Courses may be accessed online via Zoom from anywhere in the world. All Catholic theology courses online are listed in Eastern Standard Time (EST/EDT). If a location is listed, this indicates the location from which the course will be taught: students who are within commuting distance to that location are encouraged to attend in person. Further details on distance learning can be found here.
Summer 2026 Courses - Session I
May 11th - June 26th (Session I)
Application deadline for Session I is April 24th.
Add/drop deadline is May 18th [Session I].
ROC (Rochester Campus)
A205: Introduction to Biblical Studies (Matthew Ramage, Ph.D.)
The sequence of Sacred Scripture courses at St. Bernard’s is meant to instill habits and skills of reading the Bible that will nourish the spiritual life of the student and candidate for ministry. This first course lays a foundation for all other Scripture courses. It intends to head off simplistic and hackneyed interpretations of Dei Verbum and instead to pursue the development of a rigorous ecclesial hermeneutic. Students will learn the practical building blocks and essential theoretical principles for a Catholic theological approach to the interpretation of Sacred Scripture. Topics treated include biblical geography, biblical history, biblical languages, biblical narrative, the framework of theology, textual criticism, historical criticism, biblical canon, patristic interpretation, the four senses of Scripture, philosophical hermeneutics, and Dei Verbum.
3 credits | Online
Wednesdays, 6:30 - 9:30pm EDT, May 13th, May 20th, May 27th, June 3rd, June 10th, June 17th, June 24th
B/C441: Liturgical Development and Reforms: A History of Western Liturgy (Rev. Anthony Barratt, Ph.D.)
This course will examine the development of liturgical forms in the Western churches: the liturgy as “always reforming.” It will begin with some foundational questions about liturgy and development and then follow a synchronic approach, studying the roots and growth of the liturgy until the present. Particular attention will be given to the factors behind such development, and there will be an assessment and evaluation of the liturgies examined. The course will also study some specific examples of a liturgy developing over time and will conclude with an examination of some pastoral issues, such as inculturation and translation. Throughout the course, the students will have plenty of contact with liturgical texts, and they will be encouraged to develop skills of interpretation and evaluation.
3 credits | Online
Mondays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, May 11th, May 18th, May 25th, June 1st, June 8th, June 15th, June 22nd
B/D338: American Saints and Blesseds (Lisa Lickona, S.T.L.)
This course seeks to uncover the face of American sanctity by diving into the lives and spirituality of thirteen Americans who have been canonized or are on the path: Kateri Tekakwitha, Isaac Jogues, Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Neumann, Frances Xavier Cabrini, Katharine Drexel, Michael McGivney, Dorothy Day, Solanus Casey, Stanley Rother, Fulton Sheen, Thea Bowman, and Walter Ciszek. How did these men and women encounter Christ in America? And what can they teach us about seeking Christ in our own time and place? These questions will drive our exploration.
3 credits | ROC and Online
Wednesdays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, May 13th, May 20th, May 27th, June 3rd, June 10th, June 17th, June 24th
CP433: At the Origin of Technology (Marco Stango, Ph.D.)
It is often the case that the most common phenomena are also the phenomena which are the least reflected upon and understood. The essence of technology, whose role is so pervasive and seemingly omnipresent in our society, is much debated, but hardly grasped. Who were the first thinkers who first philosophized about technology? And what is technology anyway? Is technology just a phenomenon among others, or is it something that has to do with the depth of human nature? What is the difference between a written text, an automaton, and AI? And could the human being, confronted with the enormous danger brought about by ever more powerful devices, decide to become a-technological? Or perhaps, on the opposite view, could the human being reject any idea of a given nature and embrace a fully technological view of being? This course addresses these and related questions by attempting a philosophical reconstruction of the idea of technology through the ancient, modern, and contemporary eras. The authors discussed may include, but are not limited to, Plato, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Bacon, Heidegger, Günther Anders, and Byun-Chul Han.
3 credits | Online
Thursdays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, May 14th, May 21st, May 28th, June 4th, June 11th, June 18th, June 25th
CP661: Philosophical Ethics (Marco Stango, Ph.D.)
