RELS-233

Christianity: A Historical Introduction

Spring 2010 Instructor: Nathan Rein
MWF 11-11:50am Office hours: M 1:30-3pm, Tue 10 am-12 noon, and by appt.
Olin 108 Olin 211, x. 2571, nrein@ursinus.edu

Course description
This course will examine some of the main themes characteristic of the Christian
religion, focusing mainly—but not exclusively—on Christian theological reflection.
You will concentrate on primary sources throughout the semester, ranging from the
foundational texts of the New Testament through the twentieth-century theology.
The course is arranged thematically rather than chronologically and will deal with
topics like struggle and transformation, belief and knowledge, worship and the
Christian life, and Christianity in the modern world. Rather than try to present a
comprehensive picture of the tradition—which seems impossible to me—I am
trying to introduce you to some of the great debates and problems against which
Christian thinkers have defined themselves over the centuries.

Several interrelated questions will define the course. Keep these questions in mind
as you read and discuss the material. In no particular order, the questions are:
(1) How have Christians responded to the demands of the secular world and to
the changing norms of world history?
(2) How have Christians translated the gospel of salvation through Jesus into
everyday life and understanding? What are some of the ways that
Christianity has changed its followers?
(3) How do Christian ideas and practices shape the way individuals and
communities have dealt with the human body?
(4) What attitudes have Christians typically adopted towards knowledge, reason,
or belief? Have Christians understood knowledge of religious matters as
essentially different from other sorts of knowledge?

A word of clarification: this course is not constructed with the assumption that you
are a Christian. Nor is it constructed with the assumption that you are not. Similarly,
it will not assume that any one version of Christianity is more correct, more
authentic, truer, or better than another. Our approach to the tradition will be
historical and critical (not critical in the sense of "hostile," but critical in the sense of
"giving careful, thorough, and analytical consideration"). Keep in mind that
"Christianity" doesn't exist out there, in the world, independent of Christians, just as
there is no free-floating English language that can be abstracted and separated from
the people who actually speak English every day. In studying religion, we are
entering into a relationship with real people, their ideas and feelings, and their
attempts to make sense of their own lives, rather than studying some abstract,
disembodied, intellectual tradition. While the works we read will indeed get quite
abstract at times, try not to lose sight of the fact that there is always a person behind
the words, trying to sort things out for him- or herself. On a fundamental level,
Christianity is concerned with the basic dilemmas of human life: the need to live
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within the limits of one's own body and mind; the inevitability of sickness, old age
and death; the pressures of coexistence with other people; the elusiveness of
experiences of joy and peace.

The simple purpose of the course is to explore the Christian tradition — or, perhaps
more appropriately, traditions in the plural. As we will see, Christianity is alive, more
of an ongoing conversation than a static set of doctrines. Our work will consist
primarily of reading, writing (both formal and informal/ungraded), discussions in
and outside of the classroom, and some basic field work, meaning that throughout
the semester you will actually visit churches, interview people, and examine
artifacts from the world around you.

Requirements, assignments and grading

Course requirements:
- Regular class attendance
- Attendance at two out-of-class field visits, including reports to the class
afterwards
- Four formal (graded) papers, three 3-5 pp. and one 8-12 pp.
- Weekly focus papers (you must turn in nine over the course of the semester;
these are due each Thursday and will be not be graded)
- Peer responses to formal papers
- Brief in-class presentations (two to three)

I plan to assign the shorter formal papers for the weeks of Feb. 8, March 1, and April
5, but this may change. There will also be regular informal written and oral
assignments; I'll hand out more information on this separately. Depending on what I
observe in the classroom, I might also decide to use tests or quizzes on the reading.
Your first three papers, your presentations, and your classroom participation will
each be worth 14% of your final grade, and your final paper will be worth 30%.
While I will not grade your focus papers, I will ask you to turn in a portfolio of all
your writing for the course at the end of the semester, and work of consistent high
quality will be reflected in a raised participation grade.

Books you will need:

Margaret R. Miles, The Word Made Flesh
Hugh T. Kerr (ed.), Readings in Christian Thought
St. Augustine, Confessions (Penguin edition, translated by R.S. Pine-Coffin)
St. Benedict, The Rule of St. Benedict (Vintage edition, edited by Timothy Fry)
Randall Balmer, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (third edition)
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, Left Behind

There are a lot of editions of Augustine's Confessions and Benedict's Rule. For this
class, it's important that you have the editions specified here (Penguin for the
Confessions, Vintage for the Rule). They should be available in the bookstore. Also,
you are going to need a good, reliable Bible translation. If you don't have one, I
strongly recommend the New Revised Standard translation. You cannot use the New
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International Version. I've ordered two Bibles for the bookstore, the HarperCollins
Study Bible and the New Oxford Annotated Bible. Either will be fine; you don't need
both. If you want to buy books online, you can see this whole list at this link:
http://j.mp/rels233books .

