CH506

Winter 2009

FTX - Houston

Burch

CH506: American Church History.   Maxie B. Burch

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Description:

This course will trace the development of Christianity in America from the Puritan beginnings to the Church of the present day.  Emphasis will be given to key personalities, ideas and movements that have shaped Christian beliefs and practice in North America.

 

Course Goals/Learning Outcomes:

1) This course will increase student’s basic factual and thematic knowledge of Christianity as expressed in its unique American form. 2) It will provide students with a basic competence in how to interpret the story of the Christian Church in America. 3) Students will gain a greater ability to evaluate various historical issues in light of their cultural context and development.  4) Students will be provided the tools and knowledge to examine critically and gain an appreciation for the breadth, unity and diversity of the Christian church. 5) Finally, this course will provide students with the analytical skills to examine historically the tensions that often exist between cultural practices and biblical understanding.

 

Relevance for Ministry:

Christianity is a uniquely historical religion in which the divine plan is revealed in an unfolding “drama of redemption”.  To minister or teach effectively requires a thorough knowledge of the events and ideas that have shaped the present.  This course seeks to provide a historical-theological context for ministry.

 

Course Format:

Class sessions will focus on dialogue punctuated by lecture content.  January 12-21, 2009.  Four weekend format.  Friday evenings, 6:00-9:30 pm, and Saturday mornings, 8:30 am – 12:30 pm.  30 contact hours.

 

Required Reading:

Students will complete a total of 1200 pages of reading.  Texts to be read in their entirety:

Hatch, Nathan.  The Democratization of American Christianity.  Yale University Press, 1989.

Marsden, George.  Religion and American Culture.  Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich College                 Publishers, 2nd  edition, 2001.

Noll, Mark A.  A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada.  Wm. Eerdmans Pub., 1992.

Selected portions of the following texts (on reserve):

Allitt, Patrick.  Major Problems in American Religious History.  Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999. 

Ruether, Rosemary Radford, et al, Woman and Religion in America: 1900-1968. Harper Collins, 1986.

Sernett, Milton C. ed., African-American Religious History. 2nd edition, Duke University Press, 1999.

Article on reserve: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Assignments:

1. Mid-Term Essay Exam (20 %)

2. Take Home Final Exam-One section is proctored closed book and one section is open book (40%)

3. 10-page Research Paper (40%)

 

Relationship to the Curriculum:

Meets M.Div. Core requirement Church History “C” (CHC); M.A.T; Church History/Theology.

 

Final Examination: Yes.  Take-Home.                                                                         (11/08)

 

This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification.