Decorated Bible Cover, 5th Century C.E.
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris 12th Century
Fall Term 2019 - Residential Course
Thursdays: 8:30 AM-Noon. Classroom Location: Iliff Hall, Room #--301.
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Decorated Bible Cover, 5th Century C.E. |
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris 12th Century |
This course introduces students to the broad outlines of the history of Christianity with an emphasis on major historical developments, and on the emergence of both local and trans-local expressions of religious traditions. Students will examine and discuss a series of historical case studies, derived from primary and secondary sources, covering different periods and themes, beliefs and practices, controversies and compromises, and key religious figures. Students will apply their learning from the case studies to a broad understanding of how different social, cross-cultural, institutional and intellectual patterns have shaped the diversity and complexity of the Christian historical and religious tradition.
This course introduces students to the broad outlines of the history of Christianity with an emphasis on major historical developments, and on the emergence of both local and trans-local expressions of religious traditions. Students will examine and discuss a series of historical case studies, derived from primary and secondary sources, covering different periods and themes, beliefs and practices, controversies and compromises, and key religious figures. Students will apply their learning from the case studies to a broad understanding of how different social, cross-cultural, institutional and intellectual patterns have shaped the diversity and complexity of the Christian historical and religious tradition. (1) Students will demonstrate basic fluency with key vocabulary and theological concepts used by historians to define and organize the different periods, themes, and concepts of the history of Christianity, such as ecclesiology, soteriology, pneumatology, Christology, theological anthropology, orthodoxy and heresy, reformism, and church revitalization. (2) Students will gain a basic understanding of the major historical periods, the varieties of local/regional expressions of Christian belief and practice, and of the complex, contested nature of forging trans-local definitions of Christian unity and identity out of the diversity of local communities and persons that make up the history of Christianity. (3) Students will develop critical thinking skills through the assessment and application of historical knowledge from among the case studies, themes and periods, and religious traditions covered in the course. (4) Students will develop systematic research skills with both primary and secondary sources while studying and discussing the social, institutional, cultural, and intellectual history of the case studies covered in the course. DEGREE LEARNING GOALS in HISTORY (For all I.S.T. Master’s Degree Programs) Historical Development and Expressions of Religious Traditions (HI): Demonstrate awareness of religious traditions as historically-situated movements that interacted and changed in relationship to their surrounding cultures and subcultures over time, resulting in various expressions located within and influenced by social structures and institutions, ideologies, historical events, ethnicity and gender, and cultural worldviews.Course Overview:
Course Objectives/Learning Goals:
This course introduces students to the broad outlines of the history of Christianity with an emphasis on major historical developments, and on the emergence of both local and trans-local expressions of religious traditions. Students will examine and discuss a series of historical case studies, derived from primary and secondary sources, covering different periods and themes, beliefs and practices, controversies and compromises, and key religious figures. Students will apply their learning from the case studies to a broad understanding of how different social, cross-cultural, institutional and intellectual patterns have shaped the diversity and complexity of the Christian historical and religious tradition. (1) Students will demonstrate basic fluency with key vocabulary and theological concepts used by historians to define and organize the different periods, themes, and concepts of the history of Christianity, such as ecclesiology, soteriology, pneumatology, Christology, theological anthropology, orthodoxy and heresy, reformism, and church revitalization. (2) Students will gain a basic understanding of the major historical periods, the varieties of local/regional expressions of Christian belief and practice, and of the complex, contested nature of forging trans-local definitions of Christian unity and identity out of the diversity of local communities and persons that make up the history of Christianity. (3) Students will develop critical thinking skills through the assessment and application of historical knowledge from among the case studies, themes and periods, and religious traditions covered in the course. (4) Students will develop systematic research skills with both primary and secondary sources while studying and discussing the social, institutional, cultural, and intellectual history of the case studies covered in the course. DEGREE LEARNING GOALS in HISTORY (For all I.S.T. Master’s Degree Programs) Historical Development and Expressions of Religious Traditions (HI): Demonstrate awareness of religious traditions as historically-situated movements that interacted and changed in relationship to their surrounding cultures and subcultures over time, resulting in various expressions located within and influenced by social structures and institutions, ideologies, historical events, ethnicity and gender, and cultural worldviews.Course Overview:
Course Objectives/Learning Goals:
Justo González, The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. Revised and Updated Edition. New York: Harper-One, 2010. [ISBN: 978-0-06-185-588-7]. (Also available from Amazon Kindle, and from Harper-Collins e-books thru Harper Collins Publishers, and available to Rent from select textbook providers, including Amazon.com).
