Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

Having previously created some new electives to integrate science, philosophy, and theology, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary is now engaged in a deeper integration of science into its core curriculum. The following are the central pillars of that integration.

The Director of Psychological Services – who also teaches Introduction to Pastoral Counseling, Advanced Pastoral Issues, and Grief Counseling – is integrating neuroscience more deeply into her thinking, counseling, and teaching.

The annual two week Holy Land retreat and pilgrimage – a highlight of the final year of study – is being transformed into a three week Biblical archaeology course, taught on site in Israel. The instructor for this course also teaches the required introductory New Testament sequence in the first year of studies.

The Patristics course, also taught in the first year, has always used primarily written sources. It will now be supplemented by the integration of archaeology. This will allow the students’ introduction to early Christianity to be shaped not only by written sources showing how people thought, but also by artifacts that show how the faith was lived.

Finally, a conference is being planned under the working title “Science Enhances Faith.” The conference will give seminarians tools to undermine the hypothesis that there is, and always has been, a conflict between faith and science. By hearing from scientists who are also people of faith, this event will help future ministers experience that the conflict hypothesis is simply incorrect.

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