This course will articulate the general components necessary to a sustained, unified, and useful investigation into the moral life. With a privilege accorded to the Socratic, Platonic, Aristotelian, Augustinian, and Thomistic traditions, the course will consider the question of human purpose, namely to be happy, and the means that must be marshalled in order to achieve this happiness. Among the components to be examined are the following: how virtue, vice, and habit are related to the development of human character; how do we understand free choice and the many and varied roles that both reason and will play in the realization of a free choice; what is meant by conscience and its role in the moral life; is the society we live in and the friendships we enjoy necessary to the realization of a happy life; can the purely secular approach to human happiness succeed, or must this be realized within a religious context?
3 credits | Online
Tuesdays, 6:00pm - 9:00pm EDT, May 12th, May 19th, May 26th, June 2nd, June 9th, June 16th, June 23rd
D214: Spiritual Formation - Retreat Course Format (Lisa Lickona, S.T.L.)
This course provides a broad introduction to the ways in which people appropriate the mystery of faith, the process entailed in that appropriation, and an overview of the history of that process and the types of experiences which have emerged in that history. Students can achieve reflective understanding of their own practice, develop it more consciously, and be enabled to appreciate and assist others in this area of ministry.
3 credits | Abbey of the Genesee
June 15th - June 19th. Please note this is not included in the One Free Summer Audit. Learn more and apply here!
Summer 2026 Courses - Session II
June 29th - August 14th (Session II)
Application deadline for Session II is June 19th.
Add/drop deadline is July 6th [Session II].
ROC (Rochester Campus)
A/C388: The Gospel of John: Theological Themes and Textual Analysis (Matthew Kuhner, Ph.D.)
"We may be bold enough to say that the Gospels are the first fruits of all the Scriptures, and that the Gospel of John represents the first fruits of the Gospels" (Origen of Alexandria). This course will meditate upon and study the Gospel of John, lauded throughout the centuries for its expressive richness and its spiritual depth as it communicates the person of Jesus Christ. In terms of method, this course will provide a dynamic combination of theological exposition and textual analysis. Because a comprehensive treatment lies beyond the scope of a single course, crucial theological themes and texts will be discussed: themes such as glory, love, life, and truth, and texts such as the prologue, the signs, the high priestly prayer, and the crucifixion narrative will be studied (among others). Finally, the impact and significance of the Johannine witness throughout the life of the Church (especially in the 20th and 21st centuries) will be considered throughout.
3 credits | ROC and Online
Tuesdays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, June 30th, July 7th, July 14th, July 21st, July 28th, August 4th, August 11th
B/C361: Revelation, God, and the Angels According to Thomas Aquinas (Stephen Loughlin, Ph.D.)
This course is the first of six dedicated to a reading of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae, a work that constitutes his mature thought concerning those things essential to the Christian Faith: revelation, God, creation, the human person, the Christian life, the theological and cardinal virtues, and Jesus Christ and the sacraments. We begin by considering the first 64 questions of the first part of the Summa (the prima pars). We deal, first, with his brief but well considered views concerning the nature of Sacred Doctrine. From this, we then launch into the quality of our knowledge of God, both concerning His existence and what can be known of Him both in His unity and in His trinity, and all of this according to both natural reason and revelation. We then complete this course with a consideration of God's creative activity, beginning with those beings that are purely immaterial, namely the angels and the demons (with the remaining questions of the prima pars treated in B/C362).
3 credits | ROC and Online
Wednesdays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, July 1st, July 8th, July 15th, July 22nd, July 29th, August 5th, August 12th
B/C461: Tolkien the Artist: Creativity and the Image of God (Siobhan Latar, S.T.D.)
"We make because we are made in the image of a Maker” (J.R.R. Tolkien). What is the role of creativity in human life? Is it just an incidental addition, reserved for those with a particular skill set or extra time? Or is it something that speaks to the heart of what it means to be a human person? This course will explore the work and thought of beloved author, J.R.R. Tolkien, a devout Catholic and a devoted artist, to see how he himself answers this question. We will uncover Tolkien’s understanding of the role of creativity and what it shows us about our relationship with creation, ourselves, and God the Creator.
3 credits | Online
Thursdays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, July 2nd, July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd, July 30th, August 6th, August 13th
CP641: Philosophy of God (Marco Stango, Ph.D.)
This course concerns the natural ascent of the human mind to a knowledge of the existence and the attributes of God – can God’s existence be proven, and can our language at least begin to represent God’s attributes without falling purely into metaphorical language or simple anthropomorphisms?
