Instructor : Tim Bryan, M. S., M. A., Th.D., The John Wesley Iliff Senior Instructor in Church History, The Iliff School of Theology
Personal Email: bryan147@msn.com (will return messages within 24-48 hours)
Cell Phone: 303-565-9312 (please call after 9:00 AM and before 9:00 PM)
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13). It is a question asked since Jesus roamed the Galilean countryside. This course will examine how people have responded to that question over the centuries since Jesus. After surveying the efforts of the historical “questers” over the last couple of centuries to describe Jesus and his relationship to his religious, social, and political environment, we will follow the theological efforts of the church to understand his nature and his work, including the doctrinal conflicts of the fourth and fifth centuries, medieval and Reformation soteriological considerations, and modern Christological reflections that speak to new understandings of human experience and history, special concerns about individual and collective evil, and globalization. The course will conclude with Jesus’ other question, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)---with each student developing his or her own Christology.
Marcus J. Borg & N. T. Wright. The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions . HarperOne. 2007 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-06-128554-7.
David F. Ford & Mike Higton (eds.) Jesus . Oxford Readers. Oxford University Press. 2002 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-19-289316-1.
Tyron L. Inbody. The Many Faces of Christology . Abingdon Press. 2002 (paperback). ISBN 0-687-030003-X.
Elizabeth A. Johnson. Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology . Crossroad. 1995 (paperback). ISBN 0-8245-1161-1 (PK).
Jaroslav Pelikan. Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture. Yale University Press. 1999 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-300-07987-6.
There are many studies and texts on the historical Jesus and Christology. The bibliographical materials listed in the texts chosen for this course highlight many of the seminal ones. I have chosen the texts for this course using the following criteria: scholarly reliability, readability, usefulness beyond the course, diversity, cost (usually available through Amazon at very reasonable prices), and content that engages important aspects of the historical Jesus and the Christological images and ideas that have emerged historically since the first century.
The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions is a collaborative effort of two of the best scholars of the most recent quest for the historical Jesus: Marcus Borg and N. T. Wright. They present their conclusions about the historical Jesus from liberal and conservative positions.
Jesus is an excellent collection of primary sources in the Oxford Readers series for topical reflections on Jesus throughout history. We will be reading some of the selections during the course; however, overall, I think that it will be a valuable resource for your preaching, teaching, pastoral care, formation workshops, and personal reflections.
The Many Faces of Christology has a good introductory section on the modern quests for the historical Jesus and some good insights into the development of Christology historically, including some valuable chapters on Evangelical, Liberal, Postliberal, Feminist, and Global perspectives.
Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology is an older work but a very good introduction to Christology, written by a well-known and sometimes controversial (a good sign) Roman Catholic woman theologian Elizabeth Johnson. Catholics have contributed greatly to the modern debates about Christology and the historical Jesus, with studies by Karl Rahner, Gerald O’Collins, Edward Schillebeeckx, John Dominic Crossan, John Meier, Raymond Brown, and others. Consider Jesus focuses on Catholic contributions with an ecumenical spirit and an adroit teacher’s clarity.
Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture was written by Jaroslav Pelikan, a convert to Orthodoxy and considered in his lifetime the most renowned historian of the development of Christian doctrine. The text presents a cultural history of Jesus by focusing on the popular images of Jesus that have appeared theologically and artistically throughout history.
See Taylor Library's list of online book sellers for purchasing options.
