Church History Courses

Show All Courses -- Hide All Courses

Basic Courses

• CHIST 202 / Church History 1 (3) - (view)
  The history of Christianity, emphasizing its social and theological development, from the first century to the end of the 15th century. Offered fall semester annually.
• CHIST 203 / Church History 2 (3) - (view)
  A continuation of CHIST 202, beginning with the backgrounds to the Protestant Reformation and continuing to the 21st century, emphasizing social and institutional developments and theological traditions. Offered spring semester annually.
• CHIST 239 / Topics in Church History (3) - (view)
  Topics vary and are announced at registration. May be repeated for credit.
• CHIST 260 / United Methodist History, Doctrine, and Polity I (3) - (view)
  A study of origins, organization, outreach, religious life and key ideas, issues, events, and figures in the development of United Methodism. Aims at enabling the student 1) to understand and evaluate United Methodism in the light of its antecedent organizations and the broader context of those traditions historically related to the Methodist movement; and 2) to engage in responsible participation in the life and leadership of the United Methodist Church, to communicate effectively the tradition, and to participate perceptively in the ecumenical dialogue. Prerequisite: CHIST 203. Fall semester annually.
• LOGON 240 / A Short Course in United Meth. History, Doctrine & Polity (3) - (view)
  A one semester course that provides an understanding of the origins, history, and key issues and figures in the development of United Methodism in addition to enabling the student to understand the current polity of the course. This course is intended to fill the denominational requirements for deaconesses, and certification candidates. It does not fulfill the requirement for the M Div degree. Students in that track should take the two semester CHIST 260-261 sequence.
• LOGON 260 / United Methodist History, Doctrine, and Polity I (3) - (view)
  This is a year long online course that meets in full the United Methodist studies requirements for ordination. Prerequisite: CHIST 203 OR EQUIVALENT.
• LOGON 261 / United Methodist History, Doctrine, and Polity II (3) - (view)
  This is a year long online course that meets in full the United Methodist studies requirements for ordination.

Advanced Courses

• CHIST 214 / Poverty and Sanctity in Medieval Society (3) - (view)
  High Medieval Europe witnessed two simultaneous revolutions: the birth of a commercial, proto-capitalist economy, and a popular religious awakening that drew on Biblical texts to mount a wide-ranging social critique of the emerging profit economy as well as established religious institutions. In this course students will read both modern historical accounts and also medieval documents about heretics, saints, lepers, and moneylenders in order to trace the origins of an urban commercial culture and to examine its critical observers, the voices of both the "orthodox" and "heretical" evangelical poverty movements of the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries. In considering both heretical and orthodox figures and beliefs as well as the changing conditions of profit-making and poverty, we shall explore medieval Europeans' notions of a rightly ordered society and the legacy left to us by their ideas about wealth and charity.Texts include biographies of such figures as Saints Francis, Prerequisite: CHIST 202 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 215 / Studies in Gnosticism (3) - (view)
  An exploration of an elusive and eclectic ancient religious phenomenon through a reading of the heresiological sources and the Nag Hammadi corpus, in conjunction with recent scholarly literature. Course may be repeated. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: CHIST 202 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 218 / The Thought of Augustine (3) - (view)
  The thought of Augustine of Hippo based upon extensive readings in his major works. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 219 / Seminar in Medieval Studies (3) - (view)
  Topics vary and are announced before registration. Course may be repeated. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 220 / The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (3) - (view)
  A study of historical theology in pursuit of a Thomistic synthesis of medieval philosophy and theology, based upon selected readings in the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 222 / Early Medieval Theology (3) - (view)
  Lectures, readings, assigned papers, and discussions tracing the main currents of theological development from the ninth century to the beginning of the high scholastic period: John Scotus Eriguena and early scholasticism; Anselm of Canterbury and "fides quaerens intellectum"; Peter Abelard and dialectical theology; Bernard of Clairvaux and monastic theology; Hugh of Saint Victor and the Agustinian tradition; Peter Lombard and the Sentences. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 223 / Late Medieval Theology (3) - (view)
  A study of some of the dominant themes of religious thought as reflected by the writings of outstanding figures from the late 13th century to the eve of Reformation. Duns Scotus and the via antigua; Meister Eckhart and the mystics; William Ockham and the via moderna<; Gabriel Biel and late medieval nominalism; Nicholas of Cusa and "learned ignorance"; Wyclif, Hus, and reform. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 227 / Eastern Christianity (3) - (view)
  History of the four Ancient Patriarchates and the seven separated churches of the East until the time of the Roman Schism. This course is offered in conjunction with the College of Liberal Arts course REL 27. Prerequisite: BIBST 111 and CHIST 202 or their equivalents. Same as: REL 27.
