I. BACKGROUND
Religious
Conflicts and European Expansion in the Shaping of America
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THEME: Although diverse religious influences
have shaped American culture, the dominant tradition has been Protestant Christianity.
This topic provides an overview of
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how
traditional
Catholic Christianity was
transformed by the Protestant Reformation in the early period of European
expansion |
|
how
religious conflicts affected European expansion into the Americas
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Points to remember:
| Christianity is the most general term to
denote all groups based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
 | The three main groups are
Roman Catholic,
Protestant, and
Orthodox
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| Before the 16th century, Christianity
was Catholic (Latin) in western and central Europe and Orthodox (Greek
or Slavic) in eastern Europe. Both were
variations on traditional classical Christianity.
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| In the 16th century Catholic
(Latin)
Christianity was split by the
Protestant
Reformation. Eastern Orthodoxy was not affected.
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Traditional Christianity: Cultus, Creed, Community: What are the main features
of traditional Christianity?
| Christian Myth: Creation, Fall, Redemption
| Christ:: "The Second Adam" |
| Logos and Incarnation |
| Atonement: Sacrifice of the Cross |
| Resurrection and Second Coming |
| Kingdom of God & the End Time: Now and Not Yet |
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| Consecration of Nature
| Sacramental System |
| Church as the Body of Christ |
| Economy of Salvation |
| Priesthood and Laity |
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| Consecration of Time
| Sacred History |
| Scripture |
| Liturgy
 | Liturgical Cycle |
| Popular Devotions: Cult of Saints and Pilgrimages |
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| Christendom: Ideal of Community
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Age of Renaissance & Reformation & The
Emergence of the Modern World
| Late Medieval Crisis and the Tradition of Renewal and Reform
| Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church Always in
Need of Reform) |
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| The Renaissance,
Intellectual Challenge & the Reform Impulse: Ad Fontes! (To the
Sources!) |
| Emergence of World Market &
European Expansion |
| Competitive Dynastic States (link
to my Core 4 lecture for more background)
| Spain: Purified Faith and National
Power [Read Marty, chap. 2] |
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| Roots of American Religious Pluralism
| The Age of Reformation and
Upheaval, 1517-1648): Splintering of Traditional Christianity in the West (Read Marty, chap. 4)
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Reformation:
(a collection of sources) |
| Protestants, Catholics, and Reshaping of Traditional Christianity
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| Encounters with Native Peoples [Read
Marty, chaps. 1, 3]
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