Winter 2020/Fuller Online
HT500
Waldrop
HT500: THE CHURCH’S UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AND CHRIST IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT (4 Units: 162 hours). Jeffery Waldrop, PhD.
DESCRIPTION: HT500 is a survey of patristic theology and early church history that focuses especially on the doctrine of God, including the Christian church’s development of trinitarian and christological theology and creeds in its dialogue with its opponents and with its multiple cultural contexts, including the empires, languages, religions, and philosophies of the ancient Asian, African and European regions. Related topics and themes to be addressed may include the role of the apostolic fathers and apologists, the controversy with Gnosticism, tensions between Eastern and Western forms of Christianity, and selected doctrinal developments that extend through the Protestant Reformation to today.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who complete HT500 will demonstrate: (1) a basic historical and theological knowledge of the doctrines of God and Christ as those and other selected doctrines emerged in the early church and developed to this day; (2) a basic competence in interpreting this history and theology and an ability to evaluate these theological issues and their historical development; and (3) a critical and sympathetic appreciation for the breadth, unity, and diversity of the Christian church.
RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: HT500 introduces students to a basic historical and theological knowledge of the doctrines of God and Christ (inter alia) as these doctrines and associated practices developed especially in the early church, with an eye to developing skills in interpretation and critical appreciation; it thereby seeks to implement the SOT PLO, “Students will have demonstrated capacities for historically informed theological and ethical reflection.”
COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.
REQUIRED READING: 1,172 total pages required
“The Hymn of the Pearl,” from the (Gnostic) Acts of Thomas, in Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, ed. William Wright, (London, 1871), pp. 238-45. (PDF in the course module) [8 pp. assigned]
Also freely available through Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/apocryphalactsa00wriggoog/page/n210
Athanasius, “On the Incarnation of the Word” NPNF, 2nd Series, 4:36-67. (CCEL PDF version in the course module) [46 pp. assigned]
Also freely available through ccel.org: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/athanasius/incarnation
Athenagoras, “A Plea for the Christians,” ANF 2:129-148 (PDF in the course module) [29 pp. assigned]
Also freely available through ccel.org: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.toc.html
Augustine, “On the Correction of the Donatists,” NPNF, 1st Series, 4:633-651 (PDF in the course module) [19 pp. assigned]
Also freely available through ccel.org: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf104.toc.html
Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church, revised edition. Penguin, 1993. ISBN: 978-0140231991, Pub. Price $17.00 [320 pp.].
Available through Amazon Kindle
Clark, Elizabeth A. Women in the Early Church. Liturgical Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0814653326, Pub. Price $29.95 [260 pp.].
Available through Amazon Kindle
Gonzalez, Justo. A History of Christian Thought, vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon, revised edition. Abingdon Press, 1987. ISBN: 978-0687171828, Pub. Price $33.99. [380 pp. assigned]
Freely available as an eBook through the Hubbard Library
Placher, William. Readings in the History of Christian Theology, vol. 1. Rev. Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-0664239336, Pub. Price $27.00 [110 pp. assigned].
Freely available as an eBook through the Hubbard Library
RECOMMENDED READING:
Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder.Documents of the Christian Church. 4Th ed. / edited by Chris
Maunder. ed. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0199568987, Pub. Price $25.15
Cross, F. L, Elizabeth A. Livingstone, et. al., eds. The Oxford Dictionary of the
Christian Church. 3d ed. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0192802903, Pub. Price $ 110.00
Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. Fortress Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0800619312, Pub. Price $55.00.
Gonzalez, Justo. History of Early Christian Literature. Westminster John Knox Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-
0664264444, Pub. Price $34.01.
González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, 2nd.
Kelly, J. N. D.Early Christian Doctrines. 5th ed. New York: Continuum, 2000. ISBN: 978-
0826452528, Pub. Price $ 38.70
MacMullen, Ramsay. Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D. 100-400. Yale University Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0300036428, Pub. Price $28.00.
Norris, Richard A.The Christological Controversy. Sources of Early Christian Thought. Fortress Press,
1980. ISBN: 978-0800614119, Pub. Price $ 15.27
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). The University of Chicago Press, 1975. ISBN: 978-0226653716, Pub. Price $25.00.
Rusch, William G, and Robert C. Saler.The Trinitarian Controversy. Sources of Early Christian
Thought. Fortress Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0800614102, Pub. Price $ 21.00.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH1 or TH4 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MAT Programs (Fall 2015). Option to meet the TH1 requirement in the 80 MATM and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the CHA requirement in the 144 MDiv program.
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.
NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.