Fall 2017/Houston

HT500

Turley

HT500: THE CHURCH’S UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AND CHRIST IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT (4 Units: 160 hours). Steven E. Turley.

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.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets on four weekends for 3.5 hours on Friday and 4 hours on Saturday, 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: 1025 total number of pages required

Book of Acts [30 pp. assigned]

Coakley, John W. and Andrea Sterk, eds. Readings in World Christian History, vol. 1: Earliest Christianity to 1453. Orbis, 2004. ISBN: 978-1570755200, Pub. Price $34.00 [190 pp. assigned].

Grenz, Stanley. “How do we know what to believe?” Distributed via course page [14 pp. assigned].

Irvin, Dale T. and Scott W. Sunquist. History of the World Christian Movement: Earliest Christianity to 1453. Orbis, 2001. ISBN: 978-1570753961, Pub. Price $34.00 [313 pp. assigned].

Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. Excerpts, to be distributed via course page. [49 pp. assigned].

Louth, Andrew, ed. and Maxwell Staniforth, tr. Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers. Penguin Classics, 1987. ISBN: 978-0140444759, Pub. Price $15.00 [178 pp. assigned].

Oden, Amy G, ed. In Her Words: Women’s Writings in the History of Christian Thought. Abingdon, 1994. ISBN: 978-0687459728, Pub. Price $32.99 [72 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 [177 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Behr, John Fr. The Way to Nicaea (Formation of Christian Theology, vol. 1). St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001. ISBN: 978-0881412246, Pub. Price $20.00.

Behr, John Fr. The Nicene Faith (Formation of Christian Theology, vol. 2). St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0881412666, Pub. Price $35.00.

Clark, Elizabeth A. Women in the Early Church. Liturgical Press, 1983. ISBN: 978-0814653326, Pub. Price $29.95.

González, Justo. The Story of Christianity: Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. 2nd edition. HarperOne, 2010. ISBN: 978-0061855887, Pub. Price $25.99.

Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. Christ and Reconciliation. Eerdmans, 2013. ISBN: 978-0802868534, Pub. Price $40.00.

Rusch, William C., ed. The Trinitarian Controversy. Fortress, 1980. ISBN: 978-0800614102, Pub. Price $24.00.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Classroom Participation (10% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3] [30 hours].
2. 1025 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3] [70 hours].
3. Two Primary Source Analysis Essays (each essay is worth 15% of grade, 5 pages, 1250 words). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2, #3] [20 hours].
4. Research Essay on a topic chosen in consultation with professor (30% of grade, 10 pages, 2500-3000 words). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2, #3] [25 hours].
5. Final exam covering readings and lecture (20% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3] [5 hours].
6. DLA: Ministry Reflection Essay (10% of grade, 5 pages, 1250 words). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2, #3] [10 hours].

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.