The Universe as Divine Manifestation

Course Description

The course engages students in a process of discernment, interpretation, and response to the natural world as revelation, as a primary mediation and distinctive locus of divine presence and activity, as the comprehensive religious curriculum. Our exploration will begin with searching out this revelation in the cosmological order through scientific insights into the structure and functioning of the universe. From this macrophase perspective, the course will shift to the more proximate witness to the divine as this finds expression in and through the planet Earth. The first half of the course plumbs the depths of the universe to discover what the universe discloses to us about the Creator; the latter half focuses on the Earth as a unique and distinctive aspect of this revelation. Out of this experience and insight we will articulate the meaning of this revelation for ourselves and for people of faith in our time.

Course Objective

By the end of this course, it is hoped that students are disposed to discern, appreciate, and communicate the divine presence and activity that permeates the natural world.

Course Goals

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• perceive and experience the presence and activity of the divine within the natural world;
• articulate your own experience and interpretation of the revelation mediated throughout the natural world;
• work out a correlation between revelation communicated through the natural world and through the sacred texts and treatises cherished within your religious tradition;
• identify and describe some of the significant contributions of contemporary scientific investigations of the natural world for theology, spirituality, religion, and other disciplines;
• discern and integrate the insights and understanding you achieve through the course in your life and work;
• choose an appropriate and meaningful form of ongoing observation, reflection, and notation through which you will continue to search out the revelation communicated through the natural world.

Required Readings

**1. Thomas Berry. The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1988.

2. John Paul II. “Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation.” World Day of Peace Message. 1 Jan. 1990. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace_en.html.

**3. Robert Finch and John Elder, eds. The Norton Book of Nature Writing. New York: W. Norton and Co., 1990.

**4. Gerald L. Schroeder. The Hidden Face of God, How Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth. New York: The Free Press, 2001.

**5. Brian Swimme. The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1996.

6. Twelve Principles for Reflecting on the Universe. Appendix A of this Syllabus.

(**These texts will be used in both courses in this focus area.)

Required Course Videos*

1. “The Earth is the Lord’s”. Prod. the United States Catholic Conference, 3211 Fourth Street NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194. Videotape. USSC, 1995. Publication #058-3. This video is out of print, but may be obtained through Loyola’s Distance Library Services; see contact information below.
2. "Water: Sacred and Profaned". Baylands Production, 1998. The Foundation for Global Community, 222 High Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301. To order, call (925) 708-1856, or visit Globalcommunity.org.
3. "The Blue Planet". Prod. IMAX, 1990. Videotape. ASIN B-0000-5BCO-S. This IMAX video can be ordered at Amazon.com.
4. "Cosmic Voyage". Dir. Bayley Silleck. Time Warner Company, 2002. An IMAX video which can be ordered by calling 1 (800) 263-4629 x232 or shopping online at Amazon.com.

*Note: Students are required to view these videos, not to purchase them. If you would like to borrow them from Loyola’s Library, please contact Distance Library Services via email distlib@loyno.edu or by calling the library’s toll-free number (1-877-614-0633) and asking the Distance Librarian to send you a copy.

LIM online courses are available for 3 graduate semester credits or 3 continuing education units.

Graduate students will participate in the class by:

• completing readings in assigned texts and review of other course materials each week
• posting responses to discussion questions and to the reflections of other students at least three times each week (10 weekly sessions)
• completing two reflective essays (described in more detail in the course syllabus)

CEU students will participate in the class by:

• completing readings in assigned texts and review of other course materials each week
• posting responses to discussion questions and to the reflections of other students at least three times each week (10 weekly sessions)

How to Register