Religion 163 - Introduction to Post-Reformation Christianities

Institution:

Reed College

Subject:

Description:

Full course for one semester. This course is an introduction to the most influential figures and texts in the history of modern Christianity. It will demonstrate how one cannot understand such figures and texts in isolation, for each must be situated as a creative but conditioned response to a specific historical context. The course will explore many instances of thought responding to the stimulus of changing historical conditions. The course tracks the contentious fragmentation of the medieval catholic church in the post-Reformation era. From the unity symbolized by the reign of Charlemagne, when one could plausibly speak of Christendom as a single entity, and thus as one religion, this course will track the way that prominent Christians slowly created and embraced a religiously plural world. It is as if by an internal dynamic, through great tension and distress, the primary irritant propelling Christians through this process was the repeated confrontation with the religious otherness of their own neighbors, friends, and family. The course will examine the way that people make history: with obstructed vision and limited resources, driven by motivations of which they are only dimly aware, leading to consequences that rarely match their intentions. Lecture-conference.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.reed.edu

Phone Number:

(503) 771-1112

Regional Accreditation:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Calendar System:

Semester

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