Church History

• STH TH 812: The Church in Late Antiquity
  The development of the Christian Church, its institutions, theology, and social and political roles, from Constantine to Charlemagne, in the context of the transformations of late antique culture and society, East and West. COUNTS AS A MDIV CHURCH HISTORY II CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TH 817: Varieties of Ancient Christianity
  Surveys the many different and often competing forms of Christianity that arose and flourished in the second to the seventh century, from the "apostolic period" to the Arab conquest in the Middle East. It is highly recommended that students have taken at least one prior course in biblical or New Testament literature.
• STH TH 820: History of Western Christian Spirituality
  TAn introduction to the historical study of Western Christian spiritual practices. The course exposes students to the historical-critical study of spiritual practices through careful examination of selected narratives of Western Christian spirituality, primary texts, and participatory observation. Participants will learn to analyze spiritual practices--such as reading, fasting, and prayer--by the twofold process of "abstracting/isolating" practices and "reading/interpreting" them in their historical context. While emphasis will be placed on the synchronic interpretation of practices, due attention will also be given to their development over time. Readings will include selected articles representative of current methodology in the field. Participants will gain a better understanding of continuity and change of spiritual practices in Western Christian traditions.
• STH TH 821: History and Doctrine of United Methodism
  An exploration of Methodist origins, the Wesleys, the rise of Methodism in England, and the distinctive doctrines of Wesleyan theology. There is a particular focus on the development of the various United Methodist traditions in America and their impact on society. The course is designed to meet one of the requirements for membership in a UMC Annual Conference.
• STH TH 823: Modern Christian Biography
  This course focuses on the period ca. 1600-1899 and examines Christianity of the Modern Period through the lives of representative personalities from Europe and North America. Their lives provide the focus for an examination of the broader artistic, social, economic, and political trends of the time.
• STH TH 825: The Medieval Church
  Survey of social, personal, institutional, and theological aspects of reform and renewal in the late medieval and early modern periods, including Nominalism, Conciliarism, the papacy, Luther, the German and Swiss Reformations, Anabaptism and radical reformers, Calvin, the French Reformation, the English Reformation, Catholic Reform, and the Council of Trent.
• STH TH 826: The Reformations.
  We will study the religious crises of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including the social, political, economic, and intellectual context within which the Reformation occurred. Key figures include Martin Luther in the Germanies; the Anabaptist, Menno Simons; John Calvin in France and Switzerland; Henry VIII and his divorce from his wife and from Rome, producing the Church of England, precursor to modern Methodism. The age of the Reformation includes the Catholics, not just the Council of Trent, but also new religious orders, schools, and social initiatives: the socially-conscious Sisters of Charity, the teaching Ursulines, the cloistered Carmelites; Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits; Charles Borromeo, reforming Bishop of Milan; Vincent de Paul, advocate for the poor; Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, Carmelite reformers and mystics; and Jean Baptiste de la Salle, founder of the Christian Brothers. We will pay attention to the care of the poor in this turbulent era. COUNTS AS A MDIV CHURCH HISTORY II CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TH 827: American Church History
  The development of American Christianity as a social, intellectual, institutional, and cultural movement. The course includes visits to churches in Boston. COUNTS AS A MDIV CHURCH HISTORY II CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TH 832: Modern Church History
  This Church History II period survey (ca. 1600-1865) examines Christianity in light of social, economic, and political trends in the geographic regions of Europe, North America, and Latin America. COUNTS AS A MDIV CHURCH HISTORY II CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TH 847: Global Christianity
  Overview of trends and issues in world Christianity today, with lectures by specialists who contributed to the Atlas of Global Christianity, and speakers from the Boston 2010 conference in November. Sponsored by the BTI. COUNTS AS A MDIV CHURCH HISTORY II CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TH 848: World Christianity
  Historical development of world Christianity. Emphasis on social, cultural, spiritual, and political issues in African, Asian and Latin American Christianity in the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries.
• STH TH 854: Life and Works of Bartolome de las Casas
  A study of the life and theology of the Spanish Dominican missionary Fray Bartolome de las Casas (1474/84-1566), the "Apostle of the Indies." The universal stature of Las Casas is only becoming clearer as we celebrate the five-hundredth anniversary of his "first conversion" of 1514. In that year, Las Casas rejected the system of the encomiendas and began a lifelong journey in defense of the rights of the indigenous people of the Americas. Participants will be introduced to the historical context of his life and writings.
• STH TH 855: Women and American Religion
  This course investigates the contribution of women in American religious history. Tracing women's participation in American religion from the colonial settlement to the present, the course analyzes ways that women's leadership has shaped the religious and cultural development of the United States. The class examines the leadership models developed by women of diverse racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds, investigating how the history of women in American religion relates to contemporary models of leadership in 21st-century North American church and society.
• STH TH 870: Calvin and the Reformed Tradition
  On this eve of the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth, we will accomplish two things in this course. (1) We will read from Calvin in translation from his Institutes, treatises, polemical writings, and letters, and (2) we will analyze contemporary historical and theological writings on him and his era. Students will be able to read and write on any subject within the Reformed tradition that interests them from the 16th century to contemporary topics in the present such as Presbyterianism, the United Church of Christ, Unitarianism, Puritanism (in England and New England),the Great Awakening, and the impact of the Reformed tradition on the worldwide Anglican churches and their denominational offshoots, such as Methodism.
• STH TH 876: Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leadership in Context
  This interdisciplinary course will review the life and ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as other leaders of the civil right movement in the United States. The course will investigate how historical contexts of Rev. Dr. Martin King, are related to pastroal traditions and prophetic ministry of community and church through correlated study. The emphasis on the role of a cohort of religious and community leaders who worked with King will be explored. Our examination of prophetic ministry during the Civil Rights era, will be oriented to issues of race, gender, class and social justice.
• STH TH 902: Christianity Beyond Early Modern Europe
  An in depth study of the reach of Christianity in the early modern period (c. 1450-c.1650). The course follows the path of early modern Catholicism from fifteenth-century Europe, through the ascent of the Portuguese and Spanish seaborne empires, and examines the role of the missionary religious orders in the processes of Christianization and inculturation.
• STH TH 910: History of Christian Mission
  A seminar in the history of Christian missions, from the early church to the present. Issues of historiography, method, and the emergence of non-western church history. Required course for doctoral students in mission studies.
• STH TH 920: History of American Theological Liberalism
  American Theological Liberalism is a doctoral-level seminar that provides an overview into the historical and theological development of liberal theology in the United States. Through reading a variety of primary and secondary sources, the course is designed to provide students an historical and theological overview into the development of liberalism and assess the ongoing significance of theological liberalism in church and society today.
• STH TH 924: Women in the Reformation
  Examination of the participation of women in the reformations of the sixteenth century and the effect of theological and ecclesiastical changes on women and gender roles in early modern society. Topics include marriage, childbirth, household management, education, authorship, exercise of power, and cloistered life amid the different confessional movements of the early modern period.
• STH TH 925: The Bible in the Reformation
  Examination of the role of the Bible in the reformations of the sixteenth century, including the development and divergence of Reformation hermeneutics in late medieval and Renaissance context. Special attention will be given to the vernacular translation and popular presentation of the Bible in the sixteenth century press and pulpit.

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