3 credits | Online
Thursdays, 6:00 - 9:00pm EDT, July 2nd, July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd, July 30th, August 6th, August 13th
Spring 2026 Courses
January 5th - April 24th, 2026
(Note: Add/drop deadline is January 30th)
ROC (Rochester Campus)
A203: New Testament (Matthew Ramage, Ph.D.)
New Testament will introduce students to the literature, history, and theology of the New Testament. It focuses on key books of the New Testament with a primary focus on Jesus of Nazareth, the four canonical gospels, and the development of early Christianity.
3 credits | Online
Every other Wednesday, 6:30 — 9:30pm EST, 1/14, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, 3/11, 3/25, 4/8, 4/22
B/C350: Philosophy for Theologians (Stephen Loughlin, Ph.D.)
This course introduces the basic principles, language, and approaches that philosophy has historically contributed to the approach to and service of theological study and reflection. The course prepares students to engage in theological discourse, fostering the logical, epistemological, ethical, and metaphysical framework necessary to the approach, understanding, development, and maintenance of theological positions consistent with the Catholic intellectual tradition.
1 credit | ROC and Online
Every other Monday, 6:00 — 8:00pm EST, 2/2, 2/16, 3/2, 3/16, 3/30, 4/13
B/C410: Patristics: Introduction to the Church Fathers (Siobhan Latar, S.T.D.)
This is an introductory course on the writings of the Fathers of the Church and their important contribution to the formation of orthodox Christian theology. The focus of the course is to introduce these early Christian theologians as the great teachers of Christian doctrine and highlight their contribution through the Fathers’ explanation of the Christian dogma, and their refutation of heresies. Students will study patristic texts arranged historically and through the common classifications of the Fathers. For example, the Apostolic Fathers, the Apologists, the Latin Fathers, the Alexandrians (both the Fathers of Alexandria, such as Clement of Alexandria, and the great teachers such as St. Athanasius and St. Cyril of Alexandria), and the Cappadocian Fathers (i.e. St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzus).
3 credits | Online
Mondays, 6:30pm — 8:30pm EST, 1/5, 1/12, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/2, 3/9, 3/16, 3/23, 3/30, 4/13, 4/20
C/D334: Catholic Bioethics at the Middle and End of Life (Amanda Achtman, Lic.)
This course examines a range of issues and controversies, from the determination of death itself, to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, advance directives, hospice and palliative care options, organ donation, extra/ordinary care, and artificial nutrition and hydration. Topics are grounded in a broader discussion of Church views on suffering and death. Additional cutting-edge bioethical issues such as gender dysphoria, artificial wombs, CRISPR gene editing, and COVID-related ethics, are considered, alongside classic landmark ethical cases, and helpful narratives from the rich history of Catholic health care. Secular bioethical frameworks and arguments are examined. Issues are considered in a highly practical light, with emphasis given to real-world applications in pastoral, academic, and health care settings.
3 credits | Online
Tuesdays, 6:30pm — 8:30pm EST, 1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21
C/D365: Theology of the Body: Sexuality and the Sacred (Lisa Lickona, S.T.L.)
Today we find ourselves struggling to understand and navigate everything that has to do with gender and sexuality. Why is this? Why is life in the body so hard? In fact, we live in the wake of a profound modern divorce between God and his creation, meaning and matter (Descartes), that has facilitated the vast expansion of man’s technological mastery over his world (Bacon). And even as post-modernity has decried modernity’s worst fruits—world wars, the arms race, the destructive global consumerist culture—we find ourselves nevertheless unable to re-discover the inherent purpose of the material order. A struggle to impose meaning has ensued—with the body as its most sensitive battleground. This course seeks to understand the malaise in which we find ourselves and to explore in depth an answer that has been proposed from the heart of the Church. In Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, we will consider the human body as “sacramental” and the human person as inherently structured to express and receive love. We will discover a corresponding depth in the vocations to marriage and celibacy. And we will consider what this means for our experience lived “in” the body and not despite it.
3 credits | ROC and Online
Mondays, 6:30pm — 8:30pm EST, 1/5, 1/12, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/2, 3/9, 3/16, 3/23, 3/30, 4/13, 4/20
C215: Introduction to Theological Studies (Lisa Lickona, S.T.L.)
This course orients students to the various aspects of Catholic theological studies and the way Catholic theology functions in the faith community. Key issues such as faith, revelation, Scripture, tradition, the magisterium, and theological method are explored with an eye to how they are integrated into the entire discipline of theology. The course aims at helping to develop a framework in which to understand how one engages in theological reflection. Specific theological terms will be defined and discussed. (Formerly "Orientation to Theological Studies")
3 credits | ROC and Online
Every other Thursday, 6:00pm — 9:00pm EST, 1/15, 1/29, 2/12, 2/26, 3/12, 3/26, 4/9, 4/23
C228: Ecclesiology and the Theology of Ministry (Lisa Lickona, S.T.L.)
After an introduction to the twentieth-century theological conversation on the role of the Church in the Modern World that shaped the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes, this course will turn to theological themes, considering the Church as Mystery, Eucharist, Body of Christ, Mystery, Virgin, Bride, Mother, and People of God. The role of the Petrine ministry and the priesthood will be considered in relationship to the Marian dimension of the Church. As part of this historical and theological treatment, key themes will be unfolded through consideration of “ecclesiastical souls” in the Tradition, including such figures as Catherine of Siena, Ignatius of Loyola, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Henri de Lubac. The course will conclude with a focus on current issues in ministry, including Synodality.
3 credits | ROC and Online
Every other Thursday, 6:00pm — 9:00pm EST, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/19, 3/5, 3/19, 4/16
C344: Mary, Mother of God (Matthew Kuhner, Ph.D.)
An introduction to Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. The course will explore Mary’s historical and theological significance from a Catholic perspective, providing an overview of her role in Scripture, doctrine, and devotion. Particular attention will be given to dogmatic formulations and artistic expressions over the centuries.
3 credits | ROC and Online
Every other Tuesday, 6:00pm — 9:00pm EST, 1/6, 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, 3/3, 3/17, 3/31, 4/14
CP605: Beyond Deception: Logic and the Freedom of the Mind (Stephen Loughlin, Ph.D.)
An examination of the three activities that define reason (Understanding, Judgment, and Discursive Reasoning), and the development and practice of the techniques that perfect them (definition, the judgment of truth and falsity, the manipulation of propositions, and the formation of a sound argument). The course considers the defects that commonly affect sound reasoning (fallacies), the distinction between sound and cogent reasoning (deductive vs. inductive reasoning) and the criteria that govern the difference between the two, and lastly what constitutes Normative Persuasion Dialogue and how such is to be distinguished from other speech acts.
3 credits | ROC and Online
Wednesdays, 6:00pm — 9:00pm EST, 1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11, 2/18, 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25, 4/8, 4/15, 4/22
CP651: Philosophical Anthropology (Marco Stango, Ph.D.)
This course investigates the philosophical discussion surrounding the human person. We appeal to the major writers on this subject with an emphasis upon the Socratic, Platonic, Aristotelian, Augustinian, and Thomistic traditions, engaging primary original texts themselves and also their incorporation into modern models of the human person, particularly the personalism of St. John Paul II. Among the aspects considered in this course are the following: what is meant by “body” and “soul”; how has relation that exists between the two been articulated; how do we distinguish and understand the difference between the human person’s animality and his rationality; how do we describe human cognition, choice/free will, the human person’s affective life, and the social and spiritual aspects of our humanity; what is meant by the human person being made to the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27); and can it be shown that the human person survives his death?
3 credits | Online
Every other Tuesday, 6:00pm — 9:00pm EST, 1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, 4/21
CP671: Classic Texts in Catholic Philosophy (Marco Stango, Ph.D.)
This course introduces the students to a close reading of classic works from the Catholic philosophical tradition. For this reason, the works that may be studied include texts from the ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary age. According to the model presented in Fides et Ratio by St. Pope John Paul II, “faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” The classics of philosophy selected for this course are examples of the attitude described in the encyclical letter, either because they present an understanding of reason that is open to faith or because they present in an exemplary way the modality in which philosophical reason works once informed by faith. This course is the capstone course for the Master of Arts in Catholic Philosophy, and the Spring 2026 iteration of the course will deal with Hans Urs Von Balthasar’s Truth of the World, the first volume of his Theo-Logic.
3 credits | Online
Thursdays, 6:00pm — 9:00pm EST, 1/8, 1/15, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/9, 4/16, 4/23
