6-Week Course
Overview
When considering the meaning of Christian faith, we often focus on how the individual believes and acts. However, in the New Testament, true faith begins in God’s loving faithfulness towards us. Our faith, then, is a response of trust in God’s mercy. This course explores the various images of the call to faith presented in each of the Gospels, and in the letters of St. Paul. Such images include seeking right relationship, transforming the way we see the world, abiding in God, and other patterns for the life of discipleship.
"We must rediscover a taste for feeding ourselves on the word of God, faithfully handed down by the Church, and on the Bread of Life, offered as sustenance for His disciples." - Pope Benedict XVI (The Door of Faith)
This course has a required text: Thomas D. Stegman, S.J. Opening the Doors of Faith: Encountering Jesus and His Call to Discipleship. Paulist Press, 2015.
Topics
- Week 1: Introduction
- Week 2: Matthew
- Week 3: Mark
- Week 4: Luke
- Week 5: John
- Week 6: Paul
Special Features
This course includes:
- Weekly introductions to each new topic;
- Five videos;
- Text transcripts of each featured video;
- Weekly questions for reflection and discussion; and
- A regularly updated Resources page for further study of topics discussed in this course.
All STM Online: Crossroads courses include these features
- Participants have access 24 hours/7 days a week to the course's password-protected web site.
- Each participant belongs to a small Community for Conversation and faith sharing guided by a facilitator.
- The course site is usually available to participants at least three months after the course has ended.
- An orientation in how to navigate the web site is always available.
- Technical assistance is easy to contact and prompt in returning a message.
- A Certificate of Active Participation is awarded to those who post at least three messages of substance for each week of content.
Time Commitment
A participant can expect to spend an average of approximately 3-4 hours each week. This commitment includes both the assigned reading and interaction online.
Content Scholars:
- Dr. Dominic Doyle (video) is associate professor of systematic theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry;
- Dr. Colleen M. Griffith (video) is professor of the practice of theology and faculty director of spirituality studies at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry;
- Fr. Kenneth Himes, O.F.M. (video) is professor of theological ethics at the Boston College Department of Theology;
- Dr. Jane E. Regan (video) is associate professor of theology and religious education and chair of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry;
- Fr. John R. Sachs, S.J., (video) is a former associate professor of systematic theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and presently a retreat director at Eastern Point Retreat House, Gloucester, MA;
- and Fr. Thomas Stegman, S.J., (text) is dean and associate professor of New Testament at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.
Certificate Requirement Categories
- Sacred Scripture
- Themes of Our Christian Tradition