DESCRIPTION:

This course will provide an overview of American church history through an examination of the important people, movements, and ideas that have influenced the communities we live in--both spiritual and secular. Some considerations will be given to other religious groups (Christian and non-Christian alike), but focus will be largely on the development of the Protestant tradition in America.

John Calvin began his Institutes of the Christian Religion with the sentence, "Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." As Christians, we are members of a community of faith with a history. People who shared that faith, events that influenced it, and ideas that shaped its expression long before us have an abiding impact. Our knowledge of ourselves can only be enhanced by the study of church history--seeking to understand our place within our respective denominations and among the other traditions within the Christian faith.

The class will meet for two hours, twice a week, for lectures and discussion.

Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Noll, Mark. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992.

Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Tucker, Ruth and Walter Liefeld. Daughters of the Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987.

Carroll, Bret E. Routledge Historical Atlas of Religion in America. New York: Routledge, 2000.

Earle, Jonathan. The Routledge Atlas of African American History. New York: Routledge, 2000.

Marsden, George M. Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987.

Miller, Donald E. Reinventing American Protestantism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Synan, Vinson. The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1997.

There will be three five-page written assignments, which will account for 50% of the course grade. The mid-term and final examinations will account for 50% of the course grade. The final grade will also be influenced by classroom participation.

None.

Meets M. Div. core requirement in Church History "C" (CHC).

Yes.