Winter 2016/Houston

HT502

Turley

HT502: THE CHURCH’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH, HUMANITY, AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT (4 Units: 160 hours). Steven Turley

DESCRIPTION: HT502 is a survey largely of medieval and Reformation history and theology that focuses especially on the doctrines that received their crucial shape for Protestant Christians during this period. Among these are the doctrine of the church (including the authority and office of the ministry, sacraments, the place of councils, and the role of the laity), the doctrine of scripture (including the place of tradition), theological anthropology (including human nature as created and fallen, and original sin), and the doctrine of the Christian life (including the entire order of salvation—election, calling, faith, justification, sanctification, and final glory). Key figures to be studied include Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who complete HT502 will demonstrate: (1) a basic historical and theological knowledge of the doctrines of the church, humanity, and the Christian life as those and other selected doctrines emerged especially in the medieval and Reformation 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.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: ~1,200 pages of required reading

Saint Augustine. Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick. Oxford Paperbacks, 2009. ISBN: 978-0199537822, Pub. Price: $7.95 [175 pp. assigned].

Hillerbrand, Hans J. The Protestant Reformation, Revised Edition. Harper Perennial, 2009. ISBN: 978-0061148477, Pub. Price: $16.99 [214 pp. assigned].

Plantinga, Richard J., Thomas R. Thompson, Matthew D. Lundberg. An Introduction to Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0521690379, Pub. Price $34.99 [226 pp. assigned].

Spitz, Lewis, ed. The Protestant Reformation: Major Documents. Concordia, 1997. ISBN: 978-0570049937, Pub. Price $26.99 [96 pp. assigned].

Assorted selections on course Moodle page [497 pp. assigned]:

Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologiae, selections. English edition is that of the Fathers of the English Dominican Province, The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas (London, 1912-1925).

Cyprian of Carthage, “On the Unity of the Church,” in Ante-Nicene Fathers 5:421-29.

de Las Casas, Bartolomé, The Tears of the Indians (London, 1656), excerpts.

Eckhart, Meister, “The Eternal Birth” & “The Castle of the Soul,” in Meister Eckhart, ed. Franz Pfeiffer, trans. C. de B. Evans (London: John M. Watkins, 1924), pp. 20-25, 35-38, altered.

Grenz, Stanley J., “How Do We Know What to Believe? Revelation and Authority” in Essentials of Christian Theology, ed. William Placher (Westminster John Knox, 2003), 20-33.

Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, §§52-63, ed. Grace Warrack (London, 1901), pp. 122-59, altered.

Kärkkäinen, V.-M., “Ecclesiology,” in Mapping Modern Theology, ed. K. Kapic & B. McCormack (Baker 2012), 345-76.

Luther, Martin, A Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Philadelphia, 1860), pp. 233-36.

MacHaffie, Barbara J. Her Story: Women in Christian Tradition. 2^nd ed. Fortress, 2006, pp. 43-74.

Oberman, Heiko A., ed., Forerunners of the Reformation (o.p.; Fortress, 1981), selections.

Pelagius, “Letter to Demetrias,” in J. Patout Burns, ed., Theological Anthropology (Fortress, 1981), pp. 39-55.

Robeck, Cecil M, “Canon, Regulae Fidei, and Continuing Revelation in the Early Church,” in Church, Word, and Spirit, ed. James E. Bradley and Richard A. Muller (Eerdmans, 1987), pp. 65-91.

Scalise, Charles J., “Exegetical Warrants for Religious Persecution: Augustine Vs. The Donatists,” Review and Expositor 93 (1996): 497-506.

Sadoleto’s Letter to Geneva & Calvin’s Reply to Sadoleto, in Selected Works of John Calvin: Tracts and Letters, trans. Henry Beveridge (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1844), 1:3-68.

“The Regensburg Agreement (1541), Article 5,” and “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” [1999], in Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue, ed. Anthony N. S. Lane (T&T Clark, 2006), pp. 233-259.

Watt, Jeffrey R., “Reconciliation and the Confession of Sins: The Evidence from the Consistory in Calvin’s Geneva,” in Calvin and Luther: The Continuing Relationship, ed. R. Ward Holder (Vanhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013), pp. 105-120.

Zwingli, Huldreich, “An Account of [His] Faith” (1530), in Latin Works of Zwingli 2:33-61 (excerpts).

RECOMMENDED READING:

González, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought in One Volume. Abingdon, 2014. ISBN: 978-1426757778, Pub. Price $49.99.

Irvin, Dale and Scott Sunquist. History of the World Christian Movement: Earliest Christianity to 1453. Orbis Books, 2001. ISBN: 988-1570753961, Pub. Price $34.00.

_________. History of the World Christian Movement: Modern Christianity from 1454-1800. Orbis Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-1570759895, Pub. Price $40.00.

MacHaffie, Barbara J. Her Story: Women in Christian Tradition. 2^nd ed. Fortress, 2006. ISBN: 978-0800638269, Pub. Price $44.00.

Payton, James R. Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings. IVP Academic, 2010. ISBN: 978-0830838806, Pub. Price $23.00.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. 5 vols. University of Chicago, 1975-1991.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. ~1,200 pages of required reading. Students will submit one substantive question per reading to me before each class, via email by 7am on the day of class. These questions will contribute significantly to the direction of each class session. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, and 3] [80 hours].
2. One reflection essay. Students will describe one significant new or changed perception gained in the course, explaining what they understood previously and why, what they understand now and why, which texts and lectures led to the change, and what implications this change might have for ministry. (1250 words, 10% of final grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and 3]. [10 hours DLA]
3. Three directed essays on assigned topics and primary source readings (1250 words, 20% of final grade each). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and 3]. [30 hours].
4. Final exam covering readings and lecture (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1 and 2]. [10 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH2 or TH4 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MAT Programs (Fall 2015). Option to meet the TH2 requirement in the 80 MATM and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the CHB requirement in the 144 MDiv Program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.