Survey of Christian Thought and Culture
Humanities 319-01 H 4142
University of Louisville – Spring 2014
instructor:
Prof. Garry Sparks
office:
Bingham Humanities Building 203B
office hours: T/Th 10:45am-noon & 3:45pm-5:00pm
(or by appointment when available)
days/times:
class room:
office phone:
e-mail:
T/Th 2:30pm-3:45pm
Bingham 119
(502) 852-6842
[email protected]
Course Description
Verging on its third millennium and (at least nominally) consisting of roughly one third of
the global population, Christianity (its adherents and practitioners, institutions, and thought) has
greatly affected the course and shape of much of our histories as well as contemporary societies and
cultures – for good and for ill. While not aiming to be comprehensive or exhaustive, this course will
serve as a basic introduction to some of the traditions and diversity of Christian understandings for
students both unfamiliar and familiar with particular facets of specific expressions of Christianity (or
Christianities). Beginning with the late first century C.E., the first part of this course will consist of a
historic overview of key moments, persons, and ideas in Christianity, and the second part will focus
on the variety of more recent trends and theologies. Prior coursework on early Christian literature
(such as the New Testament), “western” philosophy, or world history is helpful but not required.
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Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will:
•
become acquainted with some of the various early sources and influences of Christianity
both around and in the decades immediately following the time of Jesus of Nazareth;
•
describe the seminal controversies that circumscribed approved (“orthodox”) early Christian
understandings (doctrines), practices (devotions/liturgies), texts (scripture), interpretations
(exegesis), values (ethics), and distinct identity/communities and authorities (church);
•
recognize in general the distinct, dominant strands that emerged (particularly in western
Europe and its historical spheres of influence) from late antiquity to the present;
•
readily identify and discuss the significance and influence of key persons, events, and
concepts from the past traditions and recent history of Christianity;
•
critically track the shift in meaning of basic Christian notions (i.e. faith, grace, justice, God,
Christ, spirituality, etc.) over time, through cultures, and by key thinkers;
•
analyze and evaluate some of the major trends within Christianity by the turns of the 20th
and 21st centuries and the engagement with modernity and post-modernities, respectively.
Methods of Instruction
This course will approach Christian thought in three basic ways: (1) historically
(chronological flow of events and ideas), (2) systematically (selected key foci or “doctrines”), and
(3) contemporarily (highlighting current trends in Christian theologies), namely in the U.S.
The core of this course will consist of close readings of selections of primary texts by
influential Christian thinkers and later writers who engaged or represent an influential moment for
Christianity. You will be expected to have read thoroughly and reflected upon all texts assigned
every week. Each class will consist of lectures germane to the topic of the texts but not necessarily
on the texts themselves. Lectures will be accompanied by discussing and exploring together the
major ideas behind and claims made in the assigned texts, what resources they draw upon, what
specific assumptions they make, et cetera. Furthermore, three secondary texts (two required and one
suggested) will help provide the wider contexts for the shorter readings and support the lectures.
A note regarding the readings: the “suggested readings” for this course are designed to
provide additional information regarding a particular topic. Therefore, pay close attention between
the assigned (required) readings and any subsequent “suggested” (non-required) readings listed
below. Inclusion of “suggested readings” in your work (in addition to but not instead of required
readings) will be considered as extra credit in your final grade. For required readings found on
Blackboard (Bboard) as PDFs: please print, read, mark up, and bring to class hard copies – consulting
electronic versions of these texts on your computer, smart phone, or equivalent device during class
is not allowed. In this respect, please have all computers and phones turned off (not on “vibrate” as this is
still distracting from your learning and to those around you) and put away prior to the start of class
(exceptions—including the need to audio record class lecture-discussions—will be made only with
prior approval by the instructor; students requesting additional learning provisions should also
consult the Disability Resource Center: http://louisville.edu/disability).
Also please note that I (the instructor) reserve the right to change the syllabus during the term if and/or when
the need arises (e.g., to meet the learning outcomes of the course).
