DESCRIPTION:

American Religious History is a vibrant, yet complex look at the personages, organizations, and movements that comprise the religious milieu of American history. Throughout the course, attention will be paid to denominational formation, theological innovations, religious movements, and social and political issues that arise out of the historic tensions in America's religious history. The role of slavery, immigration, politics, and social movements arising out of the experience of Christianity in America will be addressed, as well as alternate religious traditions' interactions with Christianity. Special attention will be given to persistent themes like individualism, the search for community, religion and reform, and religious conservatives.

The goal of this course is to come to a better understanding of the role religion plays historically in American society, and how to navigate the minefields that continue to shape religious life and discourse in America. Issues of class, race, ethnicity, and gender will also be addressed as we explore American religious experience in its diversity.

The course will meet daily for two weeks for four-hour class sessions, consisting primarily of lecture and discussion.

Gaustad, Edwin, and Leigh Eric Schmidt. The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today. Harper San Francisco, 2002.

Lindley, Susan Hill. "You Have Stept Out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.

Raboteau, Albert. Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Gaustad, Edwin and Mark A. Noll, eds. A Documentary History of Religion in America. 2 vols. 3rd ed. Eerdmans, 2003.

Noll, Mark. America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. Oxford University Press, 2005

Prothero, Stephen. American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003.

The requirements for the course include a book review due July 15 (25%), midterm (25%), final exam due August 15 (40%), and participation in class discussions (10%). The book review is to be five-to-seven page critical review of a book related to any aspect in American religious history that interests you, to be determined in conjunction with the instructor. The Mid Term will be an in class objective examination, while the take-home final exam will consist of two questions chosen by you from a list of six questions in relation to broad issues and themes covered in the course. The final exam will require some extended research with a bibliography, footnotes, and annotations.

Meets MDiv core requirement in Church History "c" (CHC ).