• CHIST 228 / Eastern Christianity (3) - (view)
  The Orthodox Church from the 11th century to the present; later history of the separated churches; the uniates, Eastern dissenters, and Protestant Oriental communities. This course is offered in conjunction with the College of Liberal Arts course REL 28. Prerequisite: BIBST 111 and CHIST 202 or their equivalents. Same as: REL 28.
• CHIST 231 / Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Christianity (3) - (view)
  A seminar engaging both women's history and the history of cultural constructions of gender and sexuality through the readings of the New Testament and other Christian texts of Mediterranean antiquity, in combination with recent works of critical scholarship. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 111 and CHIST 202 or their equivalents.
• CHIST 234 / Readings in John Wesley (3) - (view)
  An intensive study of Wesley's theology based on readings of his major works. Course may be repeated. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 240 / A Short Course in United Methodist History, Doctrine and Polity (3) - (view)
  A one-semester course that provides an understanding of the origins, history, and key issues and figures in the development of United Methodism in addition to enabling the student to understand the current polity of the course. This course is intended to fill the denominational requirements for deaconesses, deacons, and certification candidates. It does not fulfill the requirements for the M.Div. degree. Students in that track should take the two-semester CHIST 260--261 sequence.
• CHIST 244 / Evangelism in the United Methodist Tradition (3) - (view)
  This course will focus on an articulation of a definition of evangelism, a biblical basis for evangelism and a theology of evangelism. It will provide students with a familiarity and practical tools for helping both individuals and congregations engage in evangelism. This course fulfills the Division of Ordained Ministry requirement in evangelism for United Methodist students.
• CHIST 250 / America: One Nation, One God? (3) - (view)
  Weaving historical insights and perspectives into current concerns about religion and national identity, this class focuses on major religious movements, personalities, and topics in the United States. It foregrounds the study of American Christian traditions, due to their historical influence, yet also gives some attention to non-Christian religions as well. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: Prerequisite: CHIST 203 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 253 / American Mystics (3) - (view)
  This course examines the mystical writings of Americans from a time span of over two centuries, including Thomas Merton, John Muir, Rachel Carson, William James, Mother Ann Lee, Jemima Wilkinson, Rufus Jones, Howard Thurman, Henry David Thoreau, and others. Some of the questions that motivate our inquiry are: Who counts as a mystic, and why? And who gets to decide? What is the relationship between mystical contemplation and social action? Between mysticism and religious orthodoxies? How do we understand mystics in relation to their particular contexts? What spiritual and intellectual insights for our own time can we glean from reading mystics from another moment in time?
• CHIST 255 / God, Sex, and the Making of American Families (3) - (view)
  This course examines how religious ideas and practices - particularly forms of Christianity - have influenced both private and public understandings of sex and family in the United States. Themes include the regulation of sex practices within and outside of marriage; the conflation of monogamous marriage with virtue and republican ideology; the meanings of domesticity; domesticity's shadows, including slavery and polygamy; and same-sex love and the emergence of modern sexual identities and practices. Prerequisite: CHIST 203 or equivalent. Same as: COMFE 255.
• CHIST 262 / Topics in American Methodism (3) - (view)
  An intensive study, based on original sources, of selected topics in the rise and development of American Methodism with a view toward defining the nature of the Methodist tradition. Course may be repeated. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 265 / Orthodoxy and Heresy in Late Antiquity (3) - (view)
  Title: Orthodoxy and Heresy in Late Antiquity This doctoral seminar has three broad goals: to examine the development of discourses of orthodoxy and heresy and genres of heresiology as a means of negotiating unity and difference among ancient Christians; to explore diversities of belief and practice within ancient Christianity; and to analyze trends in contemporary historiography with regard to issues of orthodoxy and heresy, unity and difference. We will give particular attention to (constructions of) Gnosticism and Arianism and their orthodox counterparts, while also attending to other controversies such as the Origenist, Priscillianist, Pelagian, and Nestorian.
• CHIST 266 / The Minister in the MIrror (3) - (view)
  Description pending.
• CHIST 268 / Race and American Christianity (3) - (view)
  An intensive consideration of the power of race in American Christian cultures, with an emphasis on recent critical theories of race. Same as: COMFE 268.
• CHIST 269 / History of Missions from the Reform Era to the Twentieth Century (3) - (view)
  Beginning with the emergence of mission energy within Roman Catholic religious societies in the sixteenth century, this course will follow the spread of Christianity from Europe and then England and North America, finishing with the twentieth-century mission impulse from the "missionized" Christian world. Prerequisite: CHIST 203 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 270 / Prayer,God,& the Body:Hist.& Cross Cultural Perspectives (3) - (view)
  What are the historical origins of Christian practices and theories of prayer? How are these origins entwined with the histories of prayer in other ancient Mediterranean religious traditions? In our own time, how do Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists (among others) pray, and how do they understand their practices? What are the implications of particular kinds of prayer for theology, or of particular kinds of theology for prayer? To what extent and in what ways is prayer an embodied practice? How does prayer draw on material objects, and what is the role of sensory perception in prayer? Such questions will be considered in an exploratory seminar designed primarily for MDiv and MTS students, but open to others. Practice as well as theory will be incorporated into the class sessions: students may be asked not only to observe but also to try new things. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: CHIST 202 OR EQUIVALENT.
• CHIST 271 / Evangelism and Social Justice: The Social Gospel Movement in Global Perspective: 1880-2000. (3) - (view)
  This course explores the various modalities of the Social Gospel movement (Romantic, Scientific Modernist, Evangelical, Socialist, etc.) and its ramifying influence in contemporary theology and church life. Of particular focus is the continuing global outreach and manifestation of the "social gospel" approach to evangelism vis a vis "personal gospel" strategies.
• CHIST 276 / History of Evangelism in US America (3) - (view)
  This seminar explores the historical patterns of "great awakenings" in North America and their cultural and social impact on USAmerican Christianity. Particular attention will be given to the fluctuating relationship between religion and reform. Various contemporary "movements of the Spirit" will be examined and explored (e.g. charismatic and "third wave" evangelism, media religion and cyberchurch, seeker-sensitive churches, alternative worship, "The New Reformation/Reformission"), and contemporary practices of evangelism will be investigated in terms of their impact on postmodern cultures and emerging churches.
• CHIST 278 / Santa Christ: Ministry of Mission and Evangelism in Advent and Christmastide (3) - (view)
  Over 10 percent of a pastor's time is spent in liturgical preparations and celebrations relating to Christmas. This course explores Christmas as a festival of memory, a festival of birth, an exchange ritual and a civil religious ritual. Particular emphasis given to the diverse expressions of Christmas in global Christianity, and the creative possibilities of missions and evangelism that can be generated from Advent to Christmastide.
• CHIST 279 / Revivalism and American Christianity (3) - (view)
  This course will explore the ways in which scholars have understood the religious phenomenon known as "revival." Using both primary and secondary sources and moving from the early 18th century to the 20th, we will investigate this topic as a historiographical problem and look for new ways to talk about the elements of religious experience that have conventionally been marked as the framework for revivals.
• CHIST 282 / Is God On Our Side? Religion and U.S. Politics (3) - (view)
  A study of the influences of religion, particularly Christian traditions, on political developments in the U.S from the early national period up to the present. Themes include the First Amendment and its litigation, Protestant projections of American manifest destiny, religious interventions in contested matters such as family life, the twentieth-century invention of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and the continuing quest to create a Christian America. Course may be repeated. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: CHIST 203 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 286 / History of U.S. Wesleyan/ Methodist Missions (3) - (view)
  Beginning with the emergence of mission energy within Roman Catholic religious societies in the sixteenth century, this course will follow the spread of Christianity from Europe and then England and North America, finishing with the twentieth-century mission impulse from the missionized Christian world.
• CHIST 287 / Readings in Late Antiquity: Creation,Creativity,and Beauty (3) - (view)
  This doctoral seminar will explore late ancient Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, and Platonic texts that interpret creation in the wake of Genesis 1-3 and Plato's "Timaeus." Of particular interest will be the status of materiality and embodiment; gender and the erotic; beauty, art, and divine/human creativity. Where possible, we will work directly with the ancient languages. Enrollment limit: 10.
• CHIST 288 / Histories of Christianization in the Ancient and Med.World (3) - (view)
  No description is available for this course. Prerequisite: CHIST 202 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 292 / Ancient Christologies (3) - (view)
  A contextual exploration of varied ideas about Christ in the critical formative period from the first through the fifth centuries, ending with the "definitive" Christological formulations of the Council of Chalcedon (451). For students with particular interest in ancient Christianity and/or historical theology. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: CHIST 202 or its equivalent.
• CHIST 298 / Late Ancient Judaism (3) - (view)
  A seminar exploring the history of Judaism from the hellenistic to the early rabbinic periods, with particular attention to the place of Christianity in that history. Attention is given to selected historiographic issues as encountered in the reading of recent scholarly literature, complemented by readings of ancient texts. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 111 and CHIST 202 or their equivalents. Same as: BIBST 725. Same as: BIBST 725.
• CHIST 734 / American Religion through Literature (3) - (view)
  This seminar, intended for doctoral students, is a study of literary and popular works that illumine American religious life in various historical periods. Novels and short stories that criticize and/or satirize the role of clergy and the church will be a particular focus, but we will also take a look at literature that seeks to present new or alternative visions of spirituality. In addition to works of high literary value, such as Nathaniel Hawthornes A Scarlet Letter, we also study 19th century popular novels such as like Elizabeth Phelps The Gates Ajar and the recent bestseller Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.
• CHIST 739 / Martyrdom and Asceticism in the Early Church (3) - (view)
  An examination of martyrdom and asceticism, particularly at their points of intersection and overlap, that focuses on the production of the self as sufferer in ancient Christian martyrology and hagiography, with reference also to Jewish and pagan literatures. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: CHIST 202. Same as: CHIST 294.
• CHIST 750 / Confessions and Confession (3) - (view)
  This seminar centers on Augustine's Confessions while also using the text to explore more broadly the character of confessional language, literature, ritual. The approach is interdisciplinary and readings potentially include not only Augustine's but also Rousseau's Confessions, as well as selections from the works of such theorists as Peter Brooks, Paul DeMan, Jacques Derrida. Enrollment priority: Open to doctoral and advanced masters students. Signature of instructor required for registration.
• CHIST 751 / Empire, Race, and Place: Theorizing Religious Identity in Context (3) - (view)
  A cross-disciplinary doctoral seminar examining the formation and contestation of religious and ethnic identities in the context of empire. The questions pursued are broadly theoretical and the readings are interdisciplinary, including postcolonial theory, materialist analysis, critical race theory, and critical geography. Signature of the Instructor required for registration.
• LOGON 244 / Evangelism in the Methodist Tradition (3) - (view)
  See the description for CHIST 244.