I. Description:
The history of Christianity is a rich, complex story, full of tragedy and triumph. The course focuses most on Christianity as a Western phenomenon, but also examines its becoming world-wide belief systems. Study focuses on the conflicts that have shaped the ecclesiology, theology, and practice of Christians, placing them in their political, social, and cultural context. The participant should gain a better awareness of the role of controversy and compromise in Christian history, as well as a deeper understanding of many significant beliefs, people, events, and trends.
II. Purpose
This is a History Major course, cross-listed as a Theology course, THEO 351 History of Christian Thought.
Objectives for the student:
- To identify the major events and contributors to the Christian tradition: its doctrines, ideas, practices, and patterns of authority and how they change over time.
- To read primary and secondary sources and explain their significance to relevant problems of history and faith.
- To understand the effect that audience can have on theology (namely to whom, against whom, and in defense of whom theologians are writing.
- To situate developing Christian thought in historical periods, including social, political, economic, cultural, and intellectual dimensions.
- To appreciate the complementarity and tensions between theological and historical research methods and standards of argument and evidence.
- To understand the practice of historical theology and the historical method as modern disciplines that can shed light on contemporary theological and socio-political issues.
- To appreciate the variety of Christian thought and Church structures, both synchronically and diachronically.
- To understand how Christian doctrines result in part from conflict (and attempts to mitigate conflict) within the Church and between Church and culture.
General Learning Outcomes for the student:
In addition to the more content related objectives described above, this course has some general liberal learning goals. Successful completion of this course is expected to help improve your ability
- To manage information, which involves sorting data, ranking data for significance, synthesizing facts, concepts and principles.
- To understand and use organizing principles or key concepts against which miscellaneous data can be evaluated.
- To differentiate between facts, opinions and inferences.
- To frame questions in order to more clearly clarify a problem, topic or issue.
- To compare and contrast the relative merits of opposing arguments and interpretations, moving between the main points of each position.
- To organize your thoughts and communicate them clearly and concisely in a written form and oral presentations.
- To obtain practice in selecting and presenting information and arguments within a restricted environment, especially the limitations of time in exams.
III. General Requirements
1. Readings:
- some survey text
- A Cloud of Witnesses: Readings in the History of Western Christianity by Joel F. Harrington, 2nd edition 2000 ISBN-10:0395968836
The required readings are intended both to provide you with important factual and background information before class and to be used as review and reference works afterwards. Before class, you will read the chapters or pages assigned according to the class schedule. Not all topics in the books will be covered in class, but you are responsible for them on the exam and in class discussion. Each class the instructor may select at random one student to present the day's reading and show how it integrates with the other material (Each presentation worth 10 points).
You must make notes in the margins or a notebook, underline key statements, highlight important passages, and/or annotate essential details in order to be better prepared for classroom discussion. Several times the instructor will also check your books for that classs text readings and evaluate the quality of your note taking or highlighting (10 points each time).
If necessary, the instructor may give quizzes to test your reading and comprehension of the texts.
2. Class Participation & Attendance:
Participation and attendance are necessary because lecture and discussion provide the essentials for achieving class goals and objectives. Thus a portion of your grade (about 20%) will depend on your in-class performance. You are required to attend each class, arrive on time, remain attentive, respond to questions, ask questions and participate in any in-class projects.
Especially in your readings book, you must make notes in the margins or a notebook, underline key statements, highlight important passages, and/or annotate essential details in order to be better prepared for classroom discussion.
Classes may be recorded with the instructor's permission, only for use within the course, and the recordings must be erased/destroyed after the final exam.
The instructor will regularly take attendance. Absences due to college activities, emergency or extended illness may be excused by the appropriate director or dean. Other absences are unexcused and will lower the class participation portion of your grade. After any absence, you are responsible for making up missed work, requesting hand-outs and already returned assignments, or borrowing notes from other students. Whether absences are excused or not, you cannot get a higher grade than the percentage of classes attended.
All students who have a learning disability, physical handicap and/or any other possible impediment to class participation and requirements should schedule an appointment with the instructor during the first week of class to discuss available accommodations.
If you miss an exam, contact the instructor as soon as possible. You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the instructor. The makeup exam may be in the form of an oral exam.
If at some point during the semester you must discontinue the course, due to poor performance, illness or some other cause, be sure to follow proper procedures for withdrawal.
3. Weekly Reports on Sources
Also for each class, the instructor will assign or each student will pick one
source or set of sources from A Cloud of Witnesses on which the student will give a brief
(five to seven minute) report to the
class.
As you read the sources, you consider the following questions:
- Who produced the primary source (the author)? (Do not mistake a translator or editor for an author).
- What is its context? What else was going on at the time (as compared with the textbook)?
- What is the documents ostensible or intended purpose? What problem did it solve; what issue did it explain?
- How reliable is it?
- What is the source about? What does it say about a particular event or belief?
- How is it significant? Why should we pay attention to it now? What can we learn from it?
For more on sources, see <http://staff.kings.edu/bapavlac/sources.html>.
For the report, present a brief summary of the above questions, if the sources introduction does not already include that information. More important, point out specific passages, phrases, or words in the source which illustrate the answers to the above questions.
4. Report on Heresy, Schism, Confessionalization, Denominalism,
Sectarianism, Fragmentation, etc.
