Thanks to the generous support of the Knights of Columbus Finger Lakes Chapter, St. Bernard's is delighted to offer the opportunity of auditing one summer course for free. We are a Catholic graduate school committed to featuring courses that enhance the truths of our faith, and as such, wish to share our offerings with as many people as possible.
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
May 11th - June 26th (Session I) | June 29th - August 14th (Session II)
Application deadline for Session I is April 24th; application deadline for Session II is June 19th.
Add/drop deadlines are May 18th [Session I] and July 6th [Session II].
ROC (Rochester Campus)
Session II
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
