Holy Spirit:History & Traditions

The Holy Spirit: History & Traditions (IST 3101; 4 Credits; HI-Depth)

TWO WEEKS: Monday July 24th to Friday August 4th, 2017;

Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs-Friday: 1 pm – 4:30 pm

Classroom Location: Iliff Hall – Room #301

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COURSE DESCRIPTION :

This course surveys traditional understandings of the Holy Spirit from the first Pentecost through the contemporary period, with special emphasis on historical and theological developments in pneumatology and the history of Christianity from the Medieval period (ca. 1100-1500) through the Early Modern period (1500 to ca.1780).

What have Christians believed and written about the Holy Spirit through the centuries? Why does Pentecost show up in such different ways across the pages of Christian theology and literature? In the midst of the European Enlightenment, why did John Wesley hold such special reverence for the role of experience in Christian thought and education? Why has the Pentecostal legacy functioned simultaneously as a subversive trope for critiquing dominant church paradigms while also sparking creative and reformist re-interpretations of Christian tradition among so many visionaries? These are just a few of the questions explored in this class as we discuss historical and theological works by contemporary scholars in pneumatology and church history.

COURSE OBJECTIVES :

(1) Students will acquire a basic understanding of major themes and trajectories in the study of pneumatology from antiquity to the contemporary period.

(2) Students will examine and discuss the changing relationships between ecclesiology and pneumatology in different periods of the history of Christianity.

(3) Students will develop an understanding of the creative and liberating role played by the Holy Spirit in the imagination of Christian visionaries and reformers through the ages.

(4) Students will cultivate a critical appreciation for the “different ways of knowing” advocated by Christian pneumatological movements and writers over the centuries.

(5) Students will acquire basic familiarity with the academic study of spirituality and scholarly reputable approaches to the study of interiority and pneumatology.

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.

REQUIRED TEXTS :

Francis Bacon, The New Atlantis. Scotts Valley, CA:  I.A.P., 2009 (Any edition or format is OK)

Albert Hernández, Subversive Fire: The Untold Story of Pentecost. Emeth Press, 2010.

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective. Baker Academic, 2002.

SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL READING : (optional texts; not required)

Elizabeth Dreyer and Mark Burrows, eds. Minding the Spirit: The Study of Christian Spirituality. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.

Arthur Holder, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

COURSE PROCEDURES & EXPECTATIONS :

• Students are expected to attend all seminar sessions and to come to class prepared for seminar discussion and reflection by reading the assigned texts.
• Students are expected to participate in class discussions by interacting in both positive and critically thoughtful ways with their peers in the seminar and with the instructor.
• Incomplete Grades will be granted only in the case of documented and verifiable medical circumstances or other personal or family related emergencies.
• Students are reminded to use the Canvas class page for required readings and additional resources, important announcements, on-line resources and web links, continuing class discussions, and a full-copy of the course syllabus.

EVALUATION :

• CLASS PARTICIPATION 20%: Each student will be expected to have read the assignments and be prepared to discuss the material for each class session. Regular attendance in class will be factored into this portion of your grade. Excessive absences or tardiness will lower your final grade for this course.
• PROPOSAL FOR FINAL PAPER 20%: Each student will write a minimum 2 page double-spaced summative proposal of her/his final Reflection Paper or final Research Paper. State your proposed paper’s thesis and/or topic then provide a summary of what you plan to work on and explain why you chose this particular topic/theme. You must also provide a preliminary bibliography of your proposed topic/theme. Four to eight sources from books, articles, and reputable websites is fine for this “preliminary” BBL. DUE DATE: Tuesday August 1, 2017. (Grade deduction for late submissions).
• FINAL ASSIGNMENT 60%: Each student will write a final paper of no more than eight to twelve pages in length on a topic of her/his choosing covered in this HISTORY course. These can take the form of a Reflection Paper providing a summary or synopsis of your chosen topic followed by theological and historical reflection on the topic/theme, and its relevancy to your area of ministerial or academic interest. In other words, a reflective essay on some aspect of the Holy Spirit or Pneumatology in HISTORY (with relevant sources of course).  On the other hand, you may prefer to write a more traditional Research Paper on a topic/theme of your choosing with a historical and theological focus covered in the course. DUE DATE: After the end of the course on Thursday evening August 17, 2017 by 11:59 PM , and must be submitted to the instructor via e-mail as an attachment .

