Winter 2006/Pasadena
CH504
Draney

CH504: MODERN CHURCH HISTORY. Daniel Draney.


DESCRIPTION: This class is a survey of events, persons, and ideas that have most influenced the Christian tradition during the modern period, beginning with the post-Reformation religious landscape of Western Europe and concluding with the most significant trends of Christian thought and life in the twentieth century.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES:

  1. Students will be able to identify and explain many of the principal theological developments and historical events and personalities that have shaped the modern church since the Protestant and Catholic Reformations.

  2. Students will demonstrate through oral discussion and writing assignments the ability to analyze a primary text with sympathy and historical critical awareness, correctly placing the meaning and significance of a text within its historical context.

  3. Students will demonstrate through class discussion an ability to interpret their own ecclesiastical tradition and other traditions with self-critical awareness and measured reflection. This skill will enable students to enter into friendships and dialogue with leaders of diverse Christian traditions with confidence, grace, and humility.

  4. Students will be challenged in some of their religious assumptions by the complexity and diversity of Christian history and through this process will develop a broader perspective on the past and present and a deeper personal faith commitment.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: It is important in our increasingly secular age that leaders of the church be well informed about the leading themes of the modern church, in order to critically evaluate the ideas and assumptions of modern culture, and interpret the gospel tradition anew for each generation with vigor, clarity and hope. Moreover, an understanding of modern church history will often encourage a sympathetic awareness of other Christian traditions and beliefs, thus fostering virtues of humility, tolerance, wisdom, and mutual respect, while at the same time leading to a deeper loyalty and appreciation of one's own tradition.

COURSE FORMAT: This class will meet twice weekly for two-hour sessions of lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED READING:
Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity. Vol. 2. HarperSanFrancsico, 1985.

Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford University Press, 2002.

Noll, Mark and Carolyn Nystrom. Is the Reformation Over? Baker, 2005.

Select one of the following:
Cook, Guillermo, ed. New Face of the Church in Latin America. Orbis, 1994.

Hastings, Adrian. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. Oxford, 1995.

Freston, Paul. Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Sanneh, Lamin. Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West. Eerdmans, 2003.

ASSIGNMENTS:
  1. Completion of required reading as preparation for class lectures and discussions.

  2. Four critical response papers (5 pages each) to the assigned primary readings (each 15% of grade [60% total]) due at the end of the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th weeks.

  3. Final examination (40%).

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Church History "C" (CHC).

FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.