Each student will pick a "church" from the Histories of Churches section on the
Resources for the History of Christianity page <http://staff.kings.edu/bapavlac/Xty/hist.html>.
In the last class, each student will present a brief (five to seven minute)
report about how and why that "church" separated from or began anew from other
Christians. Issues to be referenced should include key dates,
personalities, political pressures, theological disputes, hierarchichal
arrangements, social constraints, and ethnic or national differences. You
should do some research beyond what is presented on the given website(s), of at
least two printed reference works, and two other substantial sources. Each
student should provide to the class, as an aid to understanding, a handout which
includes key terms, descriptions, and bibliography.
III. Class Schedule:
Week 1 Introduction to the Study of Church History:
How do we know anything about the past?
An introduction to the course, the historical method, the methods, and sources.
Week 2 The Good News, ca. 4 B.C.-ca. A.D. 120:
What do we know of the first Christians?
Using the New Testament and other contemporary sources, we examine the life of
Jesus and his followers who spread His message.
Week 3 Culture War, ca. 4 B.C.-ca. A.D. 400:
What makes Christians different?
Starting as a tiny minority, confronted by powerful belief systems of Judaism
and paganism, Christians nonetheless managed to convert the Roman Empire.
Week 4 Hierarchy, ca. A.D. 27-600:
Who should lead?
Following Christ's departure his followers began to form a Church, from
the apostles to bishops, through emperors and councils, to the papacy.
Week 5 Incarnation, ca. 4 B.C.-A.D. 800:
Who is Jesus?
While the Church was forming its leadership, Christians were trying to
understand and describe who exactly Jesus was, from the Old Testament views
influencing the Son of Man and Messiah,
through the Nicene Creed and the Trinity, to the filioque dispute.
Week 6 Empire, A.D. 313-1453: What is the relationship of
Church to State?
With Constantine's legalization of Christianity, the Church became bound to
political empires; from Rome and its continuation in Byzantium in the East,
through the Carolingians, the Holy Roman Empire, and kingdoms of Christendom in
the West.
Week 7 Pilgrimage, ca. A.D. 500-1500:
Who represents the kingdom of heaven?
In Christendom and elsewhere individuals (many of whom became saints),
institutions (many still with us today), and ideas (many attacked then, but
revived now) offered various models on how to be faithful to God. These
include, saints, monastic orders, universities, and heretics.
Week 8 Reformation I, 1309-1648: How does the Church
reform itself?
As the Late Medieval Church in the West failed to implement sufficient reform,
the efforts of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the Anabaptists shattered Western
Christendom.
Week 9 Reformation II, 1528-1789: How does the Church
reform itself?
The dynastic needs of the King of England initiated an unusual reformation in
that kingdom; and Roman Catholicism redefined itself in opposition to
Protestantism, which continued to diversify.
Week 10 World Mission, 1450-1914: How do Christians
evangelize non-Europeans?
With the Voyages of Discovery, Europeans came into contact, and, at times,
domination of diverse peoples around the world; Christians needed to learn how
to spread, and live, the Gospel in foreign lands; from the conquistadores,
through SPCK, to the World Missionary Conference.
Week 11 Modernism I, 1500-1815: How does Christianity deal
with reason and science?
With the Enlightenment another powerful belief system came to rival
Christianity, and, eventually, provided some Christians tools to reexamine their
own foundations and history; from Deism, through agnosticism, to atheism.
Week 12 Modernism II, 1829-present: How does Christianity deal
with reason and science?
The continuing expansion of scientific knowledge threatened certain
interpretations of the Bible and Christian views, leading to fundamentalism,
liberalism, and post-modernism.
Week 13 Ecumenism, 1914-present: What is the true
Church?
As Christianity became a diverse world-wide phenomenon and in the wake of the
Great War, some Christians began to approach cooperation and the healing of
schisms, from the World Council of Churches, through Vatican II, to "The Gift of
Authority."
Week 14 Sexuality, 1930-present: How does sex matter to
God?
With the rise of Womens rights and the Sexual Revolution in the later 20th
Century, Christians began to reevaluate accepted Biblical interpretations and
practices about sex; from abortion and contraception, through womens
ordination, to the cultural war over homosexuality.
Wm. Saunders, Contraceptive References in the Bible <http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0663.html>
The Episcopal Church, USA and homosexuality <http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_epis.htm>
Han's Bible Home Page [in the Wayback Machine] <http://web.archive.org/web/20000306211818/http://members.aol.com/hansss/bible-stuff.html> interesting interpretation using context.
Frank K. Flinn, "Joe Biden, abortion and the Catholic vote," Oct. 24, 2008 <http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/12819.html?emailID=21701> brief history of Roman Catholicism and abortion.
Week 15 Summary and Review
A chance to reflect on the course, report on other significant conflicts in the
past, and discuss what challenges face the Christian Church now and in the
future.
IV. Links:
Although this syllabus presents the basic content of this course, the professor reserves the right to change anything (e.g. requirement, topics, assignments, due dates, grading policy, etc.) at his discretion.
|
|
URL: http://departments.kings.edu/history/hist350.html Site built, maintained & Copyright MMISX by Brian A. Pavlac Last Revision: 27 May 2009  |
