Fall 2019/Fuller Online

MC544

Boyd-MacMillan & Jensen

MC544: PERSECUTION, MISSION AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY (4 Units: 162 hours). Ronald Boyd-MacMillan and Paul Jensen.

DESCRIPTION: Twelve to fifteen percent of the world’s Christians face severe persecution and oppression.Jesus said because he experienced opposition and persecution all his followers would encounter the same at some level. This course examines the place of persecution in the history of the Church and the practices that have sustained her suffering witness. Practices that sustained Jesus and the persecuted include: (1) forced and unforced Solitude, Rhythms of Rest and Silence (Listening); (2) Lament, Praise and Reading, Memorizing and Proclaiming the Word; (3) Intercession, Adoration/ Worship–spiritual psalms or songs in one’s heart language, and the Deliberate Cultivation of “Easter Laughter”; (4) Forgiveness, Peacemaking, Hospitality and Witness; and (5) Vigil, Reconciliation and Advocacy. The course surveys persecution in five dimensions: Biblical; Historical; Contemporary; Influence and Spiritual. Students will address two key questions throughout the course: What strategy and tactics do principalities, powers and people use to neutralize Christians in their callings? How should they respond?

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated capacities to: (1) engage Scripture, history and contemporary resources to reflect missiologically on the experience of churches undergoing persecution; (2) discern the spiritual dynamics of persecution in their own lives, spiritual traditions, organizations and cultures and how God has used this opposition to form them and others; (3) engage 10 practices or related exercises/disciplines in this course drawn from the historical and contemporary examples of Christian experiencing persecution.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will provide students with further opportunity to develop skills in integrating theological and missiological content with life experience through engaging a variety of spiritual practices related to the practice of mission in the context of suffering from persecution, which is consistent with the SOT/SIS PLO “Students will have demonstrated capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.” (MDiv, MAT, MATM, also contribute to various learning outcomes in the MAGL related to integrating theology MAICS). Content in this course contributes to all MAICS learning outcomes (MAICS). This course may and praxis in ministry and mission, and related to spiritual formation (MAGL).

COURSE FORMAT: Online, synchronous. This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours, which is outlined below in the assignment and assessment section. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructors regularly through online discussions, reading and viewing, and other assignments that promote active learning. The course is divided into five two-week units each devoted to one of the five dimensions of persecution mentioned above. Students will be assigned to small groups of 5-7 based on schedule availability to meet in real time through online BlueJeans video conferencing. The class will also meet live online with the professors and those serving Christians in contexts of persecution.

REQUIRED VIEWING & READING: Approximately 1080 pages.

Boyd-MacMillan, Ronald.Faith That Endures: The Essential Guide to the Persecuted Church. Revell, 2006. ISBN: 978-0800731199, Pub. Price $14.99 [245 pages assigned].

“Dangerous Faith.” 3 Videos available on line covering three books of the Bible – Job, Acts and Revelation. Using the story of the persecuted as a hermeneutical key to the book, each features eight to ten episodes, about 10 minutes each [70 pages].

"Thoughts from the Underground.” 18 videos contain insights from the life of the persecuted for the formation of every believer, about 5 minutes in length each [30 pages].

Jensen, L. Paul. Subversive Spirituality: Transforming Mission through the Collapse of Space and Time. Pickwick, 2009. ISBN: 978-0820423951, Publisher’s Price $38.95. [100 pages assigned].

Miller, Calvin. Disarming the Darkness (Spiritual Directions Series). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. ISBN: 978-0310201960, Publisher’s Price $16.99 [160 pages].

Schmidt, Gary D. and Barry Moser, Illustrator. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress; A Retelling.

Eerdmans,1994. ISBN: 978-0802850805, Pub. Price $22.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller library [76 pages].

Choose 1 or 2 texts: In Week 1, class will be broken into small groups of 6-8 students who will meet 5 times in real time. At least 2-3 students in each group will select one of the two books below to review, which will be discussed in one of the small group sessions).

