Luther

Martin Luther

History/HRS 127 -- Evolution of Christianity Since the Reformation

California State University, Sacramento
Department of History and of Humanities/Religious Studies
College of Arts and Letters

Spring 2009

Instructor

Overview

Syllabus

Bernadette

Bernadette of Soubirous

Catalog Description: HIST/HRS 127. European Christianity from the Reformation to the Present. Emphasis on the evolution of Christian thought, the co-existence of the Catholic and Protestant traditions, and the evolving relationship of religious and secular values in European culture. 3 units.

Course Description: This course has no formal prerequisites, although it is useful to have taken History 5 or Humanities 11.

The course is intended for HRS Religious Studies majors, for History majors interested in religious and the history of ideasand for students from any major in the university interested in ther history of Christianity and seeking an upper-division General Education course in the Arts and Humanities area.

This course, which is a continuation of the Hist/HRS 126 taught by professor Nystrom, will give students a chronological survey of the main trends in European Christianity from Martin Luther to the present. It will focus on religious ideas (justification by faith or by works, religious enthusiasm, the humanity of Jesus), on biography (Martin Luther, John Wesley, Pope Pius XII), on institutional history (the Church of England in the 18th century, the impact of the French Revolution on the Catholic Church), and on religious sociology (deism and society in the Enlightenment, dechristianization in modern Europe).

The course is not a theology course. Perhaps its main theme is the churches’ reactions to the secularization of western culture in the modern world: against the background of dechristianization, the Protestant response has been generally to accommodate modern culture, while the Catholic Church, despite some internal diversity, adopted a “fortress” and “triumphalist” mentality of authoritarian rejection of modern culture.

This course is meant for both believers and non-believers. On the one hand, the history of Christianity is very important for an understanding of western culture, and indeed, of the culture of the human community. On the other hand, believers may come to a deeper understanding of their faith by knowing its roots. The outcome of the course should be a renewed appreciation of the fundamental unity of all Christian peoples.

Class time is devoted to lecture and discussion of assigned reading material. Class attendance is very important.

The course requires three blue book tests; and a five-page essay.

Calvin