Our Identity
The Center for Christian Studies is a non-denominational Christian study center in the Mainline Protestant Tradition. We seek to combine a commitment to biblical and historic Christian faith, in all its unity and diversity, with a openness to engaging new ideas and social changes within the changing culture and world in which we live. We provide a unique and comprehensive program of theological education for the university community and general public. Our program facilitates serious thinking and discussion of the Christian worldview within the contemporary context of dialogue with other religious faiths and secular ideologies, as well as the liberal arts and popular consumer culture.

Our Affiliation
We are affiliated with Omega House, campus Christian ministry and study center in the mainline protestant tradition. Omega House provides campus and community programs such as University Fellowship, Soul Café, Dynamics of Personal Growth, The Forum for Global Dialogue, The Omega House Lecture Series, as well as accredited academic courses, collaborations with other organizations and groups on campus, and partnerships with various churches and ministries to young adults and spiritual seekers in the general community.

Our Mission
Our mission is to engage the university community and the general public in serious thinking and discussion of the Christian worldview in all its implications for life and thought. This includes encounters with the important ideas and social contributions of its leading thinkers and major movements across the ages . It also includes encounters with other world religions, secular ideologies, liberal arts and popular culture as these are shaping our changing society and global village.

Our Location
We are located adjacent to the campus of Southern Oregon University, a public institution of higher education in Ashland, Oregon. Our address is 371 S. Mountain Ave., Ashland, OR 97520. Our office phone is (541) 488-2304. Our email address is CCS@charter.net.

Our Curriculum

1. THE PRACTICAL RELEVANCE OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
First, students are introduced to the vital need for and practical relevance of university level studies in Christian theology within the context of encounters with world religions, secular ideologies, liberal arts and popular culture.

2. THE MAJOR BRANCHES OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
Second, students are introduced to the various branches of Christian theology, including biblical theology and hermeneutics, historical and cultural theology, doctrinal and moral theology, spiritual and devotional theology, philosophical theology, scientific theology, literary theology, aesthetic theology, psychological theology, sociological theology, pastoral theology (congregational life, worship, fellowship and care-giving), and practical theology (including Christian faith, values, witness and service in daily life, work, leisure, and society. The implication is that theology, rather than being a rarified domain of sectarian religious study, actually concerns the essential nature of reality, the totality of human existence, the integration of faith and reason, the search for integral knowledge, the basis for ethical values, the vision of a good society, and the quest for eternal fulfillment.

3. THE HISTORICAL PERIODS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
Third, students are given an overview of historical theology, including the Ministry of Jesus and the Apostolic Church, the Patristic Period, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Reformation and Post-Reformation Periods, and the Modern and Post-Modern Periods.

4. THE LEADING THINKERS AND THEOLOGICAL MOVEMENTS
Fourth, students are introduced to the leading thinkers and theological movements within each major historical period. For example, within primal period of the Ministry of Jesus and the Apostolic Era, we are introduced to the writings, authors and themes of the canonical New Testament documents, as well as other non-canonical documents, and the early debate over biblical revelation and the scriptural canon.

Within the Patristic Period (c.100-451) we are introduced to key theologians such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius, and Augustine of Hippo, and to the major theological conversations and controversies of that period.

Within the Middle Ages and Renaissance (c. 1050-1500), we are introduced to Scholasticism and Humanism, and to the key theologians such as Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ackham, and Erasmus of Rotterdam, and to the major theological conversations and controversies of that period.

Within the Reformation and Post-Reformation Periods (c. 1500-c. 1750), we are introduced to the key theologians of Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and to the Post-Reformation Movements, including Protestant Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Puritanism, Pietism, and Christian Radicalism.

Within the Modern (and Post-Modern) Period (c. 1750 – the Present), students are introduced to significant theological movements that include Deism, Romanticism, Marxism, Liberal Protestantism, Modernism, Neo-Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Feminism, Post-Modernism, Liberation Theology, Black Theology, Post-Liberalism, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement, and Regional Theologies of the Developing Third World.

5. THE SOURCES AND METHODS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
Fifth, students are introduced to four major sources of theology: scripture, tradition, reason and experience; to the distinction between the natural and revealed knowledge of God; and to the historical dialogue and changing relationship between theology and philosophy.

6. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MAJOR CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES
Sixth, students are introduced to historical theological perspectives on the classical Christian doctrines, including beliefs about God, Trinity, The Person of Jesus Christ, Faith and History, Salvation in Christ, Human Nature, Sin and Grace, The Church, The Sacraments, World Religions, and the Christian Hope.

7. THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW IN DIALOGUE WITH OTHER WORLDVIEWS
Seventh, students are introduced to basic theological and philosophical tenets of Christian theism. These are compared and contrasted with other major worldviews, including Jewish and Islamic forms of theism, Enlightenment deism, naturalism, nihilism, existentialism, matter/spirit dualism, Eastern monism and pantheism, new thought (Unity, Religious Science), new age (humanistic, animistic, monistic syncretism), and several versions of post-modernism.

8. VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR INTER-WORLDVIEW DIALOGUE AND RELATIONSHIPS
Eighth, students are introduced to various options for inter-worldview dialogue and relationships, including metaphysical skepticism, detached agnosticism, confessional particularism, logical exclusivism, multi-level inclusivism, reductive syncretism, mixed-nuts eclecticism, many realities pluralism, dialectical (multi-modal) integration, “cash value” pragmatism, existential subjectivism, and post-modern constructivism. Students are also introduced to the idea of an ethic of mutual respect, civility, hospitality and cooperation as the practical context for any constructive understanding and dialogue between religions, ideologies, worldviews and value systems.

9. CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUAL PRACTICE AND HOLISTIC LIVING
Ninth, students are introduced to various ways in which Christians today and throughout the ages have sought to “live in God’s grace” and to “practice spiritual disciplines,” and to integrate them into a healthy and holistic way of life. These are compared and contrasted with spiritual disciplines, holistic practices, transcendent aspirations and motivating incentives within other religious and humanistic traditions.

10. CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND PUBLIC LIFE
Tenth, students are introduced to various ways in which Christians today and throughout the ages have sought to take seriously the biblical call to social responsibility and public life as in integral aspect of Christian discipleship and the stewardship of creation. We ask students to consider how it is possible that at different times and places in human history Christians have felt compelled to identify “the Christian ideal” of “the good society” alternately with libertarian individualism, conservative traditionalism, liberal progressivism and communitarian anarchism. How do we know that we are not unwittingly being held hostage to “the spirit of the age,” (or alternately in hyper-reaction against the spirit of the age) in our own theological, ethical, cultural, social, economical and political views? Students are invited to clarify and articulate what they perceive to be the most critical problems and needs confronting our changing society and world, what can and must be done to respond these problems and needs, and what practical steps to actions they are personally and collectively prepared to take in order to give authentic expression to their faith in God’s creative, reconciling and transforming love, particularly as revealed in the light of Christ.

THE CENTER FOR CHRISTIAN STUDIES
Ashland, Oregon

Our Educational Objectives

Students who have successfully completed our program will be able to:

1. Understand and articulate the practical relevance of theological reflection in today’s changing world.

2. Understand the differences between the major branches of Christian theology, and the ways in which they complement and balance each other.

3. Understand and differentiate the major historical periods of Christian theological development, and the critical questions and problems that took center stage during each of these periods.

4. Understand and critically engage the leading thinkers and theological movements of the major periods of Christian theological development, including those of our modern and post-modern era.

5. Understand and elaborate upon the four major sources of Christian theology: scripture, tradition, reason and experience, including the relative weight that different theologians and theological movements have assigned to each of these; explain what theologians mean by natural and revealed theology; and articulate the historically changing relationship between theology and philosophy.

6. Understand and articulate the ideas of leading thinkers and theological movements of the major historical periods as they relate to basic Christian doctrines or tenets of belief, including beliefs about God, The Trinity, Jesus Christ, Faith and History, Salvation in Christ, Human Nature, Sin and Grace, The Church, The Sacraments, World Religions, and the Christian Hope.

7. Understand and distinguish the basic beliefs, values, traditions and practices that characterize the major worldviews that are shaping our contemporary society and world.

8. Understand and engage a variety of worldviews in critically reflective and constructive dialogue.

9. Understand and explore various Christian perspectives on spiritual practice and holistic living, and the ways that these either be or different from other spiritual and humanistic traditions.

10. Understand and engage the challenge of Christian social responsibility and public life, wrestling theologically and ethically with the divergent ideological assumptions and values of libertarian individualism, conservative traditionalism, liberal progressivism, and communitarian anarchism.

Summary
Our graduates will be able to give accurate and reliable introductory presentations on the important ideas, leading thinkers, historical developments and theological movements of Christian thought in dialogue with the major worldviews, religions and ideologies shaping our contemporary culture, and to make informed contributions to debates and discussions taking place within colleges, universities, churches and seminaries, as well as within the public media and electronic global village.

For more information, please contact:
Rev. Richard C. Lang, Executive Director, The Center for Christian Studies
Omega House, A Campus Christian Ministry in the Protestant Reformed Tradition
371 S. Mountain Ave., Ashland, OR 97520 (541) 488-2304 omegahouse@charter.net