Church History

BHIS 340

Harding University

Spring 2008

 

TR 11:30-12:45            MCIN 349

 

Instructor: Dr. K. Stanglin

Office phone: 279-4620

Email: kstanglin@harding.edu

Websites: www.harding.edu/kstanglin and www.facebook.com

Office hours: MCIN 209, 8:00-9:00, 10:00-11:00 (MWF); 2:00-4:00 (TR)

I want you to do well in this course, so please let me know if you are having difficulty with the class material.

Office phone, hours, and email should suffice for class business. 

 

Course Description (from catalog):

The history of the church from the close of the apostolic age to [through—KDS] the Reformation.

 

Core Values:

Because we love God, we love the church he created and redeemed.  Because we love his church, we take its history seriously.

 

Course Objectives:

In light of the university’s mission and objectives, the student who successfully completes this course will be able to:

 

1. Identify and describe significant turning points in the history of the church.

 

2. Identify particular historical figures, events, and theological trajectories that affect the church today.

 

3. Challenge and rectify popular misconceptions about church history.

 

4. Understand, evaluate, and address current issues of faith and practice in the church from an informed historical perspective.

 

5. Avoid the repetition of errors and emulate the examples of success.

 

6. Understand and appreciate the identity of today’s church in continuity with its past.

 

Required Course Textbooks:

 

Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

 

Ferguson, Everett. Church History, Volume One: From Christ to Pre-Reformation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.

 

Bring these two books to each class meeting.  A Bible will also be helpful for many lectures.

 

Attendance Policy:

Students are expected to attend classes regularly.  In the event of illness, family emergency, a school-sponsored activity, or an extenuating circumstance, it is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor as soon as possible of the reason for the absence.  A doctor’s note is required for excusing personal illness.  Print a hard copy for my records.  N.B.: Excuses will not be accepted more than one week after returning to class.

 

According to the policies stated in the student handbook (p. 9), the equivalent of one week of unexcused absences (2) is allowed in this class.  Each additional absence above 2 automatically reduces your final grade by three percentage points.

 

You will be considered tardy if you are not present when the roll is checked or if you leave during class.  3 tardies = 1 unexcused absence.

 

Students with Disabilities:

It is the policy for Harding University to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law.  Therefore, any student with a documented disability condition (e.g., physical, learning, psychological, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations, must contact the instructor and the Disabilities Office at the beginning of each semester.  (If the diagnosis of the disability occurs during the academic year, the student must self-identify with the Disabilities Director as soon as possible in order to get academic accommodations in place for the remainder of the semester.)  The Disabilities Office is located in Room 102 of the Lee Academic Center, telephone, (501) 279-4019.

 

Academic Honesty:

Harding University places a high priority on honesty and a biblical commitment to truth.  Incidents of cheating, plagiarism, or any other activities deemed dishonest will result in penalties.  These penalties may range from receiving a zero (0%) on the assignment to failing the course or dismissal from the school.  (According to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, to “plagiarize” is to steal and use as one’s own the ideas, words, etc., of another.  Collaborating on written assignments that should be done individually would fall under this category of dishonesty.)

 

Classroom Expectations and Decorum:

I expect all students to behave in a Christian manner in and out of the classroom.  Appropriate behavior includes abiding by the conduct and dress codes set by the university.  Turn off all cell phones.  Do not eat food in the classroom. Only drinks in spill-proof containers are allowed in class.  If you make a mess, it is your responsibility to clean it up or pay for it to be cleaned.

 

Class will begin promptly at 11:30, so be ready.  It will be dismissed when I finish.

 

Course Requirements:1

 

1. Preparation: 10 pts.  You are expected to complete all assigned readings prior to the class meetings.  Three readings will be on reserve in the library.  Copy, read, and bring them to class with you.  The lectures, which will not recapitulate the textbook, will assume that you have read the assignments and know the material.  Be prepared to take notes, discuss, and answer questions about the reading material in class. 

 

2. Notebook: 50 pts.  Keep a notebook that contains all notes over readings and lectures, as well as handouts and anything else pertinent to the study of church history.  Notes should be legible and thorough.  Most handouts will be available on the website.  Near the front of your notebook, make a timeline (or table) that shows 25 important events in the history of the church (with dates).  At the back of the notebook, you should have summaries of each group of primary readings from Bettenson (see #3). 

 

3. Summaries: 50 pts.  As you read Bettenson, write a summary for each group of readings (see schedule).  The beginning of each summary should include the author, title of the work, and historical occasion for writing.  In the body of each summary, sum up the author’s thesis and argumentation.  The summary is descriptive, so do not make judgments about the orthodoxy or heterodoxy of the author.  At the end of each summary, restate the main theme that binds the individual readings together.  Each summary should be typed, approximately 100 words in length.  They will go in the back of your notebook and be turned in with it.  (The summaries should total 9-10 pages, single-spaced.)

