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Church
History II



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CHURCH HISTORY II - HOME & SYLLABUS

This course continues the overview of developments in Christian history, theology, and discipline that began in Church History I. Readings, assignments, seminars, and lectures are designed to lay the groundwork for future studies in ecclesiastical history, theology, and canon law. Students will study key figures, magisterial pronouncements, and theological developments in Latin Christianity, along with significant political and cultural factors that influenced the Church. The course focuses on Tradition as a source of theological reasoning which, together with sacred Scripture and under the authority of the Catholic Magisterium, preserves, fosters, and promotes the Church’s faith in Christ. Special attention is given to the context and content of the ecumenical councils from Lateran I (1123) to Vatican II (1963-1965). Through an extended study of Catholicism in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, students also will be introduced to the riches of Catholic culture, liturgical practice, and devotional life during the late Middle Ages. Finally, students will learn the personalities and issues at the origins of Protestantism.

Required Texts

  • Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580. 2nd edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.

  • Hillerbrand, Hans J., ed. The Protestant Reformation. New York: Harper, 1968. HB on course calendar below.

  • Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vols 1 and 2. Norman P. Tanner, ed. Washington DC: Sheed & Ward, Georgetown University Press, 1990. TI and TII on course calendar below.

  • Further required readings are linked on the course calendar below, or will be distributed as photocopies by the professor.

Requirements and assessment

15% Attendance

35% Exam

20% Seminar

30% Research Paper
 

COURSE CALENDAR†

 

 

Class 1, Tues 12 January

 

Class 2, Thursday 14 January

Topic: Anselm (d. 1109), Scholasticism, and Church-State Troubles

Reading:

  • Pope Pius X, Encyclical on St Anselm of Aosta Communium rerum (21 April 1909)

Class 3, Tuesday 29 January

Topic: Lateran I (1123) and Lateran II (1139): The First General Councils of the Middle Ages

Reading:

  • Canons of the First Lateran Council, TI:190-94

  • Canons of the Second Lateran Council, TI:197-203

Class 4, Thursday 21 January

Topic: Peter Lombard (d. 1160s)

Reading:

  • Peter Lombard, Sentences [selections on Blackboard]

Class 5, Tuesday 26 January

Topic: Lateran III (1179)

Reading:

  • Canons of the Third Lateran Council, TI:211-25

Class 6, Thursday 28 January

Topic: Lateran IV (1215)

Reading:

  • Constitutions of the Fourth Lateran Council, 1-10 (TI:230-40), 14-15 (TI:242-43), 24-27 (TI:246-48), 71 (TI:267-71)

Class 7, Tuesday 2 February

Topic: Lyons I (1245)

Reading:

  • First Council of Lyons, Bull Deposing the Emperor Frederick II (TI:278-83); Constitution I, 18-22 (TI:290-93); and Constitution II, 1-5 (TI:293-301)

Class 8, Thursday 4 February

Topic: Lyons II (1274)

Reading:

  • Second Council of Lyons, Constitution I (TI:309-14); Constitution II, 1-14 (TI:314-22), 26-31 (TI:328-31)

Class 9, Tuesday 9 February

Topic: The Rise of the Mendicant Orders

Reading:

Class 10, Thursday 11 February

Topic: Vienne (1311-1312): Templars and Beghards

Reading:

  • Council of Vienne, Bulls and ordinances of the Roman curia concerning the order of the Templars, 1 and 2 (TI:336-46); Decree 28 (TI:383-84)

Class 11, Tuesday 16 February

Topic: William of Ockham (d. 1347): The Dissolution of Theology and Discipline

Reading:

  • Dialogus, selections [on Blackboard]

Class 12, Thursday 18 February

Topic: Constance (1414-1418): Wyclif, Hus, and the Western Schism

Reading:

  • Council of Constance, Session 15 (TI:421-32)

Class 13, Tuesday 23 February

Topic: Basel-Ferrara-Florence-Rome (1431-1445): Ottomans and the East

Reading:

  • Council of Florence, Definition of the Holy Ecumenical Synod of Florence (TI:523-28); and Bull of Union with the Armenians (TI:534-59)

Class 14, Thursday 25 February

Presentations: The Stripping of the Altars

Topic A: Chapter 1, Seasons and Signs: the Liturgical Year (pp. 11-52)

Topic B: Chapter 2, How the Plowman Learned His Paternoster (pp. 53-87)

 

Class 15, Tuesday 2 March

Presentations: The Stripping of the Altars

Topic C: Chapter 3, The Mass (pp. 91-130)

Topic D: Chapter 4, Corporate Christians (pp. 131-54)

 

Class 16, Thursday 4 March

Presentations: The Stripping of the Altars

Topic E: Chapter 5, The Saints (pp. 155-205)

Topic F: Chapter 6, The Laity and the Primers (pp. 209-32) 

 

9, 11 March – Spring Break; no class

 

Class 17, Tuesday 16 March

Presentations: The Stripping of the Altars

Topic G: Chapter 9, Last Things (pp. 301-337)

Topic H: Chapter 10, The Pains of Purgatory (pp. 338-76)

 

Class 18, Thursday 18 March

Topic: Martin Luther

Reading:

  • The Freedom of the Christian Man (HB, 3-28)

Class 19, Tuesday 23 March

Topic: Lateran V (1512-1517): Conciliarism and Gallicanism

Reading:

  • Fifth Lateran Council, Session 9 (TI:609-17); Session 10, On Printing Books and On the Pragmatic Sanction (TI:632-34)

Class 20, Thursday 25 March

Topic: John Calvin

Guest Lecturer: Dr John Gresham

Reading:

  • Ecclesiastical Ordinances and Institutes of the Christian Religion (HB, 172-200)

Class 21, Tuesday 30 March

Topic: St John Fisher

Reading:

  • St John Fisher, Defense of the Priesthood, selections [on Blackboard] 

1 April – Easter Break; no class

 

Class 22, Tuesday 6 April

Topic: The Radical Reform and Anglicanism

Reading:

  • Letter to Thomas Müntzer (HB, 122-28)

  • The Schleitheim Confession of Faith (HB, 129-36)

  • John Jewel, An Apology of the Church of England (HB, 247-57)

Class 23, Thursday 8 April

Presentations: The Stripping of the Altars

Topic I: Chapter 11, The Attack on Traditional Religion I (pp. 379-423)

Topic J: Chapter 12, The Attack on Traditional Religion II (pp. 424-47)

 

Class 24, Tuesday 13 April

Presentations: The Stripping of the Altars

Topic K: Chapter 14, The Impact of the Reform: Parishes (pp. 478-503)

Topic L: Chapter 16, Mary (pp. 524-64)

 

Class 25, Thursday 15 April

Topic: Council of Trent (1545-1563)

Reading:

  • Council of Trent, Session 4, decree concerning the canonical scriptures (TII:663-65)

  • Council of Trent, Session 5, decree concerning original sin (TII:665-67)

  • Council of Trent, Session 6, decree and canons on justification (TII:671-81)

  • Council of Trent, Session 23, canons 14-18, on those to be advanced to the priesthood (TII:749-53)

Class 26, Tuesday 20 April

Topic: Evangelization of the Americas

Reading:

  • Bartolomé de las Casas, The Only Way to Draw All People to a Living Faith, selections [on Blackboard]

Class 27, Thursday 23 April

Topic: The Church and the French Revolution

Reading:

  • Selections [on Blackboard]

SATURDAY 25 April – FINAL PAPER DUE

 

Class 28, Tuesday 27 April

Topic: Vatican I (1869-1870)

Reading:

  • Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius (TII:804-11)

  • Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Pastor aeternus (TII:811-16)

Class 29, Thursday 39 April

Topic: Vatican II (1962-1965)

Reading:

  • Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation Dei Verbum (TII:971-81)

  

4 May – Study Day; no class

 

 

FINAL EXAM: to be held during the examination period, 5-10 May

 

† The Professor reserves the right to make substitutions, deletions, or additions to the schedule of readings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in te domine speravi non confundar in aeternum

© 2010 Daniel G. Van Slyke