Theology Curriculum

Following the teaching of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council, the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that Scripture stands at the heart of both theology (the contemplative study of divine things) and catechesis (the handing on of the content of the Faith). Since theology begins with knowledge of the saving deeds of God in Jesus Christ, who is Lord of history from the creation of the world to its consummation, the first and fundamental year of theology at Wyoming Catholic College familiarizes students firsthand with the history of salvation as God tells it to us in the words He Himself inspired. The first semester focuses on the Old Testament as background to and promise of the New.

Continuing the history of salvation, the second semester enters into the New Testament, whose very completion of the Old Testament furnishes a pattern for Christian life and thought, passing from shadows to images to realities. Accordingly, this semester also takes up questions of the inspiration, inerrancy, and interpretation of Scripture as containing many “senses” or levels of meaning and investigates how theology is built on the foundation of the Word of God, how this Word is handed down to us in Scripture and apostolic Tradition, how faith is related to reason, and how theology differs from other disciplines in its role as queen of the sciences.

Having viewed salvation history as a whole through the inspired record of that history and having considered how the science of theology emerges and develops from divine revelation given in both Scripture and Tradition (THL 101–102), we are ready to begin a more systematic study of the Catholic faith. Since God is the source and goal of everything else, the present course focuses on the existence and attributes of God Himself, leading into the central mystery of our Faith, the Most Holy Trinity. With the Gospel of St. John as our portal, we enter into God’s disclosure of His inner life: the Divine Persons and their missions.

In this course we strive to understand God as the origin and goal of all creatures and their sovereign ruler. We ask about the meaning of “creation” and explore the creation of the invisible world of the angels, the visible cosmos, and especially man, the summit of the material world because he is made “unto the image and likeness of God.” Particular attention is given to the manifestation of God’s goodness in the perfections of creatures, and especially in the gift of sanctifying grace and the theological virtues to men. Also taken up is the question of evil in the perspective of Divine Providence.

This course treats of the fall of the human race in our first parents, sin and its effects (particularly death), resurrected beatitude as man’s ultimate end, and Jesus Christ as the sole mediator between God and man who brings redemption and renewal to the whole of creation. The plight of fallen man as well as its only remedy are illuminated by readings from both Testaments, leading to profound reflection on the reasons why “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”—“for us men and for our salvation.”

This semester meditates on the mystery of the Incarnation, towards which the whole of creation is ordered as its crown and upon which the entire economy of grace and salvation hinges. The Christological debates of the early Church reveal to us the radiant face of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, while the unsurpassable synthesis of St. Thomas assists us in pondering His eternal and incarnate being, His grace and wisdom, His salvific suffering and death, His glorious resurrection and ascension, and finally, His kingship over creation.

This course treats of the Church—the Mystical Body of Christ, His immaculate bride, the new Israel, the “universal sacrament of salvation” born from the Lord’s wounded side. Inseparable from the Church on earth are her seven sacraments and liturgical life, through which she expresses her inmost nature as a continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation. Through these visible means, our Savior applies the power of His Passion to our bodies and souls, building up His Church, sanctifying her members, and uniting the faithful to one another and to God in the sacrifice of charity.

This course addresses itself to profoundly practical questions about how we are to live a redeemed and sanctified life in the world around us, as individuals and as members of communities. Such a life is founded upon the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity; it is given a certain structure by vocations within the Church. The Christian way of life both separates us from “the world” (the world of unbelief) and impels us to evangelize it in imitation of our Lord. The contrast between true and false freedom and the central role played by culture are major themes of the semester.