Justo González, Church History: An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996. [ISBN: 978-0-687-01611-2]. (This is a concise and very useful 95-page summary of the history of Christianity, which is also available from Amazon Kindle).
Justo González, The Story of Christianity, Volume II: The Reformation to the Present Day. Revised and Updated Edition. New York: Harper-One, 2010. [ISBN: 978-0-06-185-558-94]. (Also available from Amazon Kindle, and available from Harper-Collins e-books thru Harper Collins Publishers, and available to Rent from select textbook providers, including Amazon.com).
Additional required readings, from primary and secondary sources, will be made available to students under the "Files" tab of our Canvas course site, and will be listed in the "Course Outline" of the syllabus under the respective week of the course in which the reading is due to be completed with full author, title, and page number information as well as any relevant internal or external links for each source or for each excerpt.
Suggested Additional Reading: (Optional; Not required to purchase)
Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity. Third Edition. William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003.
Kevin Madigan, Medieval Christianity: A New History . Yale University Press, 2015.
Carlos Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650. Yale University Press, 2016.
Glen S. Sunshine, A Brief Introduction to the Reformation. Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
George E. Tinker, Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide. Fortress Press, 1993.
Course Procedures and Expectations:
Writing Lab:
Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments. Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab (Links to an external site.) , which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft.
Academic Integrity and Core Values:
All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity( , as published in the Masters Student Handbook (Links to an external site. ) , as appropriate regarding plagiarism and all forms of academic dishonesty. All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Core Values (Links to an external site.) .
EVALUATION & REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS
FINAL EXAM – THREE COMPREHENSIVE ESSAY QUESTIONS 60%: Each student will complete and submit (via Canvas submission) an at-home final exam comprised of comprehensive essay questions provided by the instructor on the material covered throughout the course. Students will be asked to choose three essay questions from a list of essay topics provided by the instructor, and then develop and write a three to four page answer for each essay. The list of final exam essays will be distributed to students via Canvas by the instructor during week eight of the term. The due date for submitting the final exam essays to the instructor will be posted on our Canvas course page and announced during the term.
Incomplete Grades:
Additional Policies & Services:
Course Outline & Schedule of Weekly Required Readings:
Week One – (Thursday September 12, 2019)
Introduction to the History of Christianity and Its Major Historical Periods
Required Readings for Week One:
González, The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pp. xxiii-118.
González, Church History: An Essential Guide, pp. 7-40.
Summary handouts, maps & timelines, and other resources distributed in-class as well as posted on Canvas.
Week Two - (Thursday September 19, 2019)
CASE STUDY #-1, PART I: ***Christianities in the Fourth Century C.E.***
Required Readings for Week Two:
González, The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pp. 119-262.
Summary handouts, maps & timelines, and other resources distributed in-class as well as posted on Canvas.
Week Three – (Thursday September 26, 2019)
CASE STUDY #-1, PART II: ***Christianities in the Fourth Century C.E.***
Required Readings for Week Three:
González, The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pp. 119-262.
Week Four – (Thursday October 3, 2019)
Introducing Christianities of the Medieval Mediterranean Region (ca.600 –1500 CE)
Required Readings for Week Four:
González, The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pp. 263-491;
González, Church History: An Essential Guide, pp. 41-66.
Hernández, “The Crusades & Religious Toleration in Medieval Christianity” (16-pp E-article from M.U.P.W.J. ) available on the “Files” tab of our Canvas course site, or by clicking on this Link ).
Summary handouts, maps and timelines, and other resources to be distributed in-class and posted on Canvas as well.
Week Five – (Thursday October 10, 2019)
NOTE-WELL :---Class Meets on Canvas this Week & thus Not-on-Campus due to Gathering Days and Journey-Week Schedule of Classes.
