Course Description
RH 3440 History of Christian Thought surveys the significant theologians, ideas, and movements from the earliest Christian communities through the Reformations, focusing primarily on the Western Church. Students will survey the global history of Christian thought, from the apostolic period through the Reformations (17th century). It is primarily a course on historical theology. Thus, it focuses on key persons, movements and doctrines that have shaped the varied expressions of the Christian faith, with the intent of drawing out methodological implications for doing theology today. It also investigates the socio-economic and political backdrop of the history of theology, scrutinizing especially the church!s cooperation with, and resistance to, impe- rialism and oppression. Intentionally global in its contours, the course explores the church's rich theological wellspring for doing ministry in today!s globalizing, pluralistic milieu. The course is required for MDiv and MA students.
General Books and Resources
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsA discussion with author Diarmaid MacCulloch on his book.
- Hill Museum & Manuscript LibraryThe Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John's University has digitized and made available on their website thousands of ancient and medieval handwritten Christian manuscripts.
Dictionaries
- Dictionary of Orthodox Theology byCall Number: BX230.D4 1964
- Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Terms byCall Number: BR95 .P8 1962
The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology by Call Number: BR95 .W494 1983ISBN: 9780664213985Publication Date: 1983-10-01
The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity by Call Number: BR95 .C24 2010ISBN: 9780521820967Publication Date: 2010-09-20
The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, Second Edition by Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780664238353Publication Date: 2014-04-21- A Dictionary of Judiasm and Christianity byCall Number: BM50.C62 1991ISBN: 1563380307Publication Date: 1991-11-01
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia of Christianity by Call Number: BR95 .E47 2005ISBN: 9780195223934Publication Date: 2005-07-21
Encyclopedia of Christian Theology by Call Number: BR95 .D5313 2005ISBN: 1579582508Publication Date: 2004-10-04
- DeGruyter Encyclopedia of Jewish-Christian Relations This link opens in a new windowEJCR covers a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to theological concepts (e.g., Christology, Excommunication) spiritual and religious practices (e.g., Prayer, Blessing), ritual (Circumcision, Baptism, Dietary Laws), geographic topics (Ashkenaz, Middle East), denominational concepts (Karaites, Reform Judaism) and political and historical issues (Zionism, Antisemitism). The arts play a role as well, looking at medieval depictions of the ‘Jews’ sow’ or typologies such as ‘Synagogae/Ecclesia’ depictions or the ‘wise and the foolish virgins’.
- DeGruyter Encyclopedia of the Bible & Its Reception This link opens in a new windowFrom De Gruyter, a comprehensive reference work on the Bible and its reception, which covers biblical and religious topics as well as their reception in an array of religious, cultural and academic disciplines and fields
- Encyclopedia of Religion and Society This link opens in a new windowProduced by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research,The Encyclopedia of Religion and Societymarks a unique venture in that it attempts to bring together in a single-volume compendium a state-of-the-art summary of the insights gained by the principal social sciences of religion: anthropology, psychology, and sociology. To do so is to take, admittedly, a "one-sided" approach to the religion-and-society nexus. One could perhaps consider an alternative posture, more ethical in nature-namely, one that considers what religions think about society. This would really be an encyclopedia of religious social ethics, and it is not within the scope of this project.
