DESCRIPTION: In the church today, not least among evangelicals, the language of Christian symbols is to a large degree unknown and forgotten. This course is an introduction to the heritage of early and medieval Christian symbols and iconography.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: First, this course should enable students to acquire a basic understanding of early and medieval Christian symbols and their history and development. Second, it should help them develop a sensibility for the language of Christian symbolism, and enable students to express the Christian faith using this language. Finally, students will increase their critical skills in reading, writing and discussing through the study of the specific themes of symbols.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: By introducing the language of Christian symbols the course seeks to lead students to a broader perspective on how the Christian faith was expressed in early and medieval Church History, and how it can be understood and expressed today. The course should provide students with an increased ability to articulate the meaning of the Christian faith through art, iconography and symbols, skills that will benefit the student's reading, understanding and exposition of the Bible itself.

COURSE FORMAT: Class will meet once a week for a three-and-a-half-hour session for lectures, with discussion sessions devoted to student papers as assigned (see below).

REQUIRED READING:

Child, Heather, and Dorothy Colles. Christian Symbols. Ancient & Modern: A Handbook for Students. Bell & Hyman, 1971 (pp. 1-255).

Daniélou, Jean. Primitive Christian Symbols. Burns and Oates, 1964 (pp. 1- 145).

Ferguson, George. Signs & Symbols in Christian Art. Oxford University Press, 1954 (pp. 5-183).

Finney, Paul Corby. The Invisible God: The Earliest Christians on Art. Oxford University Press, 1994 (pp. 3-293).

Grabar, André. Christian Iconography: A Study of Its Origins. Princeton University Press, 1968 (pp. 5-146 + pictures).

Twining, Louisa. Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art. (1st ed. London: John Murray, 1885) Elibron Classics, Adamant Media Corporation, 2003 (pp. 1-207).

Dilasser, Maurice. The Symbols of the Church. Liturgical Press, 1999 (pp. 3-164).

Sill, Gertrud Grace. A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art. Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, 1996 (pp. 1-218).

Steffler, Alva William. Symbols of the Christian Faith. Eerdmans, 2002 (pp. 1-140).

Taylor, Richard. How to Read a Church: A Guide to Images, Symbols and Meanings in Churches and Cathedrals. Rider, 2003 (pp. 1-233).

West, Canon E. N. Outward Signs: The Language of Christian Symbolism. Walker & Co., 1989 (pp. 1-223).

1. Assigned readings, to be completed as preparations for lectures (10%).

2. Two 8-10 pages papers (40%+40%), of which at least one is to be presented and discussed in class (10%).