History of Christian
Thought
BHIS 344
Spring 2008
MWF 2:00-2:50 MCIN 352
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 development of
Christian thought from the subapostolic age to the present. Outstanding leaders and major doctrines. Designed for Bible majors.
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. Define and describe
vocabulary and concepts foundational in the history of doctrine.
3. Trace the development
of core Christian doctrines throughout history.
4. Identify particular
historical figures, events, and theological trajectories that affect the church
today.
5. Grasp how our North
American roots affect our own theology and our assessment of historical
theology.
6. Understand, evaluate,
and address current issues of faith and practice in the church from an informed
historical perspective.
7. Understand and
appreciate the identity of today’s church in continuity with its past.
Required Course Textbooks:
Anderson, William P. and
Richard L. Diesslin. A Journey through
Christian Theology: With Texts from the First to the Twenty-first Century.
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, or a school-sponsored activity, 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 (3) is allowed in this class. Each additional absence above 3
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
Academic Honesty:
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
when the bell rings, and 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 (HCT for Mondays, Journey for Wednesdays). The
lectures, which will not recapitulate the textbooks, 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: 25
pts. Keep a notebook that contains all
notes over readings and lectures, as well as handouts and anything else
pertinent to the study of historical theology.
Notes should be legible and thorough.
At the back of the notebook, you should have answers to the study
questions from Journey (see #3).
3. Study questions: 75
pts. As you read Journey, answer the study questions for each group of readings, 1-31
(see pp. 219-24). Answer each question
thoroughly. Most questions will require
at least 100 words to answer, and some will require more. Stick to the primary readings
themselves. No outside research is
necessary. The answers should be typed,
with complete sentences and faultless style.
They will go in the back of your notebook and be turned in with it.
4. Vocabulary quizzes: approx. 10 pts. each. These quizzes
will be given on most Fridays (see schedule).
Find vocabulary on my website.
5.
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.
6. Quizzes/Assignments: Pop quizzes over HCT or outside assignments will be given
at the discretion of the professor.
7. (For
the 3-hour credit students) Research paper: 100 pts. Write an original research paper (1,800-2,200
words) on the topic of your choice. You
may examine a particular thinker, idea, or doctrinal controversy of church
history.
Use at least one primary source besides Journey, and at least four secondary
sources besides HCT. 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 29 Talk
with me or email me about your topic before
Spring Break.
b) April 4 Annotated
bibliography: A bibliography of at least five sources
c) April 11 Outline
d) April 18 The paper is due on Apr.
18, at 2:00 p.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 2. 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.
8. Final exam: 100
pts. The final will be comprehensive. Tuesday, May 6, 8:00-10:00.
9. 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 23. Late work will not be accepted for extra
credit.
Grading Scale:
Total points: around 610
(or 710).
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:
Introduction
Second-century Martyrdom
(Ignatius of Antioch)
HCT 9-11; Journey pp.
ix-x, and section 1
Vocab 1
Apologists (Greek
Philosophy, Justin Martyr)
HCT 13-23; Journey section
2
Vocab 2
Old Catholic Theology (Irenaeus,
Tertullian, Origen, Arianism)
HCT 23-64; Journey 4-6
Vocab 3
Nicene/Post-Nicene
Theology (Athanasius, Ecumenical Councils and Creeds)
HCT 64-69; Journey 7-8
Vocab 4
Exam 1
Christology (Cappadocian
Fathers, Desert Fathers)
HCT 69-78
Vocab 5
Late Antiquity (Pelagianism,
Augustine, Cyril of
HCT 78-106; Journey 9-10
Vocab 6
Byzantine Theology (Maximus
the Confessor, Symeon the New Theologian, The Great Schism, Gregory Palamas, Third
HCT 106-23
Vocab 7
Western Medieval Theology
(Papacy,
HCT 124-47; Journey 11-13
Exam 2
High and Late Scholasticism
(Mendicant Orders, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, Meister
Eckhart, Medieval Mysticism, Women, Thomas à Kempis, John Wyclif, Jan Hus)
HCT 147-77; Journey 14-17
Sixteenth-century
Division (Renaissance, Martin Luther)
HCT 178-94; Journey 18
Vocab 8
Later Reformation
(Catholic Reformation, Calvin, Arminius; Puritanism)
HCT 194-211; Journey 19
Vocab 9
Early Modern Thought (Pietism,
John Wesley, Enlightenment, Gotthold Lessing, Kant)
HCT 211-25; Journey 20
Exam 3
Post-Enlightenment
Thought (F. Schleiermacher, David Strauss, Søren Kierkegaard, Science,
Evangelicalism, Albrecht Ritschl, J. H. Newman, Adolf von Harnack, Albert
Schweitzer)
HCT 225-62; Journey 21-25
Vocab 10
20th-century
Theology (Barth, R. Otto, Bultmann, Bonhoeffer, Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, Rahner,
Process Theology, Liberation Theology, Moltmann, Feminist Theology, Pannenberg,
African/Asian Christianity)
HCT 263-331; Journey
26-31
Historical-Theological-Pedagogical
Counsels for Students
Herbert Butterfield
“Real historical
understanding is not achieved by the subordination of the past to the present,
but rather by our making the past our present and attempting to see life with
the eyes of another century than our own.”
