COS 212

THEOLOGICAL HERITAGE:  EARLY AND MEDIEVAL

Summer 2010  

Instructor:  Catherine Tinsley Tuell

Office Hours:  After class or via e-mail (Catherine.Tuell@cgu.edu) 

NOTE:  Before COS begins, please contact me if you have questions regarding this syllabus.  

Dates of Class:  June 28 - July 6, 2010  

A.  Course Description:  

This is a course in historical theology designed to meet the requirements of the United Methodist Church’s Course of Study. The interrelated concepts of “grace” and “faith” will provide the vehicle by which the student will critically reflect upon important individuals, decisive events, and fundamental tents of the Christian faith as found in early church and medieval Christianity.   

B. Course Objectives:  

The goals for this course are that students will be able to 1) describe key elements in the dialogues and debates between emerging Christian orthodoxy and Gnosticism, Montanism, Marcionism, and Greek philosophy; 2) thoughtfully articulate how major theologians and church leaders of the period understood the concepts of “grace” and “faith” and expressed their particular understanding; 3) engage critical theological concerns within their historical context; 4) compare the distinctive aspects of Eastern Orthodox theologies with Roman Catholicism; 5) explore major theological developments in early and medieval Christianity; 6) appropriate the Christian heritage and enter into the church’s ongoing task of interpreting and enacting the gospel for contemporary life.  

C.  Required Texts (all texts will be placed on reserve at the CST Library):   

1.  The Holy Bible, in a translation of your choice. 

2.  The Doctrinal Section of the current United Methodist Book of Discipline. 

3.  Gonzalez, Justo, L. The History of Christianity, Vol1.  San Francisco: Harper

     &Row Publishers, 1984.  

4.  Jolly, Karen.  Tradition & Diversity:  Christianity in a World Context to 1500.

           Armonk, NY:  M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1997. 
 
 

D.  Suggested Additional Sources (good books but not required):   

  1.  Bettenson, Henry & Chris Maunder.  Documents of the Christian Church, 3^rd

      Edition.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1999. 

  2.  Chidester, David.  Christianity:  A Global History.  San Francisco:

  HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2000. 

  3.  Placher, William, C.  Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Vol 1. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1988. 

E.  Assignments: 

1. Read:
1. Gonzalez’s The Story of Christianity, Introduction, Chapters 1 through 34.
2. Jolly’s Tradition and Diversity, pp 13-165; 171-179; 184-231; 238-254; 288-362; 369-417; 475-505.

 

2. Due by June 1, 2010 are pre-class papers that answer the following questions. Each answer should be two (maximum three) pages, double-spaced:

 

1. How did the early church decide what “orthodoxy” was?

 

2. How do you think stories of the martyrs impacted a Christian audience? (please refer to specific martyr stories from assigned primary readings)

 

3. Describe the Christological controversies.

 

4. According to Augustine, what is a conversion experience? Explain the relationship between the City of God and City of Man and how a convert to Christianity can live in the City of Man.

 

5. How did the relationship of the church to the Roman Empire change as Christianity developed from a persecuted sect into the religion of the empire?

 

3. Personal creed: Please bring to class on June 28 a brief, written personal

“creed” that reflects your Christian core beliefs.  This will not be graded but will be used as the foundation of the Creed Evaluation due on July 2, 2010.  
 

F.  Learning Assessments:  

     1.  Class Attendance and participation:  15% of your grade (15 points

          possible)

          a. This is a short, intense class.  Students are expected to attend all class

       sessions.  One absence will result in loss of points and students who

         miss two class sessions will be automatically dropped from the course.   

b. Students are expected to come to class prepared.  This means that

informed and lively participation in class discussion is expected. Lack of participation will be reflected in the participation points earned.  Think of the Gonzalez text as the course roadmap. The assigned primary document readings in the Jolly texts are the must-see stops along the way. 

c.   Each member of the class will be required to lead at least one informed class discussion. Discussion topics will be assigned the first day of class.  

2. Pre-assigned papers: Each pre-assigned paper is worth 10pts of a

     student’s total grade. 5 papers X 10 pts = 50pts possible = 50% of your

    grade. 

  3.  Personal creedal statement and evaluation:  due at the beginning of class on

            July 2 = 10 points possible = 10% of your grade  

      Notes:

-   Your personal creed will not be graded.   

       -    Your paper evaluating your personal creed based on what you

       have learned during the first week of the course is a graded

       assignment that is due on July 2. 

• We will develop a series of questions during class discussion in the first week that will help you with this evaluation. (i.e. Would your creed be accepted by the second/third/fourth-century church? Which questions that guided the early church in developing a doctrine of salvation apply to your creed? How?)

 

• Grading of this assignment will be based upon how you well

      you use the first week’s lectures/presentations/readings in

      evaluating your own perspectives on Christian belief and 

      practice.   

4. A multiple-choice final examination from course reading and

     classroom discussion, July 6 during class: 25% of your grade (25 pts)

  G.  Guidelines

• As the course progresses, the syllabus may be changed or adapted at the instructor’s discretion to facilitate students reaching the goals of the learning objectives stated above. 

 

• I give no make-up exams

 

• If you do not turn in your work, you will fail the class

 
 

  H. Formatting your papers: 

1. Answer the questions using your own words and complete sentences.

 

2. Quotations from a text must be enclosed within quotation marks. The use of footnotes is preferred, but you may use parentheses after the quotation to cite the source and the page number. If you use this method and an assigned text, an abbreviation of the text may be used: Jolly, Tradition and Diversity = (Jolly, 65.).  If you feel compelled to seek outside sources, please include bibliographical information. NOTE: Quotations should be at most a sentence or two accompanied by your analysis of the same. A short paper is not the place to use longer quotations. The object of the paper is to demonstrate your understanding of the question based on your readings of your texts.

 

3. Your printed papers should be on 81/2 X 11 white paper, one-sided, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides. Use Times New Roman or Arial 12-point font. There are approximately 250 words per 1 page of printed text.

 

4. Put your name, course name, and date of first class on the first page and last name and page number on subsequent pages.

 

5. Staple pages together in the upper left hand corner

 

6. Make copies of your papers and bring them to class. We will be using them during class discussions.

 

7. Academic Integrity:  Please reference the standards delineated in

     the Course of Study Handbook and pay particular attention to the

     section on “plagiarism”.  Plagiarism is the use of any material in

     your papers that is not original to you and for which you do not give

     credit to the source. The use of plagiarism usually means failure of

     the course.  

8. Grading: Please refer to the Course of Study Handbook in your

     registration packet for an explanation of the grading policy. A copy

     of the above handbook is available in the faculty office. 
 

Reminder: Due date for pre-class papers is June 1, 2010.