Faith and Reason
Great Books Sequence

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” - St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio

In this three-semester sequence of courses co-taught by the departments of Theology and Philosophy, students read original writings from St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Thomas á Kempis, Pope Saint John Paul II, and many others. Course readings include great works written from 600 B.C. through to the present day.

The classes are taught as seminars using the Great Books approach. Students will read, analyze and discuss texts in philosophy and theology, with a special emphasis upon the relationship between the two disciplines: the harmony of faith and reason.

Students who participate in Benedictine College's Great Books Program are strongly encouraged to take the Faith and Reason course sequence and to study systematically some of the most fundamental and influential works in philosophy and theology ever written.

Courses and Prerequisites

1st Semester (One Course, 4 Credits)

Students in a seminar class dicussion

PHIL-3670 Faith and Reason I (4) (D)
This is the first course in a three-semester sequence meeting the general education requirements in the Faith and Philosophical Inquiry Foundation areas. This first course addresses works written from 600 B.C. through 1000 A.D.

Prerequisites: THEO-1100, and either PHIL-1750 or PHIL-2310. (PI)

2nd Semester (One Course, 4 Credits)

A student holds a copy of Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo

THEO-3680 Faith and Reason II (4) (D)
This is the second course in a three-semester sequence meeting the general education requirements in the Faith and Philosophical Inquiry Foundation areas. This second course addresses works written from the year 1000 through about 1700.

Prerequisite: PHIL-3670. (F)

3rd Semester (Two “Half Courses”, 4 Credits)

A student makes a point during a seminar class discussion

PHIL-3690 Faith and Reason III (2) (D)
and THEO-3690 Faith and Reason III (2) (D)
These two courses are combined as one 4-credit class, and together form the third section in a three-semester sequence meeting the general education requirements in the Faith and Philosophical Inquiry Foundation areas. Both courses address works written from about 1700 to the present.

Prerequisites: PHIL-3670 and THEO-3680. (F) (PI)