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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Divinity : History of Christianity

Postgraduate Course: Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Reformation and Modern (ECHS11004)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Divinity CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe aim of the course is to enable students to understand and reflect critically upon the historical contexts in which theology has been developed and assailed, c 1500-2000. The course therefore explores major challenges to faith that have shaped theology in the period, namely confessional divisions of the Reformation era; the development of biblical criticism; the rise of modern science; the spread in the West of industrial society, secularism, Christian pluralism; the globalisation and diversification of Christianity via the overseas mission movement; Nazi ideology.
Course description Academic Description:
The course aims to enable students to understand and reflect critically upon the historical contexts in which theology has been developed and assailed between about 1500 and 2000. It explores the major challenges to faith that have shaped theology during these five centuries, including the confessional divisions of the Reformation era; the development of biblical criticism; the rise of modern science; the growth of urban-industrial society, secularism, Christian pluralism; the globalisation and diversification of Christianity through the overseas mission movement; and the rise of modern totalitarian regimes, including Nazism.

Syllabus/Outline Content:
The course will apply historical approaches to religious beliefs and theological thought, with a strong emphasis on skills for assessing historical and theological evidence. Specific topics to be explored include the Augsburg Confession, the Council of Trent, the Second Helvetic Confession and the growth of confessionalism; women mystics in early modern Europe; the development and impact of critical approaches to the Bible; Christianity and socialism; Darwinism and the Christian faith; diversity and ecumenism; Vatican II and the Catholic engagement with the modernity; and the Confessing Church movement in Nazi Germany.

Student Learning Experience Information:
The course meets weekly for a two-hour session, with the first hour normally devoted to a lecture and the second hour to a discussion of a key text or texts. There is a schedule of reading to be carried out before each class meeting, and students introduce the seminar readings. Through participation in lectures and seminar discussions, and through the essay project, students will demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesThis is a graduate-level course. Please confirm subject prerequisites with the Course Manager.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Students must submit a 3,000 word essay.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Recognise how theology developed within a specific historical context and often in response to definite social, political, cultural and economic events or movements
  2. Construct theological explanations and arguments with reference to the historical context
  3. Construct historical explanations and arguments relating to Christianity, with reference to developments in theological thought
  4. Show critical awareness of some key theological controversies and confessional statements which have defined the Christian faith in the early modern and modern periods
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsCCC2
Contacts
Course organiserProf Stewart Brown
Tel: (0131 6)50 8951
Email: S.J.Brown@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Katrina Munro
Tel: (0131 6)50 8900
Email: Kate.Munro@ed.ac.uk
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