 

4. Tests: 100 pts. each.  Three tests will cover material from lectures and both textbooks.  Make-up Policy: A test may be made up only if the absence is excused (see “Attendance Policy” above).  Contact or see me as soon as possible to arrange it.  After I am notified, the make-up test will be given on Tues./Thurs., 6:00 p.m., room 233.  All make-up tests will be entirely essay format.  There will be no make-ups for unexcused absences.

 

5. Quizzes: Pop quizzes over Ferguson will be given at the discretion of the professor.

 

6. Research paper: 100 pts.  Write an original research paper (1,800-2,200 words) on the topic of your choice. 

a) You may examine a particular thinker, idea, or event of church history (see website for possible topics).  Or…

b) You may discuss the impact of church history on a particular area of life, church, art, family, worship, or confessions and catechisms, etc.  You may trace the influence of a particular thinker, event, or doctrine.  I want to know how church history impacted a particular area of life of interest to you.   

Use at least one primary source besides Bettenson, and at least four secondary sources besides Ferguson.  The paper should demonstrate that you read and interacted with these sources.  Use standard Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style footnotes.  Take note of the following due dates: 

a) February 28 Talk with me or email me about your topic before Spring Break. 

b) April 3         Annotated bibliography: A bibliography of at least five sources

c) April 10       Outline

d) April 17       The paper is due on Apr. 17, at 11:30 a.m.  Late papers will be reduced by 10% (e.g., A to B) for each class period late.  Papers will not be accepted after May 1.  Evaluation criteria: Thesis, style, interaction with sources.

In addition to the hard copy, you must also submit the paper electronically before the deadline.  Go to www.turnitin.com.  The class ID is 2126554, and the password is chist.  Click “submit” and follow the instructions.  Papers not submitted through this website will not be accepted. 

 

7. Final exam: 100 pts.  The final will be comprehensive.  Thursday, May 8, 10:30-12:30.

 

8. Extra credit: up to 15 pts. on final exam.  Write a critical review of an approved secondary source from the bibliography, or a detailed analysis of a primary source.  Points earned will be commensurate with the length of the book and the depth of the review.  Due April 22.  Late work will not be accepted for extra credit.

 

Grading Scale:

Total points: 610.

 

90-100% = A     80-89 = B     70-79 = C     60-69 = D      0-59 = F

 

Although it is your responsibility to keep up with your grades and absences, I will periodically post them on my website.  Check your grades with last name and password (H number).

 

Course Schedule:

Lecture Topics                                                            Ferguson Chapters       Bettenson Pages

Importance of Studying Church History

 

I. Ancient Church (100–313)

Backgrounds of Christianity and Empire                     1         

 

Apostolic Church in the 1st Century                            2                     

 

Apostolic Fathers                                                        3

 

Outward Focus and Life in the Empire

 

Trouble from Without: Persecutions                           4                      1-5, 14

 

Second-century Apologists                                                                  5-6

 

Trouble from Within: Heresy                                      5                      38-41

 

Response to Heresies                                                  6-7                   31-32

 

Old Catholic Fathers                                                   8-9                   32-33

 

Exam 1

 

II. Christian Empire (313–604)

Constantine the Great                                                 10                    18-20

 

Arian Controversy and Council of Nicaea                   11                    27-29

 

Nicene/Post-Nicene Fathers

 

Worship in the Early Church                                       12                    93-95

 

Ecumenical Councils of the Early Church                  13                    50-51, 56-57, 97-103

 

Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy                     14                    78-80, 85, 66-68

 

Germanic Invasions and Fall of Rome                                    15

 

Development of Roman Papacy                                  16                    86-93, 167

 

Exam 2

 

III. Middle Ages (604–1517)

Rise of Islam                                                               17                    103-106

 

Medieval Church and State                                         18-19               114-22

 

Crusades                                                                      20

 

Scholastic Theology                                                    21                    151-66

 

Monasticism                                                                22                    127-46

 

Medieval Dissenters                                                    23                    123-24, 146-49

 

Babylonian Captivity and Papal Schism                      24                    124-27

 

Forerunners of the Reformation                                  Volz                 191-93

 

Medieval Councils, Renaissance. and Humanism                                149-150

 

Exam 3

 

IV. Reformation (1517–1619)

Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinist)                             Steinmetz        205-12, 270-72

 

Catholic (Counter-) Reformation                                                         272-74, 278-81

 

Arminian                                                                     Hoenderdaal    282-84

Church History Select Bibliography

compiled by Dr. K. Stanglin

General:

Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.  (Primary sources.)

 

Bradley, James E., and Richard A. Muller. Church History: An Introduction to Research, Reference Works, and Methods. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

 

Christian Classics Ethereal Library.  www.ccel.org (Primary sources.)

 

Ferguson, Everett. Church History, Volume One: From Christ to Pre-Reformation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.

 

Foxe, John. Fox’s Book of Martyrs. Ed. William Byron Forbush. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1926.

