Summer 2016/Pasadena

HT500

Waldrop

HT500: THE CHURCH’S UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AND CHRIST IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT (4 Units: 163 hours). Jeffery Waldrop.

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 daily as a two-week intensive for four-hour sessions for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED READING: 1,310 total pages required

Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church, revised edition. Penguin, 1993. ISBN: 978-0140231991, Pub. Price $17.00 [320 pp.].

Clark, Elizabeth A. Women in the Early Church. Liturgical Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0814653326, Pub. Price $24.95 [260 pp.].

González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, second edition. Harper One, 2010. ISBN: 978-0061855887, Pub. Price $27.99 [220 pp. assigned].

Placher, William. Readings in the History of Christian Theology, vol. 1. Westminster John Knox Press, 1995. ISBN: 978-0664240578, Pub. Price $27.00 [110 pp. assigned].

Plantinga, Richard, J., Thomas R. Thompson, and Matthew D. Lundberg. An Introduction to Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0521690379, Pub. Price $34.99 [200 pp.].

Posted Class Lecture Notes [200 pp.].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. Fortress Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0800619312, Pub. Price $46.56.

Gonzalez, Justo. History of Christian Thought, vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon, revised edition. Abingdon Press, 1987. ISBN: 978-0687171828, Pub. Price $25.16.

MacMullen, Ramsay. Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D. 100-400. Yale University Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0300036428, Pub. Price $22.00.

Pelican, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). The University of Chicago Press, 1975. ISBN: 978-0226653716, Pub. Price $18.24.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Read assignments from class texts (about 1,310 pp.) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4] [85 hours].

2. Write (4) 500-word reflections over class readings/themes (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4] [8 hours].

3. Submit a five to seven-page (approx. 2,000-word), analytical essay based upon one of the primary documents posted in the weekly readings (30%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4] [10 hours].

4. Mid-term exam (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3] [10 hours].

5. Final Exam (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3] [10 hrs.].

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.