Reisacher, Evelyne A. Joyful Witness in the Muslim World: Sharing the Gospel in Everyday Encounters. Baker Academic, 2016. ISBN: 978-0801030840, Pub. Price $25.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller library [208 pages].

Ripkin, Nick with Barry Stricker. The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places. B&H Publishing Group, 2014. ISBN: 978-1433673092, Pub. Price $15.99 [200 pages assigned].

Choose 1 of 9 texts: In Week 1, class will also be divided into book review working groups of 3-6 students each; each group will select a different text below on which to write a composite 800-word book review. Students will each read roughly 100 pages of the text that other students don’t read. Out of this material, a student from each working group will create an extra credit video clip, power-point or other visual online presentation for the rest of the class to see and respond to.

John Allan, The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution. Random House Co., 2013. ISBN: 978-0770437374, Pub. Price $16.00 [322 pages].

Bolton, Matthew. How to Resist: Turn Protest into Power. London: Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN: 978-1408892725, Pub. Price $14.00 [176 pages].

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Reader’s Edition): Mineapolis: Fortress, 2015: ISBN: 978-1400204410, Pub. Price $16.99 [339 pages].

Gravaas, Hans Aage, Tormod Engelsviken, Knud Jorgensen, Maqsood Kamil and Christof Saver, Eds. Freedom of Belief and Christian Mission. InRegnum Edinburgh Centenary Series, vol. 26. Oxford UK: Rengum. 2015. ISBN-13: 97801908355867, Pub. Price $45.06 [464 pages].

Hertsky, Allen D. Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights.Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. ISBN:978-0742508040, Pub. Price $30.95 [440 pages].

Jenkins, Philip. The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Harper One, 2008. ISBN: 978-0061472817, Pub. Price $17.99 [339 pages].

Marshall, Paul, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea. Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians. Thomas Nelson, 2013. ISBN: 978-1400204410, Pub. Price $16.99 [339 pages].

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Reader’s Edition); Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015: ISBN: 978-1506402741, Pub. Price $16.99. Available as an e-book from Fuller library [614 pages – 6 students needed for this book].

Stanley, Brian.Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History. Princeton University Press, 2018). Esp. Chapters 4,7,8.

Patristic Texts on Martyrdom (considered 1 text for purposes of this assignment) [total 100 pages]

Tertullian of Carthage, R. Walls (translator). The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity. CreateSpace Publishing, 2017. ISBN: 978-1548139230, Pub. Price $5.99. [70 pages].

Holmes, Michael W. “The Martyrdom of Polycarpe” in The Apostolic Fathers. Baker Academic, 1999. ISBN: 978-0801031083, Pub. Price $30.00 [22 pages].

Fieldwork: 5 hours of research required in Online Reports/Sources listed below regarding persecution in a country or region (where your interviewee works or lives if possible) [75 pages].

Open Doors World Watch List 2019. Access granted to the write ups of the top 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted for their faith. Materials total 80,000 words, mostly to do with country write ups.Two hours of reading.

Under Caesar’s Sword. Report available on line, "Under Caesar’s Sword"is a collaborative global research project that investigates how Christian communities respond when their religious freedom is severely violated. It is a partnership of the Notre DameCenter for Ethics and Culture,the Religious Freedom Institute, and Georgetown University's Religious Freedom Research Project,with the support of the Templeton Religion Trust.

Trends in Global Restrictions on Religion. Latest Reports available from Pew Forum website.

International Religious Freedom Report. Latest reports from US State Department.

Answer for my Enemy: Persecution, the Big Picture. Course Curriculum, Open Doors International.

Gender Based violence report from Open Doors World Watch Unit.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Loder, James Jr. Educational Ministry in the Logic of the Spirit. Ed Dana R. Wright (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2018.

