Fall 2008/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.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 to 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 weekly for a three-and-a-half-hour session
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. Rev. ed. Oxford University Press, 2007.
- Draney, Daniel. When Streams Diverge: John Murdoch MacInnis and the
Origins of Protestant Fundamentalism in Los Angeles. Paternoster 2008.
- Sanneh, Lamin. Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the
West. Eerdmans, 2003.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- Completion of required reading as preparation for class lectures and
discussions
- Two critical response papers (7-10 pages each) to the assigned readings
(each 20% of grade)
- Midterm (20%)
- Final Examination (40%)
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Church History "C"
(CHC).
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.
This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (7/08)