HIS103M Syllabus Page 2
Armstrong, 2004
HS103M: Syllabus Mods R1 and R2 Chris Armstrong
August 16, 23, 30, Sept. 13, 20, 2004 Bethel Seminary
Mondays, 5:30 – 10:00 p.m. Daytime phone: 630 260-6202, ext. 4393
Evening phone: 847 609-0640
e-mail:
Course Description:
This course looks at the thought, practice, and experience of Christians from the first century through the twentieth. Students will become acquainted with some of the primary and secondary sources used for understanding the church’s history. Classes are conducted in a lecture/discussion format, and student participation is encouraged.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this course the student should be able to:
1. Identify and interpret key events, movements, figures, and ideas in Christian history.
2. Articulate the importance of “recovering the memory of the church” for Christians today.
3. Continue to study Christian history as a resource for life and ministry.
Required Texts:
Shelley, Bruce. Church History in Plain Language, updated 2nd ed. Word/Thomas Nelson, 2001. ISBN 0849938619.
Noll, Mark. Turning Points, 2nd ed. Baker Academic, 2000. ISBN 080106211X.
Christian History issues 34, “Martin Luther: The Early Years”; 49, “Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages”; 79, “The African Apostles”; 80, “The First Bible Teachers.” Christianity Today International, various dates. (Available in campus bookstore.)
Course Requirements:
Quizzes: 4, taken weeks 1, 2, 3, & 4.
Short papers: 3, due weeks 2, 3, & 4.
Panel participation and written notes: 1, some time during weeks 2, 3, & 4.
Exam: week 5, essay questions
Grading: Quizzes (4 x 7.5%) 30%
Short papers (3 x 10%) 30%
Panel 10%
Exam 30%
Accessibility: Please contact the instructor as soon as possible if disability-related accommodations are needed. Accommodations for students with documented disabilities are set up through the Office of Disability Services. Contact Kathy McGillivray, Director of Disability Services, at (651) 635-8759.
Class Schedule:
The first 4 sessions of the course will consist of 3 lectures and 2 panels (or in the first week, discussions), with 2 short breaks. The fifth session will consist of the exam (2 hours), a lecture, discussion, wrap-up, and evaluation forms. To prepare for the first 4 sessions, you will need to read the assigned chapters in Shelley, the assigned chapters in Noll, the Christian History issue, and the assigned primary documents. This course is “pre-loaded”: come to the first class prepared to write Quiz 1 on the Shelley material and to discuss Noll, CH 80, and the web readings on how to use primary documents. This is a significant time commitment—don’t let it sneak up on you.
Date / Lectures & panels/discussions / Assignments dueAug 16 / —Lecture 1: History & the early church
—Discussion: Introductions, syllabus questions, papers
—Lecture 2: Early church theology: From cross to crucible
—Discussion: What difference does it make? (Noll, CH 80)
—Lecture 3: Early church practice: Charisms for a martyr church / —Shelley: fwd–ch. 11
—Quiz 1 from Shelley
—Noll: chaps. 1-3
—Christian History 80: “First Bible Teachers”
—Web readings on primary documents
Aug 23 / —Lecture 4: Roots of Christendom: The radical enculturation of faith
—Panel 1: Noll chap. 5: Coronation of Charlemagne & Christendom
—Lecture 5: Fruits of Christendom: The radical Christianization of culture
—Panel 2: Noll chap. 4: Benedict’s Rule & monasticism
—Lecture 6: Medieval renewal & reform: Light in the “dark ages” / —Shelley: ch. 12-23
—Quiz 2 from Shelley
—Noll: chaps. 4-6
—Christian History 39: “Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages”
—Primary source readings, paper 1
Aug 30 / —Lecture 7: Martin Luther’s “one needful thing”
—Panel 3: Noll chap. 7: Diet of Worms & the Protestant theology of the cross
—Lecture 8: The explosive variety of Protestantism: What, then, is the church?
—Panel 4: Noll chap. 8: English Act of Supremacy & “centrifugal Protestantisms”
—Lecture 9: The church in the world: How, then, shall we live? / —Shelley: chaps. 24-35
—Quiz 3 from Shelley
—Noll: chaps. 7-9
—Christian History 34: “Martin Luther—Early Years”
—Primary source readings, paper 2
Sep 6 / LABOR DAY—NO CLASS
Sep 13 / —Lecture 10: Pietists, Puritans, & Methodists: Reviving Faith
—Panel 5: Noll chap. 10: Conversion of the Wesleys & the new “experiential Biblicism”
—Lecture 11: Modern missions: Telling the old story anew
—Panel 6: Noll chap. 11: French Revolution & the clash of reason and tradition
—Lecture 12: The Enlightenment: Tradition, weed or food? / —Shelley: chaps. 36-48 and epilogue
—Quiz 4 from Shelley
—Noll: chaps. 10-12
—Christian History 79: “African Apostles”
—Primary source readings, paper 3
Sep 20 / —EXAM (2 hours)
—Lecture 13: Emerging trends
—Discussion: Trends; the ecumenical moment
—Wrap-up, evaluations / —Exam, on lectures, Noll, other readings: essay questions
Sample class schedule (weeks 2-4):
5:30 – 6:00 Prayer, Quiz
6:00 – 6:40 Lecture 1
6:40 – 6:50 Break 1
6:50 – 7:40 Panel 1
7:40 – 8:20 Lecture 2
8:20 – 8:30 Break 2
8:30 – 9:20 Panel 2
9:20 – 10:00 Lecture 3
(In week 1, discussions will take the place of panels)
Panels:
Each 50-minute panel will be led by 5-6 students. Each student will be assigned to one panel during the course. The setting is an imagined one: the panelists are teachers addressing an adult Sunday school class. The “text” for today is the turning point described in Noll, and the changes in the church that it heralded. Each panelist’s job is to tell the “class,” in 4 compelling minutes, why they should care about this turning point—what difference that event and the changes surrounding it makes to Christians today, in 21st-century America. Do not rehearse for the “class” the events of the turning point itself: assume that you have already done this (and indeed, the other students in our class will have read about them).
In preparation for your assigned panel, you should write out these 4 minutes of remarks. About 700-760 words, or 3 double-spaced typewritten pages, is the right length. I know that compressing important ideas into 3 concise, meaty pages is one of the hardest writing tasks there is. But out of fairness to the other panelists, don’t exceed 760 words—4 minutes at an average speaking rate of 190 wpm. You will hand in these written remarks after the panel. Feel free to draw on Shelley, the CH issue, and/or the primary document reading as you prepare.
During the panelists’ presentations, the “class” should jot down notes. Then, in the second half of the panel, class members will address questions to the individual panelists or the panel in general, probing their application of the turning point to today’s church.
Analysis papers on primary documents:
Length: 1,250 – 1,500 words (5-6 typed double-spaced pages) each, due Aug. 23, 30; Sept. 12
The study of Christian history is rooted in primary documents. Their study and analysis is crucial, but not straightforward or easy. How do we jump centuries and cultures and still understand what a historical figure meant when he or she wrote something, and what that document meant to the church in that time?
Note: Please read both documents (or, in week 2, both sets of shorter documents) each week, for class discussion and for exam prep.
The three analyses should address the following questions—you will be graded on how well you handle these questions, and on how well you write:
a. What is the author saying?: What is/are the central contention(s)/themes of the document; what arguments does the author marshal in support of the contention(s)?
b. On what sources of authority and presuppositions (“warrants”) does the author seem to build his argument, and what evidence does he use? You may indicate which of these you find strongest or weakest, and which arguments you find most or least compelling.
c. How might the document apply to today's church?: e.g. some action to be taken, some new understanding of the practice of the faith.
Your paper should dedicate at least as much space to each of (a) and (b) as it does to (c).
Readings for analysis papers:
All readings are also on reserve in the library. In week two, choose one set of shorter documents (Anselm/Abelard or Catherine/Julian/Kempis).
Week 1: No paper, but assigned readings on the craft of history and the use of primary documents:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.html
http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/reading/html/index.shtml
http://www.northpark.edu/history/Classes/Basics/UsingSources.html
Week 2: Medieval Analysis: Choose one of the following document clusters:
Anselm and Abelard on the atonement, Kerr 82-95.
Catherine, Julian, & Kempis on Christian devotion, Kerr 124-133.
Week 3: Reformation Analysis: Choose one of the following documents
Luther’s “Concerning Christian Liberty” (on faith and works in the Christian life): http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html#sw-cclib
Calvin’s “reply to Cardinal Sadoleto” (a defense of Protestant principles): http://www.ccel.org/pipeline/1-html/4-calvin-treatises/calvin11.htm
Week 4: Early Modern and Modern Analysis: Choose one of the following documents
Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “A Divine and Supernatural Light” (on how the regenerate know God): http://www.jonathanedwards.com/sermons//special/divine%20light.htm
John Wesley's sermon “Christian Perfection” (on holiness): http://wesley.nnu.edu/JohnWesley/sermons/040.htm
Exam: Two hours, essay format, from the lectures and all readings.
Quiz terms for Week 1*:
Stephen
Pentecost
God-fearers
Apologists
Ebionites
Docetism
Gnosticism
Testament
Apocrypha
Marcion
Montanus
Constantine
Arius/Arianism
Homoousios/homoiousios
Alexandria(n Christology)
Antioch(an Christology)
Council of Nicea
Council of Constantinople
Council of Ephesus
Council of Chalcedon
*Lectures and exam will assume you know Shelley's complete narrative. Quizzes will include bonus questions related to names, terms, and concepts from Shelley not on these lists. For these two reasons, read Shelley carefully each week.