Undergraduate Course: Christianity and the Crisis of Faith in Nineteenth-Century Scotland (DIVI10117)
Course Outline
| School | School of Divinity |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores Christianity, doubt and new beliefs in nineteenth-century Scotland, a time of profound social change. Topics include the transformation of Christian beliefs and practice; the Victorian ¿crisis of faith¿; and the emergence of new beliefs and movements, including freethought, theosophy, spiritualism, esoteric magic and proto-humanism. In exploring this remarkable transformation of Scottish religion and belief, students will engage with major debates on the history of secularisation. |
| Course description |
Academic Description:
This course explores Christianity, doubt and new beliefs in nineteenth-century Scotland, with a strong emphasis on skills for assessing historical evidence. This was an age of sweeping cultural and intellectual change, as industrialisation, urbanisation, imperialism, scientific discovery and political reform transformed Scottish society. How were religion and belief shaped by these dramatic developments? The course explores this question through three main themes. First, it investigates the transformation of belief and practice in Scotland¿s Christian Churches and communities. Second, it considers the Victorian ¿crisis of faith¿, exploring why minority groups came to doubt and reject Christian orthodoxy. Finally, it investigates the emergence of new beliefs, including freethought, spiritualism, theosophy, esoteric magic and proto-humanist Ethical societies. Throughout the course, students will explore a range of primary-source texts and engage with major debates on the nature of secularisation.
Content Outline:
The course begins with an introduction to religion and society in nineteenth-century Scotland and an overview of major scholarly debates on secularisation and the crisis of faith. We then explore how Christian beliefs and practice in Scotland were transformed amidst rapid cultural, social, intellectual and political change. Themes include the Christian response to industrialisation and urbanisation, the navigation of Christian pluralism and Protestant-Catholic relations, the Churches¿ response to movements for reform (especially debates on slavery, socialism and sexuality), and new developments in theology, liturgy and devotion, including church decoration. Subsequently, we explore the Victorian crisis of faith and investigate the challenges posed to Christian orthodoxies by new developments in biblical criticism, science, and encounters with non-Christian religions at home and abroad. Finally, we investigate the rise of new minority beliefs, including freethought, spiritualism, theosophy and magical esotericism. The course concludes by considering religion and belief at the fin-de-siècle, giving attention to the proto-humanist ¿Religion of Humanity¿ and the co-existence of multiple religions and beliefs. Students will engage with influential works by contemporaries across the spectrum of belief, including ministers such as Thomas Chalmers and William Robertson Smith, the artist Phoebe Anna Traquair, freethinkers such as James Affleck and Matilda Roalfe, the socialist Robert Owen, and the agnostic Jane Hume Clapperton.
Student Learning Experience:
This Level 10 course comprises one two-hour seminar per week, including a lecture component with opportunity for questions and a seminar discussion. Students¿ preparatory reading will facilitate seminar discussions of the course themes. Each student will be required to give a short presentation at one seminar on the text(s) for the day, which will form the basis of a blog (c. 800 words). Through participation in lectures, blogs and seminar discussions, as well as through the source analysis (1000 words) and a final essay (2500 words), students will demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
90 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Presentation & Blog (800 words) - 10%
Source Analysis (1000 words) - 30 %
Final Essay (2500 words) - 60% |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on all components of assessment. Students will also have the opportunity to submit and receive feedback on a plan for their final essay. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Construct cogent and sensitive historical arguments, displaying a critical understanding of scholarly approaches to the ¿crisis of faith¿ and secularization.
- Compare primary-source source material to appraise points of conflict and intersection between nineteenth-century Scotland¿s diverse communities of belief.
- Evaluate secondary scholarship and primary sources to assess the processes and ideas that fostered cultural, religious and intellectual change.
- Reflect on and critically appraise the significance of religion and belief in shaping modern Scottish society.
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Reading List
Brown, Callum, The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation, 1800¿2000 (Abingdon, 2009)
Brown, Callum, Religion and Society in Scotland since 1707 (Edinburgh, 2007)
Brown, Stewart, J., Providence and Empire: Religion, Politics and Society in the United Kingdom, 1815-1914 (London, 2013)
Chadwick, Owen, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge, 1975)
Cheadle, Tanya, Sexual Progressives: Reimagining Intimacy in Scotland, 1880-1914 (Manchester, 2020)
Fergusson, David (ed,), History of Scottish Theology: Volume Two, From the Early Enlightenment to the Late Victorian Era (Oxford, 2019)
Hetherington, Naomi and C. Stanthorp (eds), Nineteenth-Century Religion, Literature and Society: Disbelief and New Beliefs (London, 2020)
Kehoe, Karly, L. Fleming, L. Orr and E. Brietenbach, Scottish Women: A Documentary History, 1780-1914 (Edinburgh, 2013)
Mason, Emma and M. Knight, Nineteenth-Century Religion and Literature (Oxford, 2006)
Mcleod, Hugh and W. Ustorf (eds), The Decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750-2000 (Cambridge, 2003)
Owen, Alex, The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern (2004)
Royle, Edward, Victorian Infidels: The Origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791-1866 (1974)
Smout, T. C., A Century of the Scottish People, 1830-1950 (London, 1986) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
-Empathy and imaginative insight, including sensitivity to religious and cultural diversity
-Ability to respect others¿ views with tolerance of diverse positions
-Critical thinking and reflection, including the capacity to modify or suspend position when warranted
-Ability to gather, evaluate and synthesize different sources of information
-Effective communication skills, both oral and written |
| Keywords | Christianity,doubt,belief,Scotland,Victorian,secularisation |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Felicity Loughlin
Tel: (0131 6)51 7112
Email: F.Loughlin@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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