Registration is now open for the Fall Semester! Classes begin on September 7th.
Take a deep dive into the Catholic Theological Tradition through courses like Fundamental Theology, Survey of the Old Testament, Moral Theology, and more!
Saint John's Seminary offers a wide variety of courses with thought-provoking material and clear instruction from experienced professors who are highly regarded in their fields.
Are you thinking of a career in church work, ministry, religious education, or looking to deepen your faith and understanding of Catholic Theology? Consider the Lay Formation Programs of Saint John's Seminary. Here you will grow spiritually, personally, and intellectually. Our two degree programs are faithful to the Catholic intellectual tradition, are carefully crafted to provide an integrated and thorough study of Catholic theology, and allow for specialization in one of two themes: acquiring skills to minister within the Church, or honing one’s skills to participate fully in the New Evangelization of the world.
This Fall is a perfect time to take your first course at Saint John's Seminary!
Learn MoreExplore Fall Semester Courses
Fundamental Theology
Fundamental Theology introduces the student to Catholic theology, its characteristics, resources, and purposes. The goal is to assist the student in giving a reasonable articulation of the mystery of divine revelation as transmitted by Scripture and Tradition and received in the faith of the Church. In addition, this course will investigate a number of specific issues, including the role of the Magisterium, the levels of official Church teaching, and the topic of theological method. The course will employ a number of different learning strategies, especially lecture and small group discussions.
Survey of the Old Testament
This course will provide a survey of significant texts, historical events and theological themes in the narrative, prophetic, and wisdom writings of the Old Testament. Additionally, students will be introduced to the principles of the Catholic biblical interpretation as articulated in the ecclesial documents Dei Verbum and The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.
Moral Theology
With St. Thomas Aquinas as our guide, and both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical on moral theology, Veritatis Splendor, as foundational documents, this course invites its students to meditate upon who we are and what it means to be a human person created in love in the image of God. We will ponder, too, who God is and His revelation to us with respect to creation and who we are. Our moral life, our actions, fit, are situated, within the Truth of who God is and who He creates us to be. From the basic understanding of fundamental moral theology we will be prepared to engage with the moral life. Grace, Virtue, Freedom, Revelation, Conscience, and Authority will then be the themes and language and tools we discuss to shape our understanding and interiorization of the Good, and Holy, and Virtuous, and Happy Life.
Canon Law
Canon law is the system of rules that govern Church order and discipline. This course will present an overview of the nature, history, and function of Church law, and will introduce students to the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law — primarily Book I (general norms), Book II (The People of God: Christian faithful, Church hierarchy, consecrated life), Book III (the teaching office), Book IV (sacraments), and Book V (temporal goods). The objective of the course is to introduce basic structures and functions of the Church as addressed by the Code, and to familiarize students with those canonical norms helpful to their effective ministry in the Church.
New Evangelization/Pastoral Theology
Holiness is oriented to meeting the needs of the contemporary world, which requires a sophisticated understanding of the mission field. This course will examine the mission field in detail, while directing attention to the true nature of Christian mission: finding our identity within the universal mission of the Incarnate Son. The second half of this course looks at the theological underpinning to pastoral ministry: the theology of a parish, roles of the ordained and lay, mission effectiveness and best practices in pastoral settings.
