DESCRIPTION: This is a CATS doctoral seminar (for which students at the 800
level will register Spring and Summer, CH801A and CH801B), open to a limited
number of qualified master's level students (CH579). In early modern Europe,
Christian thought and institutions dominated vast areas of human endeavor,
including science, philosophy, social and economic theory, law and politics.
The revolutions of the modern world have almost completely overturned this
relationship and thrown the church into a series of prolonged crises. This
seminar will survey the critical points of intersection between the church and
society since the Enlightenment, particularly in Britain and North America. We
will read selections from several of the most influential thinkers of the
Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Positivism, and we will study the most
important contemporary theories of secularization, including those of Weber,
Berger, Wilson, and Pannenberg.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will acquire a broader understanding of the church
in the context of modern culture that will enable them to further their own
research agendas. They should attain a deepened ability in the use of critical
historical methods that will assist in research and writing at the professional
level. Finally, students will hopefully sharpen their ability to interpret the
topics of the course in meaningful ways to the academy and the
church.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: This course is intended for students who plan a
vocation in teaching, research, and writing. The course will furnish students
with an understanding of the most formidable intellectual challenges facing the
church today, and hopefully, it will help lay a foundation that will enable the
Christian intellectual to offer a credible answer to these challenges.
COURSE FORMAT: The seminar will meet two hours a week for discussion.
REQUIRED READING: