About REL 1260 A
Introduces Christianity focusing on the plurality of Christian traditions, variations in practices and beliefs over time and space, and developments in the religion from its founding to the present. Covers topics including Christianity's relationship to pagan traditions and radical spiritualities; persistent theological dilemmas and conflicts; its historical relationship to sciences, arts, and politics; and the ways it shaped our ideas about race, colonialism, and secular modernity.
Notes
Open to Degree and PACE students
Section Description
What is Christianity? This class surveys the complex and diverse history of this religion from its earliest beginnings in Second Temple Judaism all the way to its present iterations in American Evangelicalism. We will examine how persistent theological contests, even in the movement’s earliest beginnings, over what Christianity meant and who could claim to be a Christian, defines the movement and that over the course of its long history, ideological clarity and unity have always aspirational. The course also covers the ways Christianity wrestles internally with its own coherence and its relationship to other religions, pagan influences, social movements, modern politics, developments in science, racial hierarchies, secularism, settler colonialism, and imperialism. By the end of the semester, students will be able to trace how Christianity’s dominance and diversity continue to shape the modern world today, in a way that complicates narratives about its cultural decline or religion’s general irrelevance to American public life.
Section Expectation
Students are expected to attend regularly. Class sessions expound on the themes from the readings by drawing connections to contemporary examples, provide some historical context for the figures and events in the texts, and prepare students for any upcoming class deliverables.
Evaluation
It will be based on class participation; quality of weekly discussion posts; performance on three short quizzes; and final written assignment.
Important Dates
Note: These dates may change before registration begins.
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Resources
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