“If we turn our present
into an absolute to which all other generations are merely relative, we are in
any case losing the truer vision of ourselves which history is able to give; we
fail to realize those things in which we too are merely relative, and we lose a
chance of discovering where, in the stream of the centuries, we ourselves, and
our ideas and prejudices, stand. In
other words we fail to see how we ourselves are, in our turn, not quite
autonomous or unconditioned, but a part of the great historical process; not
pioneers merely, but also passengers in the movement of things.” (The
Whig Interpretation of History, 16, 63)
A. Grillmeier
“We do not understand the
present condition of our faith in Christ unless we have taken the measure of
this faith as it was in the past.”
(Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume One, xxiii)
Etienne Gilson
“It takes much more
cleverness to understand a philosophy than to refute it.”
G. K. Chesterton
“Tradition is only
democracy extended through time…an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most
obscure of all classes, our ancestors.
It is the democracy of the dead.”
Benjamin B.
Warfield
“You cannot build up a religious life except you begin
by performing your simple, daily duties….You must faithfully give yourselves to
your studies, if you wish to be religious men.
No religious character can be built up on the foundation of neglected
duty.”
(The Religious
Life of the Theological Student)
Cornelius
Plantinga, Jr.
“Becoming a real student of God and of creation—becoming
alert, respectful, and honest in your studies—is an act of flagrant
intellectual obedience because it is an act of flagrant intellectual love….Love
the Lord your God with all your mind.”
(“Intellectual Love,” Convocation Sermon, Calvin
Theological Seminary, 1996)
Paul
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as
working for the Lord, not for men” (Col. 3:23).
“I have learned the secret
of being content in any and every situation….I can do everything through him
who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:12-13).
History of Christian Thought
Select Bibliography
compiled by Dr. K. Stanglin
Bagchi, David, and David
C. Steinmetz, eds. The
Grenz, Stanley J. and
Roger Olson. 20th-Century
Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age.
Grillmeier, A. Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume One:
From the Apostolic Age to
Hanson, R. P. C. The Search for the Christian Doctrine of
God: The Arian Controversy, 318–81.
Hart, Trevor, ed. The Dictionary of Historical Theology.
Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. Rev. ed.
Lane, Anthony N. S. A Concise History of Christian Thought.
Rev. ed.
Muller, Richard A. Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms:
Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology.
. Post-Reformation Reformed
Dogmatics. 4 vols.
Noll, Mark. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the
History of Christianity.
Oberman, Heiko A. The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel
Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism. 1963; repr.,
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition. 5 vols.
Placher, William C. A History of Christian Theology: An
Introduction.
Seeberg, Reinhold. Textbook of the History of Doctrines. 2
vols. in 1.
Stanglin, Keith D. Arminius on the Assurance of Salvation: The
Context, Roots, and Shape of the
Ware, Timothy. The
Orthodox Church. New edition.
Williams, Rowan. Arius: Heresy and Tradition. Rev. ed.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.