Phillpot, Daniel and Timothy Samuel Shah, eds. Under Caesar’s Sword: How Christians Respond to Persecution. Cambridge Studies in Law and Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. ISBN:978-1108425308, Pub. Price $38.69 [534 pages].

Richardson, Louise. What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Terrorist Threat. Random House, 2006. ISBN: 978-0812975444, Pub Price $18.00 [336 pages].

Stark, Rodney. The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement became the World’s Largest Religion. San Francisco: Harper One, 2001.

Sunquist, Scott. Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801098413, Pub. Price $38.00.

Volf, Miroslav.Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World. Yale University Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-0300227130, Pub. Price $18.00 [304 pages].

Wilken, Robert Louis. The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0300198386, Pub. Price $22.00.

Williams, Rowan. Faith in the Public Square. London: Bloomsbury, 2012.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

Approximately 1080 pages of reading and videos total. Of this, 980 pages will be read at 17 pages per hour for 57 hours. There will also be 100 pages of spiritual reading/viewing in Scripture and Pilgrim’s Progress (also some video/DVD) in which listening deeply to God and one’s own soul/life is practiced. Three days a week during 6 weeks of term students will spend an hour in spiritual reading and engaging course practices that sustained the Persecuted Church for eighteen hours. A journal will be kept on both the spiritual reading and regular reading and viewing (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, and #3]. [72 hours].
Directed Exercises and Disciplines: Students will participate in three half day retreats (4, 5 and 6 hours each) for the purpose of developing rhythms of rest, solitude, lament, silence (listening), praise, intercession, vigil and other practices that have sustained Christians experiencing persecution. These retreats for extended personal communion with God are practiced in the imitation of Christ’s patterns in the face of public pressure, opposition and persecution. A 350 word reflection paper will be submitted on each retreat (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [15 hours].
Online Small Group Participation: Students will participate in active learning to foster understanding of and capacity for engaging in theologically-informed reflection in the online classroom and through participation in a small group of 5-7 students who will meet 5 times for 2 hours synchronously in real time on BlueJeans (weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10). (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, and #3]. [20 hours+10 hours].
Autobiography (750 words): Students will create an autobiography of how God has formed them and their calling through personal persecution/suffering and/or stories of persecution from their tradition. They will assess the extent of their past engagement with the practices that have sustained and empowered Christians experiencing persecution (5%). This will be presented to their small group [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 [5 hours].
Critical Missiological/Theological Reflection using Fuller’s Practical Theology Method (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1 and #2] [15 hours].

2 Book Reviews
1. 1^st Review - Choose 1 of 2: Reisacher or Ripkin on joyful and costly witness to people from nations and cultures that practice severe persecution against Christians and in which conversion is illegal. This will be shared with students’ small group (4%).
2. 2^nd Review - Choose 1 of 9: Working groups of three or four will engage with one of nine texts on persecution creating a book review. Each group will produce an 700-word book review and a 3-5 minute video clip summary of their work to be communicated online to the rest of the class for their response (7%).
2 Online Posts and four replies to fellow students’ posts (4%).

Fieldwork – (10%). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes #1 and #2] [7 hours].

a. Interview of a leader who has experienced persecution or someone working closely on the field with persecuted Christians about their experiences with and observations of persecution [If possible, students’ 5 hours of research in the online resources listed in the Bibliography should focus on the persecuted region where the persons being interviewed live or work). The interview will seek to identify the plight of the persecuted and the practices and theology that have sustained believers in this context (3 hours).

b. Research/Interview Presentation - Write a 1000-1200 word paper or create a 10-12 slide powerpoint with notes, a detailed talk outline with graphics, or some other presentation on your Field Interview and Research. Determine the audience and purpose, such as State Department and Advocacy; or Church and fundraising; or some other group and cause that draws heavily on your interview and field research (4 hours).

Final Integrative Assignment: Integration paper that reflects theologically on the practices of this course and their implications for the student’s response to the CIQ and the exercises, habits, and disciplines in their current Rule of Life. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, and #3]. [20 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.