Week Five Canvas Assignments:
Week Six – (Thursday October 17, 2019)
***CASE STUDY #-2, PARTS I and II***
The Franciscans & the Apostolic Poverty Controversy of the High Middle Ages
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Order of Friars Minor Coat of Arms |
Joachim of Fiore's "Three Ages of Salvation" History
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Brief Summary of Major Themes/Issues:
As the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor grew dramatically across all of European Christendom in the early 1200’s, Francis of Assisi’s monastic ideal of adhering to the apostolic poverty of Christ and his Early Christian disciples caught the attention of many among the laity, the clergy and the nobility. However, within a century after the Order’s founding, strict adherence to the “poverty of Christ” was being condemned as heresy by the Papacy, and social justice oriented Spiritual Franciscan adherents among both the clergy and laity became persecuted across Western Europe and the Mediterranean basin. This CASE STUDY will introduce students to a broad overview of some of the key moments in the history of Christianity during the High Middle Ages through an in-depth examination and discussion of the “Apostolic Poverty Controversy” of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries while also exploring the complexities and compromises that have characterized the age-old tension between ecclesiastical authority and the spiritual aspirations/ideals of Christian reform movements. Students will also discuss ongoing Christian debates/reflections regarding wealth and poverty, and social justice concerns among contemporary denominations and churches.
Content Outline:
Required Readings for Week Six:
González, The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pp. 357-406;
Hernández, Chapter 3 in Subversive Fire: The Untold Story of Pentecost, pp. 83-144. (Available in the "Files" tab on the Canvas course site for this class, or by clicking here on this Link ).
Summary handouts, maps and timelines, and other resources posted on Canvas.
Week Seven – (Thursday October 24, 2019)
Christianities of the Reformation & the Early Modern Period (1500 to ca. 1650)
Content Outline:
Required Readings for Week Seven:
González, The Story of Christianity, Vol. II: Reformation to the Present Day, pp. 7-235.
González, Church History: An Essential Guide, pp. 67-76.
Week Eight – (Thursday October 31st, 2019)
CASE STUDY #-3: ***The Lutheran Reformation***
Content Outline:
Required Readings for Week Eight:
Read: Mark Noll, "The Gift of Sola Scriptura to the World," (pp.23-45) Chapter 1 from John Witte Jr. and Amy Wheeler, eds. The Protestant Reformation of the Church and the World. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018. (Available on the Canvas "Files" tab for this course, or by clicking on this Link ).
Read: Primary Source Document--Emperor Charles V "Statement on Luther (1521)" from pp. 49-50 in Early Modern Spain: A Documentary History. Jon Cowans, ed. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. (Available on the Canvas "Files" tab for this course, or by clicking on this Link ).
González, The Story of Christianity, Vol. II: Reformation to the Present Day, pp. 7-235.
González, Church History: An Essential Guide, pp. 67-76.
Week Nine – (Thursday November 7th, 2019)
Christianities in the Modern World (ca. 1650's to Early-2000's)
Content Outline:
Required Readings for Week Nine:
González, The Story of Christianity, Vol. II: Reformation to the Present Day, pp. 237-397.
González, Church History: An Essential Guide, pp. 77-95.
Week Ten – (Thursday November 14th, 2019)
CASE STUDY #-4: ***Global & Contextual Christianities in Post-Modernity***
Content Outline:
Required Readings for Week Ten:
González, The Story of Christianity, Vol. II: Reformation to the Present Day, pp. 398-532.
González, Church History: An Essential Guide, pp. 77-95.
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Oct 13, 2019 | Sun | Week Five - Background Info on Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" and Preparing for your Mid-Term Assignment: (Due Sunday October 20th, 2019 @ 11:59 PM CMT) | due by 05:59AM |
| Oct 21, 2019 | Mon | Week Six: Use this Tab/Page for Submitting your Mid-Term Essay by Sunday October 20th, 2019 @ 11:59 PM (CMT). | due by 05:59AM |
| Nov 22, 2019 | Fri | FINAL EXAM ESSAY QUESTIONS: Instructions and List of Essays. ASSIGNMENT DUE:----Thursday November 21st, 2019 by 11:59 PM (CMT) | due by 06:59AM |