Protocol for posting responses and contributing to an online discussion
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Ensuring Active & Engaging Participation
in Online Discussions
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Category |
1. Drifting |
2. Moving in the Right Direction |
3. Valuable Performance |
4. Highly Engaged Learner |
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Contribution to the Learning Community |
Does not make effort to participate in learning community as it develops; seems indifferent |
Occasionally makes meaningful reflection on group's efforts; marginal effort to become involved with group |
Often presents reflections that become central to the group’s discussion; interacts freely and encourages others |
Consistently presents creative reflections on topic; aware of needs of community; frequently prompts further discussion of topic; often posts additional ideas, wonderings, etc. |
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Relevance of Posts |
Posts responses which do not relate to the discussion content; makes irrelevant remarks |
Occasionally posts off topic; most posts offer no further insight into the topic |
Posts are related to discussion topic; makes some connections with readings and prior experience |
Posts consistently are related to discussion topic and thoroughly address all questions; effectively weaves readings and prior experience into discussion; cites additional references related to topic when appropriate |
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Expression Within the Post |
Does not express opinions or ideas clearly; no connection to topic; disrespectfully disagrees with others’ opinions |
Unclear connection to topic evidenced in minimal expression of opinions or ideas; respectfully disagrees with others’ opinions |
Opinions and ideas are stately clearly with occasional lack of connection to topic; respectfully disagrees with others’ opinions |
Expresses opinions and ideas in a clear and concise manner with obvious connection to topic; respectfully disagrees with others’ opinions |
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Delivery of Post |
Utilizes poor spelling and grammar in most posts; posts appear "hasty" |
Errors in spelling and grammar evidenced in several posts |
Few grammatical or spelling errors are noted in posts |
Consistently uses grammatically correct posts with rare misspellings |
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Promptness and Initiative for active Participation |
Does not respond to most postings; rarely participates freely |
Responds to most postings but limited to initial responses—does not reply to others to foster active participation; limited initiative |
Responds promptly to all postings and replies to other responses although may be minimally at times |
Responds promptly to all postings and provides leadership in replying to others’ responses to foster active discussion and build community. |
Assignments and Point Values
Assignment When Due Points Points Earned
Posted Response
To Readings Weeks 1-9 54 (6 pts
each wk) ___________
Individual Posted
Response
To Other Posts Weeks 1-9 36 (4 pts
each week) ____________
Individual Final
Paper Week 10 20 _____________
TOTAL POINTS 110 _____________
Postings (Weeks 1-9)
Online postings should adhere to the “Protocol for posting responses and contributing to an online discussion” and consider the possible pitfalls and best practices identified in the rubric “Ensuring Active & Engaging Participation in Online Discussion” that will be used to evaluate the online responses.
Online postings will initially respond to the instructor-generated discussion questions, which will be posted by Monday of each week. After the initial postings of the individual students (weeks 1-9), the posted responses to the initial responses will consist of student-generated personal insights, connections to other ideas and resources, questions, etc.
Individual Final Paper: Due March 14
The final paper (1500–1800 words; 5-6 pages) should describe your own reflections on Jesus and the Christological ideas that have developed since the first century. Questions that might be helpful in considering your views of Jesus and your own Christology could include:
As you write your paper: incorporate your own experiences, indicate your prevailing image or images of Jesus (theologically/spiritually), and refer to our readings that were especially helpful or supportive of your developing understanding of Jesus.
Written Assignments
The syllabus gives you guidelines on how long your postings and final paper should be. Please observe those guidelines as closely as possible. Some of you need more sentences to express yourself; others need fewer. I am more interested in having you write clearly rather than in having you worry about the length of your responses. If your responses are too long or too short, I will give you feedback accordingly.
The final paper should follow APA formatting (or other style acceptable to academic writing), which will include a title page, double- spacing, 12 point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins throughout, and references (in-text and references page).
Late Assignments
All postings and final papers should be submitted by day on which they are due. A posting one day late will be penalized 10%; two days late, 20%; and no posting will be accepted after the two-day late period. The instructor will not accept final papers after the last day of the course (May 31).
Instructor Feedback
The instructor will return feedback to the course participants on each week’s postings by Friday of the following week (for the first week’s postings) or Wednesday of the following week for weeks 2-9.
Incompletes: If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.
Pass/Fail: Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.
Academic Integrity and Community Covenant: All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate. All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.
Accommodations: Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs. Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations. The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146.
Writing Lab: Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments. Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft.
Inclusive Language: It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community.
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Jan 10, 2014 | Fri | The Historical Jesus | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 17, 2014 | Fri | The Cross & Resurrection | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 24, 2014 | Fri | Early Church Doctrines | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 31, 2014 | Fri | Medieval & Reformation Images | due by 06:59AM |
| Feb 07, 2014 | Fri | Evangelical & Liberal Christologies | due by 06:59AM |
| Feb 14, 2014 | Fri | Postliberal Christologies | due by 06:59AM |
| Feb 21, 2014 | Fri | Feminist Christology | due by 06:59AM |
| Feb 28, 2014 | Fri | Jesus and Other Religious Traditions | due by 06:59AM |
| Mar 07, 2014 | Fri | Jesus and the Christian Life | due by 06:59AM |
| Mar 15, 2014 | Sat | Individual Paper | due by 05:59AM |