Spring 2013/Pasadena
CH504
Robeck
CH504: MODERN CHURCH HISTORY. Cecil M. Robeck Jr.
DESCRIPTION: This course introduces the more important themes and events in the life of the church around the world from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Beginning with the years following the Reformation, students will survey the growth and contributions of the church in Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Oceana. Attention will be given to some of the more important theological and ecumenical developments, as well as sociological and cultural developments that have shaped or been shaped by specific regional and global historical contexts.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: This course should enable students better to understand and interpret contemporary events and discussions in light of their historical and social contexts. Students should expect to be both culturally and ecumenically sensitized.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will be able to (1) identify and explain principal theological developments and historical events and personalities that have shaped the modern church; (2) think critically about historical texts and arguments, placing them in context; (3) interpret their own ecclesiastical tradition and other traditions with critical awareness and reflection; (4) critically assess their religious and cultural assumptions by examining the complexity and diversity of modern Christian history.
COURSE FORMAT: This class will meet weekly for three-and-a-half-hour sessions in lecture-discussion format.
REQUIRED READING: Some of the regional texts will only be available on library reserve.
Anderson, Allan, An Introduction to Pentecostalism. Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0521532808, Pub.price $30.00 [302 pp. assigned].
Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0195183078, Pub.price $14.95 [316 pp. assigned].
Koschorke, Klaus, Frieder Ludwig, and Moriano Delgado, eds. A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, 1450-1990: A Documentary Sourcebook. Eerdmans, 2007. ISBN: 978-0802828897, Pub.price $40.00 [426 pp. assigned].
Syllabus (available online from professor).
Students must also choose all other texts from one of the following regional categories:
Latin America:
González, Ondina E., and Justo L. González, Christianity in Latin America: A History. Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0521681926, Pub.price $27.00 [330 pp. assigned] AND
Gutierrez, B. F. and D. A. Smith, eds. In the Power of the Spirit. Presbyterian Church USA, 1996. ISBN: 978-1879535138, Pub.price $20.00 [246 pp. assigned].
OR Africa:
Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of Christianity in Africa. Eerdmans, 1995. ISBN: 978-0802808431, Pub.price $36.00 [420 pp. assigned].
OR Asia:
Lian Xi. Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China. Yale University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0300123395, Pub. Price: $45.00 [333 pp. assigned] AND
Phan, Peter C., ed. Christianities in Asia (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), 271 pp. ISBN: 978-1405160902, Pub.price $37.95 [271 pp. assigned].
RECOMMENDED READING: A complete booklist is available in the syllabus.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Students will be asked to read one general work and several regional specific works.
Students will be expected to write a four-page response to one contemporary document to be assigned. It will count for 20% of the grade.
There will be one midterm and a final examination covering the texts and lectures. These will count for 80% of the final grade.
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Church History “C” (CHC); meets seminary core requirement (SCR) for MATM, MAICS, MAFS, MACL (effective Winter 2010).
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.