A History of the Catholic Church - 2250E

RELIGIOUS STUDIES 2250E

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

A survey, in chronological fashion, of the growth of the Catholic Church from the time of the apostles to the modern era. The teaching and learning strategies attempt to relate the past with its context and significance. Students are guided to read some key documents of the Church’s history to complement the general approach of the lectures and the textbooks. This course fulfills the requirements for Historical Theology 5221A/5222B in the Master of Divinity degree. (Anti-requisites: RS 170, RS 250E, Historical Theology 221A/222B.)

B. STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE

• I The Birth of the Church
• II Christians in the Post-apostolic Age
• III The Church in the Christian Empire
• IV The Development of the Papacy
• V The Early Ecumenical Councils
• VI The Development of Monasticism and the End of the Roman Empire
• VII The Middle Ages and the Dawn of Christendom
• VIII Christendom: Challenge and Demise
• IX The East / West schism
• X The Renaissance
• XI The Reformation
• XII The Catholic Renewal
• XIII The Church in North America
• XIV Evangelization in the New World
• XV The Age of Enlightenment and Revolution – Europe in the 18th Century
• XVI Restoration, Liberalism and the First Vatican Council
• XVII The Growth of the Church in Canada
• XVIII The Church in the Industrial Society
• XIX From the First World War to the Second Vatican Council
• XX The Second Vatican Council and the Aftermath

NB: A complete course outline is found in the front of the "course pack" (see below D I 3).

C. GOALS

The course is designed to assist students to grow in the following knowledge, skills and attitudes:

Knowledge

1. To know and understand the development and growth of the followers of Jesus Christ since the beginning of the Christian era, through a study of events and facts.
2. To be able to articulate the development of the Catholic Church from the movement begun by Jesus, to an association of his followers, to the institutional Church, to the modern time.
3. To know and name key people and events as a means of seeing history and theology in context.
4. To understand history from the perspective of the institutional, sociological and popular views.

Skills

1. To be able to apply the historical-critical method.
2. To read and analyse primary documents in their context.
3. To analyse the significance of events and facts, and what this significance teaches us for understanding the life of the Church today.
4. To separate the transitory from the enduring, the accidental from the essential in the life of the Catholic Church.

Attitudes

1. To appreciate the witness given by the followers of Jesus throughout the centuries.
2. To consider that the Church has confronted difficulties in the past, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
3. To realize the importance of impartiality in studying history, never daring to utter falsehood, never fearing to speak the truth.
4. To appreciate, for the believer, the role of the Holy Spirit guiding the Church throughout the ages.

D. ASSESSMENT

I. Required Reading:

1. Thomas Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church, Toronto: Doubleday, 2004;
2. Raymond J. Lahey, The First Thousand Years: A Brief History of the Catholic Church in Canada, Ottawa: Novalis, 2002 [copies "on reserve" at SPS library or available in reprint from the Western bookstore];
3. primary and secondary documents as provided in the "course pack" obtained from the bookstore;
4. additional reading as may be indicated by the professor from time to time. (Books and course pack at the Western bookstore under RS 2250 E.)

II. Précises:

1. Students are encouraged to prepare a précis for each of the documents in the course pack, including a summary of their content, context and significance.
2. Students are required to submit eighteen of the précises for grading. These must be in narrative form, two pages (double-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman or its equivalent). Three précises are due at class time on each of the following dates: 2 October, 23 October, 13 November, 22 January, 5 February, and 5 March. (value: 50% of the total mark)

III. Tests/Examination:

The tests and examination to be given will be based on lecture material and assigned readings (documents and textbooks). (1) Two 75-minute, in-class tests will be held on the following dates: 20 November and 13 February. (value: 25%) (2) The final examination will be held on the date assigned by King’s. (value: 25%)

E. POLICIES REGARDING SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS AND TESTS

• I. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the dates as given above. Assignments may not be dropped off at King’s or submitted electronically.
• II. It is the responsibility of the student to organize his or her work so that the assignments are completed on time. For a serious reason, a student may approach the professor before the due-date, and may be granted an extension at the discretion of the professor. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment will be deducted for each day it is overdue without permission of the professor. Any medical or non-medical reasons will be confirmed by proper documentation as approved by the Dean’s Office at KUC. Access to the required Student Medical Certificate (SMC) is at http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/medicalform.pdf.
• III. No electronic devices will be allowed during tests or the examination, unless approved in advance by Student Services at Western or King’s. Accommodation for such use will be coordinated through the Academic Services office at KUC.
• IV. Students who miss tests will negotiate a "make-up" date with the professor. Any medical or non-medical reasons will be confirmed by proper documentation as approved by the Dean’s Office of KUC (see E II above).

F. POLICY REGARDING ACADEMIC OFFENCES

I. The following is the policy of the Senate of the University and of KUC:
Scholastic offences (i.e. plagiarism and other forms of cheating) are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a scholastic offence, at the following website: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf.

II. Checking for Plagiarism:
Required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to Western for this purpose. Submitted papers will be included as source documents in the reference database for future similar purposes. Use of the service is subject to the current licensing agreement between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).

G. SUPPORT SERVICES AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS

University Students Council provides many valuable support services for students, including the health insurance plan: http://westernusc.ca/services/.

Students who are in emotional/mental health distress should refer to Mental Health@Western: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

For other emotional/mental health assistance see specifically: http://www.kings.uwo.ca/current-students/campus-services/student-support-services/personal-counselling/ .

Information about Counselling and Student Development Services at King’s is available at

http://www.kings.uwo.ca/about-kings/who-we-are/administrative-departments/dean-of-students/.

The web site for Academic Services at King’s University College is http://www.kings.uwo.ca/current-students/academic-support/.

H. POLICY REGARDING SELECTION AND REGISTRATION OF COURSES

Students are responsible for ensuring that their selection of courses is appropriate and accurately recorded, that all prerequisite course(s) have been successfully completed, and that they are aware of any antirequisite course(s) that they have taken.

I. A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

One-volume histories:

• DWYER, John C. Church History: Twenty Centuries of Catholic Christianity. New York: Paulist Press, 1998.
• HITCHCOCK, James. History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012.

Multi-volume reference works:

• CHADWICK, Owen, ed. The Pelican History of the Church. London: Penguin Books, 6 vols., 1967-1986.
• JEDIN, Hubert, ed. History of the Church,. 10 vols., Kent: Burns & Oates, 1981.
• MALONE, Mary. Women and Christianity. 3 vols., Ottawa: Novalis, 2000.

Other references:

• BRIGHENTI, Kenneth. Catholicism for Dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2003.
• CHADWICK, Henry and G. R. Evans. Atlas of the Christian Church. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1990. Trigilio, John Jr.
• N.B.: A complete bibliography for the primary sources can be found in the "course pack".