-DRAFTRELIGION S-1435 The History of Christianity in the West
Syllabus Harvard Summer School: 23 June-15 August, 2008 Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:00-11:30 AM Room L. Winnie
(C) = Course reader. Available at Flashprint, 99 Mt. Auburn St.; 617-492-7767; www.flashprint.com. G = Justo Gonzáles, The Story of Christianity, 2 vols. (San Francisco: Harpers, 1984, 1985). Assignments: This course will require a midterm, a final examination, and two 5-6-page papers.
Tuesday, June 24 LECTURE 1: Introduction to the Course. Purpose of the Course. Course requirements. The Jewish Background. Firstcentury Judaism. The Hellenistic World. The Roman Empire. READINGS: G I, 2.
Thursday, June 26 LECTURE 2: The Gospel of Matthew (80s AD) I. Origins, Structure of the Gospels READINGS: (C) The Gospel of Matthew, Ch. 1-14
Tuesday, July 1 LECTURE 3: The Gospel of Matthew II. Teachings and Account READINGS: (C) The Gospel of Matthew, Ch. 14-28
Thursday, July 3 LECTURE 4: The Early Church. READINGS: G I, 3, 4, & 11.
Paul and the Gentile Mission.
Tuesday, July 8 LECTURE 5: The Imperial Church READINGS: (C) Creeds and Canons (early 2nd century-4th century); G I, 8 & 9.
Thursday, July 10 LECTURE 6: Classical Culture and Christian Teaching: Augustine and the Fall of Rome READINGS: (C) Selections from Augustine’s Enchiridion (421); G I, 16 & 24.
Tuesday, July 15 LECTURE 7: Christianity in Europe: Crusaders READINGS:
Kings, Popes, Monks and
(C) Selections from Benedict’s Rule (before 547); G I, 15, 26, 29, 30, 31.
Thursday, July 17 LECTURE 8: Renaissance Humanism and the Early Reformation READINGS: (C) Selections from Desiderius Erasmus, On Free Will (De libero arbitrio, 1524); Martin Luther, The Enslaved Will (De servo arbitrio, 1525); G I, 34.
[MIDTERM Tuesday, July 22 LECTURE 9: Reformation Divisions: The Formation of Protestant and Catholic Churches. Anabaptists, Zwingli, Calvin, the English Reformation, the Council of Trent. The Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia. READINGS: G II, 2, 4, 12, 15.
Thursday, July 24 LECTURE 10: The Spread of Christianity to the New World. Enlightenment and Eighteenth Century Religion. READINGS:
The
(C) William Paley, Natural Theology (1803); Bartolomeo de Las Casas, “In Defense of the Indians” (1550-51); and John Wesley, Sermons (3rd ed., 1769). G I, 35, 36; G II,21, 23.
Tuesday, July 29 LECTURE 11: The Enlightenment and Revolutions READINGS: (C )David Hume, “On the Immortality of the Soul,” (1755). G II, 26.
Thursday, July 31 LECTURE 12: Nineteenth Century Romanticism and the Flowering of Christian Feeling READINGS: (C) Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity (1841) trans. George Eliot; and Feuerbach’s “Man and Religion.” G II, 25, 28.
Tuesday, August 5 LECTURE 13: Nineteenth-Century Struggles: Doubt, De-Christianisation, and Urban Life. The Social Gospel. The Missionary Effort. READINGS: (C) Selections from Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church. (C) Selections from Walter Rauschenbusch, The Social Principles of Jesus (1916). G II, 30, 35. [PAPER DUE]
Thursday, August 7 LECTURE 14: New Theologies for the Twentieth Century. READINGS: (C) Selections from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (1944-45). G II, 34.
Tuesday, August 12 LECTURE 15: Christianity of the Third World: Theology. Summary.
Liberation
READINGS: (C) Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation, Ch. 10 (orig. pub. as Teología de la liberación, Perspectivas, 1971). G II, 33.
FINAL EXAMINATION: August, 2008 Grades available online starting August.