SYLLABUS

PART I, THE FIRST CENTURY: FROM JESUS TO CHRIST

Note the PBS series From Jesus to Christ as a web site supplement to the readings for Part I. Explore it during the first four weeks. Specific parts of the series are listed under the topics below.

Topic I. The Search for the Historical Jesus

Introduction: [BE: chaps. 1,2], JP: Intro.

W: The Search: Jesus' Many Faces

Gospels as Sources: : [BE: chaps. 3-6], B: Mark

W: Origin of the Gospels

Topic II. Jesus’ World: Judaism, Hellenism, Roman Power

[BE: chap. 7; W: Portrait of Jesus' World]

Topic III. Jesus: His Life & Death

	General Background: [BE: chaps. 8-12]; JP: chap. 1
	Political Subversive: B: [ Passion Narratives] Matthew, 26-27; Mark, 14-15; Luke, 22-23; John, 10:22-13:38, 18-19
	Religious Subversive: B: Matthew, 5-7; Mark, 1-9; Luke, 6-20:49; John, 2:13-23; 4-8
	Reconstructing Jesus' Life: Limits of the Historical Project

Topic IV. Early Christianities and the Emergence of the Church

General Background: [BE: chaps. 13,14; MN, chap. 1]; JP: chap. 2; W: Early Christians

Risen Messiah: B: Mark 16, Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 1:1-18; 20-21; 1^st Corinthians, 15; Romans, 5

W: Early Jesus Movement

First Communities; B: Galatians; 1^st Corinthians; Acts 1:15-26; 2:1-47; 6; 7; 15:1-29;

First Essay due Oct. 13

PART II, FOUNDATIONS OF CLASSICAL CHRISTIANITY, 100-1500

Topic V. The Patristic Age, 100-800

Appropriation of Classical Culture; Expansion & Conversions
[MN; chap. 2]; JP: chap. 3

The Cosmic Christ Image
[MN: chap. 3]; D: Part I, Sections II-V

The Son of Man: Incarnation & Christian View of Human Nature
[ JP: 6; B: Romans, chaps. 6-7:14-23; D: Part I, Section VI

Christian Iconography [Slide Presentation]

JP: 7; D: Part III, Section I d: Iconoclastic Controversy

Topic VI. The King of Kings and the Christian Empire

	King of Kings Image (JP: chap. 4 )
	Foundations of Christian Political and Social Theory [MN: chap. 5; D: Part I, Section 1, pp. 7-25

Part III, Christendom: East & West, 500-1500

Topic VII. Greek and Latin Traditions: Eastern & Western Christianity

Tradition of Eastern Orthodox Piety

W: Browse at least one of these sites:
Eastern Orthodox Art Treasures, Mount Athos Monasteries
Mount Athos and Greek Orthodox Monasticism
Greek Orthodox Monasticism, an extensive media site
Greek Orthodox Monastic Tradition, another rich site

From Estrangement to Schism and the Challenge of Islam [MN: chap. 6; D: Part II, section I, pp. 105-106]

Topic VIII. Western Christianity and the Latin Church: The Rise of the Papacy & the Conversion of Western Europe

The Two Swords: Papacy and Empire

MN: chap. 5; D: Part II, Section II, 106-127

The Monastic Ideal & Renewal (JP: chap. 9; MN: chap. 4; D: Part II, Section III

Forms of Piety & Mysticism

JP: chap. 10; W: Julian of Norwich

Christian Humanism & the Transformation of Church and Society

	The Divine & Human Model (JP: chap. 11) W: Francis
	Christian Humanism & the Renaissance [Slide Presentation] (JP: chap. 12; W: Erasmus, Paraclesus)

PART IV, RESHAPING OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE MODERN WORLD, 1500-2000

Topic IX. Divisions and Expansion

	Background: New Worlds, New Contexts
	Reformations & the Splintering of Western Christianity [MN: chaps. 7-9; JP: chaps. 13,14; D: Part II, Section VIII: I, II; Section IX; Section X: I, II, III
	Spiritual Renewal and the Arts [Slide Presentation]

Topic X. The Enlightenment & the Emergence of the Modern Perspective

	Scientific Revolution & Encounters with Diverse Cultures
	Teacher of Common Sense: The Enlightenment Challenge [JP: chap. 15; D: Section XII (345-349)
	New Piety [MN: Chap. 10; D: Part II, Section XII (349-351)

Topic XI. Individualism & Secularism in the 19th & 20th Centuries

	Background: The End of Christendom: Christianity & the Democratic and Industrial Revolutions MN: Chap. 11
	Christ, Poet of the Spirit: 19th-Century Idealism & Romanticism JP: chap. 16
	The Challenge of Secular Ideologies & the Modern State D: Part II, Section XIV (372-375, 403-404)

Topic XII. Quests for Liberation in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Christ, Liberator
JP: chap. 17; D: Part II, Section XIV (375-395-397-400); W: Gandhi; Womanist Theology

Topic XIII. Towards the Third Millennium: Cultural Encounters in Global Perspective

	Christianity: From the West to the Wider World MN: chap. 13; JP: chap. 18; W: KC Sen
	Shifting Currents and Profiles: Late 20th-Century Issues [MN: chap. 13]

Schedule of Topics & Readings

Reading assignments in the syllabus are coded as follows: