, hell, resurrection, funeral rites, and experience of death in the contemporary world. Learning Objectives:

• The student will engage substantively with Christian reflection on the nature of human beings, death, and the meaning of life.

• The student will learn how to read primary texts closely and sympathetically. • The student will be able to articulate major positions in the Christian tradition on

eschatological doctrines. • The student will practice thinking theologically by engaging with substantial texts on the

nature of time, the soul, the resurrection, and Christian hope. • In the spirit of the memento mori tradition the student will reflect on their own mortality and

the feelings and questions that arise from that reflection. • The student will theologically assess modern changes in attitudes and practices

surrounding suffering, death, and rituals. Course Textbooks

• John Behr, The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006) ISBN: 978-0881413069

Fragment of Danse Macabre by Bernt Notke (late 15th century) in St. Nicholas Church, Tallinn, Estonia

If a man has learned to think, no matter what he may think about,

he is always thinking of his own death. –Leo Tolstoy

• Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1993) ISBN: 978-0881411201

• Alexander Schmemann, O Death, Where is Thy Sting? trans. Alexis Vinogradov (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003) ISBN: 978-0881412383

• Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, trans. Richard Pevear and Larizza Volokhonsky (Vintage Classics, 2009) ISBN: 978-0307951335

• Rowan Williams, Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel (Darton, Longman & Todd, 2014) ISBN: 978-0232530285

• Additional readings posted on Canvas, marked in the course schedule with (*).

Course Schedule Unit One: Bodies and Souls in Time

Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like laborers who look for their wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. When I say, “My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint”, then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I would choose strangling and death rather than this body. I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath. Job 7:2–3, 13–16

Date Theme Assigned Readings Jan 23 Introduction

First Encounters with Death Film: The Undertaking

Jan 30 Encountering Death Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Feb 6 Death and the Meaning of Life

Jean Leclercq, “The Meaning of Life”* David Bentley Hart, “Death, Final Judgment, and the

Meaning of Life”* Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and Resurrection, 27–60

Feb 13 On the Soul and Resurrection

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and Resurrection, 61–126

Feb 20 The Nature of Time

Augustine, Confessions (excerpt)* Kallistos Ware, “Time: Prison or Path to Freedom?”* Romano Guardini, The Last Things (excerpt)*

Vanité, Philippe de Champaigne, 1641

Unit Two: Life Out of Death

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death,

and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. –Orthodox Paschal Troparion

Feb 27 Georges Florovsky, “Eschatology in the Patristic Age”*

Rowan Williams, Resurrection, 1–75 March 5 Rowan Williams, Resurrection, 76–123 March 12 John Behr, The Mystery of Christ, 15–114 March 19 Spring Break March 26 John Behr, The Mystery of Christ, 115–181

Unit Three: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. –Hebrews 2:14–5

April 2 Judgment Romano Guardini, The Last Things (excerpt)* George MacDonald, “Justice”*

April 9 Heaven and Hell Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”* David Bentley Hart, “The Moral Meaning of Creation ex nihilo”*

April 16 Purgatory John Henry Newman, “The Dream of Gerontius”* George MacDonald, “The Consuming Fire”*

Anastasis Late 15th century

Crete or Constantinople

The Second Coming Elias N. Katsaros, 2013

Unit Three: Death and Life in the Modern World “How powerless is every human name against the superior power of forgetfulness! Only if the name of God is called over us can we hope not to be forgotten. We can only be pulled out of the river Lethe by the unbegotten Aletheia, who is God.”

–Erik Peterson

April 23 Changes in Death in the Modern World

Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering (excerpt)* Jeffrey Bishop, “Arts of Dying and the Statecraft of Killing”* Geoffrey Gorer, “The Pornography of Death”*

April 30 Approaching the End Gilbert Meilaender, “I Want to Be a Burden to My Loved Ones”*

Tish Warren Harrison, “What Happens When We Bury Our Unborn?”* Thomas Lynch, “Tract”* Fr. Alvin F. Kimel, Jr., “Funeral Homily for Aaron Edward Kimel”* Brett McCarty and Allen Verhey, “The Virtues for Dying Well”

May 7 Conclusion Alexander Schmemann, O Death Where is Thy Sting? May 14 Final Exam

Scheduled

Course Assignments

• Reading Journal (15 points per week = 210 total points; 42% of grade): Both BA and MA students are required to create a reading journal in which they will summarize readings and analyze them through disciplined questioning.

§ A précis is a concise and accurate summary of a given text. Quotations from the text should be employed sparingly. Please consult the document “Guide for Writing Good Summaries” on the Canvas site before writing your first précis.

§ For every reading assignment each student will write a brief précis followed by 1–3 discussion questions. Each précis should be between 150 and 350 words (longer readings should have longer précis). Write them (single-spaced) on a single document. Follow each précis by the discussion questions. Students should upload their précis and discussion questions as a .docx file to the Canvas site by noon on Thursdays (in advance of our class meeting).

Ahasuerus at the End of the World Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, 1888

§ Discussion questions generally fall into three types of questions: • Questions that ask for explanation, due to the reader not

understanding certain passages in the text (please note if any vocabulary was unfamiliar or confusing for you and I will try to address it in class)

• Questions that arise from the text making a point that would seem to contradict an earlier text, or a discussion in class

• Questions that ask “so what,” and want to know the implications of certain claims, and what difference it would make if they were true

• Major Writing Assignments (225 points; 45% of grade) o BA students will write three integrative reflection papers throughout the course in

which they engage with the course ideas more substantially. Papers should be 2–4 pages (double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt. font).

§ Due via Canvas upload on Feb 25, March 30, and May 12. (75 points each)

o MA students will write a research paper on a topic germane to the theme of the course. Papers should be 10–15 pages (double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt. font).

§ Students should email or meet with the professor about their topic by Feb 25 (arranging a meeting is the student’s responsibility).

§ Students should submit a thesis, outline, and concise annotated bibliography for their paper by March 30.

§ Final paper due May 12. o BA students may petition the professor to write a research paper instead of the

integrative reflection papers, but this must be done before the end of January. • Course Participation (65 points; 13% of grade)

o In this course we will be engaging with some of the most difficult and enriching questions that human beings can ask about our existence. For this class to work it is essential that students are actively engaged with the course during our time together.

§ Active engagement means giving the professor and your fellow students your attention and being generous with sharing your thoughts with the class.

Classroom Policies Attendance: It is essential that you attend class. If you know in advance that you will be

unable to attend class due to a valid reason (e.g. family emergency, doctor’s visit, etc.) then please communicate that with the professor as soon as possible. Every unexcused absence after the first one will lower your final grade by 25 points (5%).

Late Work: I will generally not accept late work without penalty. If you find that you will need some extra time, you can request an extension via e-mail at least one full business day in advance. I will review all requests and you will be notified as soon as possible whether or not they

Course Journal 210 points Writing Assignment(s) 225 points Course participation 65 points Total 500 points

will be granted. Work turned in late without an approved extension will lose one letter grade for each day that it is late.

Technology: Students are not permitted to use laptops, tablets, cell phones, or any similar devices during class time. The reason for this is that many studies have shown that even note taking on laptops is highly inefficient and often a detriment to learning.