History of the Christian Church 1beginnings to just before the ReformationHST 101 |
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Instructor: Alan Humm [ ]
Fall 2014 : Th 6:00-9:00 PM
Your first responsibility in this class is to show up prepared to discuss. You should read the assigned materials, but most importantly, you should be thinking critically about them. Active participation in class will be rewarded at grade time to the tune of about 15% of your final grade. Also, we will have a very short non-cumulative evaluation every other week. Those grades will together represent 45% of your final grade. Normally this will only take the first 20 min. of class and class will continue afterwards. You will be preparing a final paper that will ultimately represent 40% of your grade, but broken down into three parts. You will provide a first draft about 2/3 into the semester, which I will return the following week with comments and suggestions. In the unlikely event that it is perfect (it has happened), you are done with writing for this class. Otherwise you are expected to rewrite responding to my comments. Finally, you will present a short oral summary of your work to the class as substitute for a formal final exam. The grading breakdown will be, 1st draft: 15%, final written version: 20%, oral presentation: 5%.
Paper target is 10-15 pages. Potential topics will be distributed during the first class session. However, the specific topic of the research paper will be of you own choosing, although it should be related to the course. If it doesn't come from the distributed list, it will require my approval. Because there will be oral presentations, no two individuals will be allowed to write on the same topic, so if you have a favorite, nab it quickly. You should let me know what you are writing on by the third week of class.
Class Session | Quiz | Topic | Due on this Date |
---|---|---|---|
Aug. 25 Aug. 26 Aug. 27 |
First day of classes New student orientation (5:00pm-6:00pm) Convocation (5:00pm-6:00pm) | ||
Aug. 28 | Intro to class; Nature of history; Before the Church | Presence in class | |
Sept. 1 Sept. 3 |
Labor Day (No Classes on Campus) Equip (5:00pm-6:00pm) | ||
Sep. 4 | The earliest Church in context |
Gonzalez: chs 1-4 Eusebius, Book II (Paul Meyer: 57-91) Epistle of Peter to James (Thomas Smith [The Clementine Homilies]) | |
Sep. 11 | * | The early Church in conflict with society |
Gonzalez: chs 5-7 Didache (skip Greek, Michael Holmes: 345-369) Valentinus (Gnostic Society) Valentian Theology (Gnostic Society) Paper topics due |
Sep. 18 | The early Church in conflict with heresy |
Gonzalez: chs 8-10 The New Prophecy [Populi under 'Lessons'] Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (Herbert Musurillo) | |
Sep. 25 | * | More persecution; Early worship; Constantine |
Gonzalez: chs 11-13 Bauer: The Beginnings (Orthodoxy & Heresy, ch. 10). [Populi under 'Lessons'] Luijendijk: Papyri from the Great Persecution Skip footnotes & appendix |
Oct. 1 | Equip (5:00pm-6:00pm) | ||
Oct. 2 | New conflicts |
Gonzalez: chs 14-16 Ward: The paradise of the desert fathers Sullivan: An analysis of Augustine on Tongues and the Donatists | |
Oct. 4 | Memorial Scholarship Fair | ||
Oct. 9 | * | State Church; Heterodoxy I |
Gonzalez: chs 17-20 Biblical Passages in the Trinitarian Controversy Arius and the start of Controversy Arius' Confession of Faith to Constantine Arius letter to Alexander of Alexandria Arius letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia Athanasius Oration III against the Arians, 29 - 34 When the Jews tried to rebuild |
Oct. 16 | State Church; Heterodoxy II |
Gonzalez: chs 21-25 Augustine on Ambrose John Chrysostom on free will Jerome in the desert - his experiences as an ascetic Augustine on hymn singing in Milan | |
Oct. 23 | * | The new West and East |
Gonzalez: chs 26-27 Lossky: Theology and Mysticism in the Tradition of the Eastern Church Bowman: The Spirituality of Eastern Christianity |
Oct. 30 | Emergence from chaos; crusades |
Gonzalez: chs 28-30 Irwin: Muslim Responses to the Crusades Cathars and Cathar Beliefs in the Languedoc First draft of paper due | |
Nov. 5 | Academic Advising Event | ||
Nov. 6 | Medieval Christianity |
Gonzalez: ch 31 Essential Humanities: Medieval Architecture St. Francis: The Testament [tr. Burr] St. Anselm: Third meditation [tr. M.R.] | |
Nov. 13 | * | Babylonian captivity of the Church; pre-reformation I |
Gonzalez: chs 32-33a (through John Huss) Nicholson: The Knights Templar in Medieval Europe |
Nov. 20 | Pre-reformation II; Renaissance |
Gonzalez: ch 33b (p. 353)-34 Myers: The Renaissance Maddox: Julian of Norwich St John of the Cross: The Spiritual Canticle [Skip the video--just music] | |
Nov. 25-27 | Thanksgiving Break No Classes on Campus | ||
Dec. 4 | * | Spanish and Portuguese expansion |
Gonzalez: chs 35-36 Catholic Evangelism & Spanish Colonialism |
Dec. 8-12 | Final Exams Week | ||
Dec. 11 | Presentations (in lieu of written final) | Final paper due | |
Dec. 13 | GCD Christmas party | ||
Last Modified Aug. 22, 2014 by Alan Humm |