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Semester Outline of Topics (to be divided appropriately between class times every week)
Week 1 – Introducing Christian Thought and Histories
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•
•
general introduction to course
read and discuss:
o González, “Overview,” Church History, 11-21 (PDF); and
o McGrath, “Preface” and “Introduction,” Christianity: An Introduction, xvi-3.
watch:
o Chapter 1 of “From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians”; and
o http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/
Week 2 – Jesus: Earliest Sayings and Images
•
•
•
read and discuss for Tue., Jan. 14:
o Crossan, “Prologue,” The Essential Jesus, v-vii; and
o Crossan, “Notes on Texts,” The Essential Jesus, 145-170; and
o Crossan, “Texts and Images,” The Essential Jesus, 25-93.
read and discuss for Thurs., Jan. 16:
o Crossan, “Inventory of Images,” The Essential Jesus, 171-199; and
o Crossan, “Contexts,” The Essential Jesus, 1-24; and
o Crossan, “Texts and Images,” The Essential Jesus, 25-93.
suggested viewing:
o Chapter 2 of “From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians”; and
o http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/
Week 3 – Jesus: Person and/or Character (Who vs. What)
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•
•
read and discuss for Tue., Jan. 21:
o McGrath, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Christianity, 4-35.
read and discuss for Thur., Jan. 23:
o McGrath, “Introducing the Bible,” Christianity, 36-40 (top chart); and
o McGrath, “The Old Testament,” Christianity, 57-83.
suggested viewing:
o http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/
Week 4 – Christianities’ Scriptural Canons
• Assignment 1 “Comparative Canons” due by class time on Thursday (1/30).
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•
Jan. 7 & 9
Jan. 14 & 16
Jan. 21 & 23
Jan. 28 & 30
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “The New Testament,” Christianity, 84-99; and
o Erdman (PDF); and
o McGrath, “Introducing the Bible,” Christianity, 38-56.
suggested viewing:
o Chapter 4 of “From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians”.
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Week 5 – Establishment of Scripture and its Exegesis (Interpretation) and Doctrine
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Week 6 – Expansion beyond the Mediterranean (e.g., Asia)
• Vocabulary quiz (Glossary, 346-352) Tuesday (2/11)
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•
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•
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Feb. 25 & 27
read and discuss:
o Murphy, The Saxon Savior, 33-122; and
o Dream of the Rood (PDF).
suggested reading:
o González, “The High Point of the Middle Ages,” 51-58 (Ekstrom Library Reserve).
Week 9 – Reconfiguration of and Reaction against Reason (in Europe)
NOTE: Last day to withdraw from course – March 6 (Thursday).
•
Feb. 18 & 20
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “A Brief Outline of Core Christian Beliefs,” Christianity, 137-154; and
o Murphy, The Saxon Savior, vii-31;
o Murphy, The Hêliand (selection) (PDF);
suggested reading:
o González, “The Early Middle Ages,” 41-50 (Ekstrom Library Reserve).
Week 8 – Establishment of “Tradition,” with Cultures for Doctrine (Teachings)
• Assignment 2 “Hêliand” due by class time on Thursday (2/27).
•
Feb. 11 & 13
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “A Brief History of Christianity,” Christianity, 171-196; and
o Sain-fu Stele (PDF).
suggested reading:
o González, “The Christian Empire,” 33-40 (Ekstrom Library Reserve);
o McGrath, “The Background to Christian Belief,” Christianity, 100-113.
Week 7 – Expansion beyond the Mediterranean (e.g., Northern Europe)
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Feb. 4 & 6
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “A Brief Outline of Core Christian Beliefs,” Christianity, 114-137; and
o Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Teaching), selections (PDF);
o Origen, De Principiis (On First Things), selections (PDF).
suggested reading:
o González, “The Ancient Church,” 23-32 (Ekstrom Library Reserve).
Mar. 4 & 6
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “A Brief History of Christianity,” Christianity, 196-206; and
o McGrath, “A Brief Outline of Core Christian Beliefs,” Christianity, 154-167; and
o Anselm (PDF); and
o Aquinas (PDF); and
o Joachim of Fiore, selections (PDF).
suggested reading:
o González, “The Late Middle Ages,” 59-66 (Ekstrom Library Reserve).
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Week 10 – Spring Break (no classes)
Mar. 11 & 13
Week 11 – European Reformations (Protestant, Catholic, and Radical)
Mar. 18 & 20
•
•
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “A Brief History of Christianity,” Christianity, 206-229; and
o McGrath, “The Life of Faith,” Christianity, 289-314; and
o Zwingli (PDF); and
o Trent (PDF).
suggested reading:
o González, “Conquest and Reformation,” 67-76.
Week 12 – Expansion beyond Western Europe (Age of Missions and Cultures)
• Assignment 3 “Timeline” due by class time on Thursday (3/27).
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•
Mar. 25 & 27
read and discuss:
o McGrath, “A Brief History of Christianity,” Christianity, 229-250; and
o McGrath, “A Brief Outline of Core Christian Beliefs,” Christianity, 168-170; and
o McGrath, “The Life of Faith,” Christianity, 314-345;
suggested reading:
o González, “The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” 77-82; and
Week 13 – Contemporary Christian Thought: Black and Native American Consciousness April 1 & 3
•
•
read and discuss:
o Gilpin, “Letter from Prison” (PDF); and
o King, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (PDF); and
o Warrior, “Canaanites, Cowboys, and Indians,” 91-104 (PDF).
suggested reading:
o González, “The Twentieth Century and the End of Modernity,” 89-95.
Week 14 – Contemporary Christian Thought: Women and Womanist
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•
•
Note: no class on Thurs. (Nov. 22)
read and discuss:
o O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” 117-133 (PDF); and
o Walker, In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, xi-xii (PDF); and
o Mitchem, Introducing Womanist Theology, Part I, ix-64.
suggested reading:
Week 15 – Contemporary Christian Thought: Womanist, cont’d.
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April 8 & 10
April 15 & 17
read and discuss on Bboard:
o Mitchem, Introducing Womanist Theology, Part II, 65-144.
Week 16 – Reading Day (no class)
Final Exam
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April 23 (Wed.) 11:30am-2pm
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Methods of Evaluation (a.k.a. Grading)
•
Critical, reflective, civil, and respectful participation in all class discussions will consist of 20% of
your course grade. Part of this participation grade will involve (1) in-class discussions and
another part of it will consist of (2) your twice-weekly postings to the discussion forum on
the course Bboard site. Regarding the latter: by no later than 9:00am prior to each class you
must post at least a brief (a minimum of a few of sentences) response (critical insight(s) or
question(s)) germane to the respective assigned reading(s) for that week’s material. As the
semester unfolds these twice-weekly postings may/should also include replies to your
classmates’ comments. Occasionally, prompts will direct your reading and focus the on-line
dialogue. Bboard postings will be graded on the basis of: /-/ (“minus” for no-posting), /√/
(“check” for posting), and /√+/ (“check plus” for a particularly good posting); thus, there is a
quantitative and qualitative dimension to your participation grade. Barring emergencies, please notify
the instructor prior to class time of any absences. While attendance is not graded per se it is
obviously required for participation; an excused absence requires an original, signed note
from a medical physician.
Absences from discussions (both on Bboard and in-class) will jeopardize your grade.
•
Announced and unannounced in-class assignments compose 15% of your grade. These
will take a variety of forms, including:
o announced and unannounced quizzes – these will be short, focus specifically on
assigned readings, and easy to pass if you have kept up with the readings; these
quizzes will occur at the begin of class and will not be redone or have a make-up due
to unexcused absences or lateness to class (therefore, be sure to not only attend class
but also be on time);
o in-class short assignments – these will involve the fulfillment of specific assignments
done in small groups of a few students or individually that each that focus on parsing,
comparing, and critically evaluating the readings and additional course material or
facilitating a close reading of part of a text;
o engaged reading assessments – periodically you will be asked to turn in your printouts of assigned readings at the end of class for evaluation, namely the degree to
which you are able to critically and analytically engage with the a text (identify its
central argument and main claim (a.k.a. thesis), note where and how key terms are
defined and used, distinguish between major and minor points of a position, note
similarities and differences with other positions discussed in the course, contextualize
it in its respective social and historical milieu, etc.); this evaluation will focus on your
marginal comments, underlining, and method of interacting with a text (colored
ink/pencil, outline formatting, use of symbols, bracketing, et cetera).
•
Four scheduled assignments consisting of three short but well-written response papers and a
detailed timeline including seminal events and people in the histories of Christianity
through the modern period (19th century) will contribute to 50% of the grade. Regarding the
three short paper assignments, additional instructions will be posted on Bboard. Regarding
the timeline assignment, you are free to design and layout your timeline in any number of
ways as long as it is: (1) intelligible, (2) printed (not handwritten/drawn), and (3) lists and
describes (e.g., who, what, where, when, etc.) substantial information from the course
readings and lecture-discussions. Like the book report, even though this assignment is not
due until later in the semester you should begin working on it early and add to it and revise
over the course of the class.
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Methods of Evaluation (a.k.a. Grading), continued
(Note: while you may have peers review and assist you with the making of your timeline, this
is not a group assignment and identical copies will be treated as cheating.)
•
A final exam will consist of an additional 15% of your grade.
•
A book report (5-7 pages) that engages some of the key concepts highlighted in this course
will consist of extra credit of up to an additional 5 points on the final grade. The book for
this writing assignment is of your choice from the list below. You may also suggest a book
not on the list to the instructor for consideration, but the book must be of comparable
length and complexity (for example, no Tolkien or novels from the Narnia, Dark Matter, or
Left Behind series or the like). Hint: you should aim to have this assignment done as early as
possible in the semester but late enough to have a solid grip on the key concepts from the
other course readings (concepts and ideas with which you will analyze aspects of Christianity
in the novel); nevertheless, please begin reading and taking notes on your chosen novel as
soon as possible. Note: the book report should be a critical study of the novel and not
merely a plot summary.
Academic Integrity
“I was thrown out of NYU my freshman year for cheating on the metaphysics
final… I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me.” – Woody Allen1
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•
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“Academic honesty boils down to three simple but powerful principles:
When you say you did the work yourself, you actually did it.
When you rely on someone else’s work, you cite it. When you use their words, you quote
them openly and accurately, and you cite them, too.
When you present research materials, you present them fairly and truthfully. That’s true
whether the research involves data, documents, or the writings of other scholars.”2
“Academic dishonesty is prohibited at the University of Louisville. It is a serious offense
because it diminishes the quality of scholarship, makes accurate evaluation of student progress
impossible, and defrauds those in society who must ultimately depend upon the knowledge and
integrity of the institution and its students and faculty.” Violation of the academic honor code (i.e.
plagiarism or cheating on course assignments) will not be tolerated in any degree and will result not
only in a failing grade on the corrupted assignment but also for the course as a whole with the
possible notice sent to the attention of the Dean.
While it is often quipped that “it is better to apologize afterwards than ask for permission
before,” this does not hold in academia; please feel free to ask for clarification regarding any of the
expectations for this course before due dates. For more information, see the
Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities (Sections 5. and 6.)
All written work is to be your original thoughts on the assigned texts with references and
occasional cites from that text. The format and style rules of all your writing assignments should be
typed and conform to the MLA Handbook or Chicago Manual of Style (including Turabian).
1 Charles Lipson, Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic
Success (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 8.
2 Ibid., 3.
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Policy on Expectations
All visual materials (such as charts, graphs, or pictures) used in lectures will be posted onto
Bboard along with additional images and resource links. These are to be used for any missed classes
as well as further exploration into the issues addressed as the course unfolds. However, lecture notes
will not be posted; please secure notes for any missed classes from your cohort.
All written assignments prepared outside of class (e.g., the five scheduled assignments and
the take-home final exam) should be:
o typed,
o in a 12 point (vs. 11 point or 10 point) and standard serif font (i.e. Garamond,
Palantino, or Times New Roman and not a sans serif font like Arial, Helvetica, or
Gill Sans nor a non-standard serif font like Papyrus or Cracked),
o double spaced (Note: if the default setting on a computer automatically inserts an
additional half space after a paragraph you well need to change this before turning in
your assignment),
o 1” margins all around,
o left aligned (not full justified),
o with your full name(s) and page number in either the header or footer on every page.
These should be well-crafted and revised written pieces,
o free of typos and grammatical errors (including non-inclusive language);
o use only inclusive language unless you are writing about a gender-specific topic (i.e.
Catholic priesthood);
o contractions (i.e. “can’t,” “aren’t,” won’t,” etc.) are inappropriate for professional
and academic writing (unless part of a direct quote from another source);
o and the use of the first person singular pronoun (e.g., “I”) should be generally
avoided with rare exceptions.
To achieve these please use the writing center, peer-reviewers, as well as discuss with me a
drafts of your assignments during office hours (I’m more than happy to do so).
Major points will be deducted from unprofessionally written assignments.
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Instructional Materials
Required Readings (other than PDFs, Handouts & Media):
John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus.
Alister E. McGrath, Christianity: An Introduction, Second Edition.
Stephanie Y. Mitchem, Introducing Womanist Theology.
G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., The Saxon Savior.
PDFs posted on Bboard as noted in the syllabus.
Supplemental or Suggested Reading and Media:
Justo L. González, Church History: An Essential Guide.
PBS Frontline, “From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians”
Options for Book Report (extra credit):
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus.
Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima.
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain.
Wilton Barnhardt, Gospel.
Umberto Eco, Baudalino.
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose.
Niko Kazantzakas, The Last Temptation of Christ.
Barbara Kingsolver, Poisonwood Bible.
José Rizal, Noli Me Tangere (various English trans., i.e. Touch Me Not and Friars and Filipinos).
Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow.
John Updike, In the Beauty of the Lilies.
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