 

Hannah, John D. Charts of Ancient and Medieval Church History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

 

Keen, Ralph. The Christian Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.

 

Lane, Anthony N. S. A Concise History of Christian Thought. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.

 

Noll, Mark. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997.

 

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition. 5 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971–89.

 

Placher, William C. A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1983.

 

Price, Matthew A., and Michael Collins. The Story of Christianity. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999.

 

Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom, 3 vols. Available at www.ccel.org 

 

            . History of the Christian Church. 8 vols. 3rd ed., rev. New York: Scribners, 1907–10; repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976.

 

Seeberg, Reinhold. Textbook of the History of Doctrines. 2 vols. in 1. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977.

 

Walker, Williston, et al. A History of the Christian Church. 4th ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1985.

 

Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church. New edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

 

Williams, Rowan. Why Study the Past? The Quest for the Historical Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.

 

Early:

Arnold, Eberhard. The Early Christians: A Sourcebook on the Witness of the Early Church. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979.  (Primary sources.)

 

Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.

 

Ehrman, Bart D. After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.  (Primary sources.)

 

Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History. 2 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926–32.

 

Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.

 

            . Early Christians Speak: Faith and Life in the First Three Centuries. Rev. ed. Abilene: ACU Press, 1987. (Primary sources.)

 

Ferguson, Everett, et al., eds. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. 2 vols. New York: Garland, 1997.

 

Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984.

 

Green, Michael. Evangelism in the Early Church. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.

 

Grillmeier, A. Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume One: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451). 2nd ed. Trans. John Bowden. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975.

 

Guy, Laurie. Introducing Early Christianity: A Topical Survey of Its Life, Beliefs, and Practices. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004.

 

Hanson, R. P. C. The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318–81. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988.

 

Hinson, E. Glenn. The Early Church: Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

 

Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. Rev. ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1978.

 

            . Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom—Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

 

Meeks, Wayne A. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983.

 

Quasten, Johannes. Patrology. 5 vols.

 

Sparks, Jack, ed. The Apostolic Fathers. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1978. (Primary sources.)

 

Williams, Rowan. Arius: Heresy and Tradition. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

 

Medieval:

Anselm of Canterbury. The Major Works. Oxford World’s Classics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

 

Apocalyptic Spirituality. Trans. Bernard McGinn. The Classics of Western Spirituality. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1979.  (Primary sources.)

 

Bonaventure. Trans. Ewert Cousins. The Classics of Western Spirituality. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978.

 

Gregory Palamas. Treatise on the Spiritual Life. Trans. Daniel M. Rogich. Minneapolis: Light and Life, 1995.

 

Meister Eckhart. Trans. Edmund Colledge. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1981.

 

Nichols, Aidan. Discovering Aquinas: An Introduction to His Life, Work, and Influence. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

 

Oberman, Heiko A. The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism. 1963; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000.

 

            , ed. Forerunners of the Reformation: The Shape of Late Medieval Thought Illustrated by Key Documents. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981.

 

Smalley, Beryl. The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages. New York: Philosophical Library, 1952.

 

Southern, R. W. Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages. The Penguin History of the Church 2. New York: Penguin Books, 1970.

 

Volz, Carl A. The Medieval Church: From the Dawn of the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.

 

William of Ockham. Predestination, God’s Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents. Trans. Marilyn McCord Adams and Norman Kretzmann. New York: Meredith Corporation, 1969.

 

Reformation:

Arminius, Jacobus. Works of James Arminius, 3 vols. London edition. Trans. James Nichols. 1825; repr., 1986. Available at www.ccel.org

 

Bagchi, David, and David C. Steinmetz, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

 

Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1950.

 

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559). Available at www.ccel.org

 

Cameron, Euan. European Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

 

Chadwick, Owen. The Reformation. The Penguin History of the Church 3. New York: Penguin Books, 1964.

 

Estep, W. R. The Anabaptist Story: An Introduction to Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

 

Hillerbrand, Hans J. The Division of Christendom: Christianity in the Sixteenth Century. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.

 

Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.

 

Luther, Martin. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings. Ed. John Dillenberger. New York: Doubleday, 1962.

 

Muller, Richard A. Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985.

 

            . Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2003.

 

Oberman, Heiko A. Luther: Man between God and the Devil. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.

 

O’Malley, John W. The First Jesuits. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.

 

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. 4 vols. Ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

 

Ozment, Steven. The Reformation in the Cities: The Appeal of Protestantism to Sixteenth-Century Germany and Switzerland. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975.

 

Stanglin, Keith D. Arminius on the Assurance of Salvation: The Context, Roots, and Shape of the Leiden Debate, 1603–1609. Brill’s Series in Church History, 27. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2007.

 

Wendel, François. Calvin: Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. Trans. Philip Mairet. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997.

 

Williams, George Huntston. The Radical Reformation. 3rd ed. Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies, 15. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2000.

 


1 Course requirements and schedule are subject to change.