The fine print

HOW TO CONTACT ME: You should feel free to contact me by email or phone at any time.
Unless things are really crazy, I should respond within 48 hours. You can also phone
me at home if it's before, say, 10:00 p.m. (610-933-4686). If that's not good enough,
try IMing me via AIM; my screen name is nathanrein. I'm on Facebook, and you can
add me to your friends list if you like to say in touch that way. And finally, I am
usually in my office, though it's always a good idea to call or email in advance and
make an appointment.

WRITTEN WORK: Rule 1. All written work must be submitted in order to receive a
passing grade for the class. This means that if the end of the semester comes and I
don't have one of your papers, you will receive an F for the course. If you neglect to
hand something in, it is your responsibility. I won't come chasing after you, but your
grade will suffer. I request that you submit all papers via email. Rule 2. Late papers
will be penalized by one grade-step (from B+ to B, etc.) for each day they are late,
unless you have arranged with me for an extension well in advance of the due date. I
don't mind giving extensions if you can explain why you need one. Life is
complicated. Rule 3. However, informal writing (particularly focus papers) will
never be accepted late. Rule 4. Follow the formatting guidelines that I give you. All
written work must include both page numbers and a word count in the upper right
corner of the first page. Staple it or I'll throw it out. I'm not kidding.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance at every class meeting is expected. Missing class shows

disrespect for your classmates and professor and for the collective enterprise of the
class. As per Ursinus College's stated policy, no distinction will be made between
excused and unexcused absences. Missing two class meetings may result in the
issuance of an academic warning slip. Missing more than four meetings may result
in a failing grade for the course. Each missed class will lower your semester
participation grade.

ACADEMIC HONESTY: Plagiarism is a serious offence, and today it has become very easy
to detect. In written work, all quotations must be properly attributed and appear in
quotation marks. But at least as importantly, any time you are drawing on someone
else's work you MUST cite it! (Either parenthetical citations or footnotes are
appropriate.) This includes paraphrases, summaries, or any time you make use of an
idea that's not your own. Anything else is plagiarism and can result in one or both of
the following: (1) a failing grade for the course or (2) College-level disciplinary
action, including expulsion. At best, you will have an extremely unpleasant meeting
with the dean and get an "F" for the assignment, and I guarantee it will ruin your day
and mine. If you have questions about the proper use of sources, please don't
hesitate to contact me. You are probably better off turning in nothing at all than
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turning in a plagiarized paper. If you are panicking about getting your work done,
don't cut-and-paste something from the Internet; call me and we'll figure out how to
handle the situation.

INCLEMENT WEATHER: In the event that class must be cancelled due to inclement
weather, an announcement to that effect will be recorded on my office answering
machine (call x2571).

Week-by-week schedule of readings

Note: This schedule is not only subject to change — it's pretty much guaranteed to
change. Formal (i.e., graded) writing assignments are listed.
Abbreviations: M = Margaret R. Miles, The Word Made Flesh; K = Hugh T. Kerr (ed.),
Readings in Christian Thought, Conf. = St. Augustine, Confessions

1/18
Introduction to the course
M, Prelude

1/25
From the New Testament
Mark (entire)
Matthew 28
Romans

2/1
M, ch. 1
"The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas" (as "A Vision of Truth") K 24-28
The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp (handout)
The Letter of St. Ignatius to the Romans (handout)

2/8
M, ch. 2
Justin Martyr, selections, K 17-24
Irenaeus, selections, K 28-38
Tertullian, selections, K 38-43
"The Hypostasis of the Archons" (handout)
St. Athanasius, "The Life of St. Antony" (posted on Blackboard)

2/15
St. Augustine, Confessions, books I-II
Conf., III-IV

2/22
Conf., V-VI
Conf., VII-IX
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3/1
The Rule of St. Benedict

3/15
M ch. 3
M ch. 4
Anselm, selections, K 82-93

3/22
Aquinas, selections, K 102-120

3/29
M ch. 5
Thomas à Kempis, selections from The Imitation of Christ, K 131-133
M ch. 6
Julian of Norwich, selections, K 126-130
Catherine of Siena, selections, K 125-126
Bernard of Clairvaux, selections, K 96-98

4/5
M ch. 7
Luther and Calvin (selections TBA)
Calvin

4/12-5/3
During the final three weeks of the course, we will be discussing modern Christianity,
with a special focus on American evangelicalism. We will be working with the
selections in the final sections of K, plus Balmer’s Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory and
LaHaye and Jenkins’s Left Behind. We will determine the readings by class consensus.
The final paper will be due on the last day of class.