ACCESSIBILITY & THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (A.D.A.)

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.

COURSE OUTLINE & SCHEDULE OF READINGS :

Monday July 24th: Course Overview & Introduction to the History of Pneumatology

(a) The First Pentecost: Re-Reading Acts 2: 1-34;  (b) The Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and the Gifts of the Spirit;  (c) The Spirit in the Early Christian Church;  (d) Tradition and Theological Re-Construction: Delwin Brown;  (e)  Ecclesiology, Pneumatology, & the Pluralism of Christian Belief;  (f)  The Spirit in Modern Times –“a pneumatological deficit?” READINGS: Hernández, pp. ix-xii; Chapter 1, pp. 1-26; Pneumatology, pp. 9-48.

Tuesday & Wednesday July 25/26th: From the Early Church to the Middle Ages:

(a) Pagan Fertility Rites and Pentecost in the Merry Month of May;  (b) The Holy Spirit and the Divine Feminine in the Middle Ages;(c) Pentecost & the Liturgical Calendar in the Middle Ages;  (d) Pentecost and the Quest for the Holy Grail (ca. 1100 – ca. 1500). READINGS: Hernández, Chapter 2 pp. 27-81; Pneumatology , pp. 49-65.

Thursday July 27th: Medieval Visions of Pentecost – The “Age of the Holy Spirit”

(a) Joachim of Fiore and the Coming Age of the Holy Spirit;  (b) Heretic Fringe or Subversive Fire? – “The Franciscan Spirituals;” READINGS: Hernández, Chap. 3, pp. 83-144.

Friday July 28th: The Holy Spirit in the Renaissance and Reformation:

(a) Italian Humanism (1300-1600); (b) The Protestant Reformation (1500-1600); READINGS: Hernández, Chap. 4, pp. 145-190; Pico Della Mirandola, "Oration on the Dignity of Man" (available on Canvas under the "Files" tab).

Monday July 31st: The Holy Spirit in the Scientific Revolution:

(a) Esoteric Christianity & Christian Magical Theology;c(b) Francis Bacon’s call for a “Second Pentecost” (1627); (c) The Holy Spirit and Electromagnetic Energy (ca.1600-1650); (d) Pneumatic Chemistry: “those ponderable fire particles” (ca.1670-1700);    (e) Wolfhart Pannenberg on the Holy Spirit as a “Force-field.” READINGS: Hernández, Chap. 5, pp. 191-250.

Tuesday Aug. 1st: Guest Speaker – T.B.A.

Proposed Topic/Theme: “Healing, Energy, and the Holy Spirit.”

Wednesday Aug. 2nd: Open Discussion of Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis (1627) - Read entire text.

Thursday Aug. 3rd: Pneumatology, the Enlightenment, & Modernity:

(a) “An unverifiable subjectivity…” Reconsidered; (b)  John Wesley at Aldersgate Street: Wed. May 24, 1738; (c) “A pneumatological deficit?” (ca. 1750 - ca. Late-1900’s); (d) “Contextual Pneumatology” in a Post-Modern/Multi-Racial World. READINGS: Pneumatology , pp. 67-177.

Friday Aug. 4th: Closing Reflections - “The Ecstasy of Communication”

(a) "In the Fullness of the Spirit:" Tradition vs. Theological Reconstruction; (b)  What Does this Mean?  (c) What Have We Learned about the Spirit? READINGS: Hernández, Chapter 6, pp. 251-274.