Church History 203

Drew University
The Theological School
Spring Term, 2008

Lectures
Tues & Thurs
8:35-9:50
Seminary Hall 101

Dr. Morris L. Davis
12 Campus Drive, 201
973-408-3078
mdavis@drew.edu

Section Meetings
P001 Thurs. 1:15-2:30, David Evans, Precept Leader
P002 Thurs. 2:35-3:50, Kevin Newburg, Precept Leader

 

Schedule of Lectures
Weekly Precept Topics, Focus Texts, and Questions
Term List


Course Description

This course surveys the history of Western Christianity from 1492 to the middle of the twentieth century. The first half of the course focuses on the development of Protestant traditions in Western Europe. The second half of the course focuses on events in North America, particularly the United States. Within the frame of Christian Europe’s colonial encounters, particularly in the Americas, the course takes up the following themes: the shattering of European Christendom and the development of Protestant church traditions (Lutheran, Calvinist/Reformed, Anabaptist, Anglican, Puritan, Wesleyan, and others); church-state relations; the planting of European varieties of Christianity in North America; the development of new forms of Christian thought and practice in North America, including a distinctive African-American Christianity; women’s roles in the institutional life of churches; the missionary impulse in North American Protestantism; and the challenges presented by the fact of religious diversity to the dream of a Protestant kingdom of God in the United States.

Course Objectives:  The course has four primary objectives:

1) To enhance your understanding of the varieties of Christian churches, thought, and practice from about 1500 to the present

2) To enhance your ability to read, understand, and discuss primary texts produced by historical figures

3) To help you articulate the value of historical studies to your vocation as a minister-scholar-teacher

4) To provide you with skills and practice in the evaluation of research resources

Requirements

  • Wakeful attendance at lectures and section meetings, participation in discussions, and careful reading are key ingredients for the successful completion of the course. In preparation for the weekly section meeting, prepare brief oral comments on a passage from that week’s focus texts–one or two passages you find interesting, compelling, confusing, or otherwise provocative. Prepare to discuss what the text reveals to you about the particular historical moment in which it was produced. In other words, while we assume this reflection will involve your emotions, it should not simply be a reaction to your reading, but should involve an exploration of historical context. Note:  This is one of the ways we judge "class participation" in calculating your final grade.
    • A note about attendance: If you have 4 or more unexcused absences [from lectures or section meetings] we'll ask you to withdraw from the course until another semester when you can devote more time to it. You won’t pass the course without being present in classes and section meetings. (15% of final grade)
  • A take-home midterm exam to be distributed on March 6th and returned on March 14th, testing your knowledge of the term list (25% of final grade).

  • A final take-home exam to be distributed April 24 and returned May 1, testing your knowledge of the term list (25% of final grade).
  • A final oral exam in the form of a prepared 20-minute presentation to the professor (35% of final grade). The topic for this presentation should be approved by the professor via a proposal, which is due March 6th in class. The proposal should include:
    • The basic topic of your presentation. Presentations should be clearly focused, and include attention to larger contexts and broader historical connections.
    • The audience for your presentation. Presentations should be designed with a particular audience in mind, such as a church group, youth group, or inter-religious meeting. Some possibilities might be: describing your particular denomination in another denominational context; giving a history of a significant figure in a denomination to a congregation of that denomination; providing a history of a denominational tradition, or a particular event, to a non-Christian audience.
    • A scholarly bibliography. This bibliography should include at least ten scholarly sources. These ten sources may include web-based sources, but these sources must be scholarly sources as well, and need to have an annotation describing the source, showing: who wrote the text you are referencing; who sponsors the site; the purpose of the site; the intended audience for the site. Citations must also include a time-stamp. Sources beyond these ten scholarly sources may also include web-based sources, but they must also be annotated.
  • The final presentations will be scheduled during exam week. A final bibliography of sources used must be turned in at the time of the presentation. Presentations can take any form that meets the needs of the proposal. This can include PowerPoint or slide presentations as well. Grades for the presentations will be based on how well the presentation is addressed to the proposed audience; the accuracy of the information conveyed; the attention paid to historical context; the clarity and organization of the presentation; the quality of the source choices and how well the sources are evaluated and used.

Grade Evaluation

I use the same description of grades as the Theological School Catalogue:

A (work of unusual excellence)
B (work of superior quality)
C (work of satisfactory quality)
D (work of less than satisfactory quality, but passing)
U (unsatisfactory).

I give pluses and minuses in categories A-D.  It is only fair for you to know that an A in this course is a rare grade. You will receive a C or lower if it is clear that you are not expending effort in this class, and/or you only meet the minimum requirements for an assignment.

Also, be reminded of the Standards of Academic Integrity.

Textbooks

The following texts are available for purchase in the Drew University Bookstore. 

  • Gonzalez, Church History: An Essential Guide.  Abingdon, 1996
  • Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day, Vol. 2. HarperSanFrancisco, 1990.
  • A Reformation Reader [with CD-ROM], Denis R. Janz, ed.  Fortress Press, 2000
  • Gaustad and Schmidt, The Religious History of America. HarperSanFrancisco, 2002.
  • James White, Protestant Worship: Traditions in Transition.  Westminster John Knox, 1989.

    In addition to these texts, the following books are also on reserve for the course at Rose Memorial Library:
  • Mark Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity  Cited in the reading calendar as TP
  • Carter Lindberg, European Reformations
  • Makers of Christian Theology in America, Mark Toulouse and James O. Duke, eds. Cited in the reading calendar as MCTA