hs610de: syllabus - bethel university web view1. briefs: 1000-1250 words. ... you will write brief...

HS610: Syllabus Dr. Chris ArmstrongSpring 2012, Mar 26 – Jun 1 Bethel SeminaryThur 8:00pm – 10:00pm Office: Faculty Hall, A212

E-mail: [email protected]

T.A.: Tim Magnuson, [email protected]

AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

Course Description:

An introduction to the major movements, persons, and ideas in American Christian history from colonization to recent decades. Students will also hone their skills in reading, interpreting, and applying what they learn from historical documents.

Objectives:

1. Recount the roots and shape of significant American Christian traditions, including European transplants and “American originals.”2. Describe significant ways America shaped the European Christian traditions transplanted to its soil; and ways Christian traditions shaped America. 3. Analyze selected documents in American church history.4. Write on selected documents in American church history.

Texts:

Noll, Mark A. The Old Religion in the New World. Eerdmans, 2002 (1st edition). ISBN 0802849482

Gaustad, Edwin S. and Mark A. Noll, eds. A Documentary History of Religion in America to 1877. Eerdmans, 2003 (3rd edition). ISBN 0802822290

Gaustad, Edwin S. and Mark A. Noll, eds. A Documentary History of Religion in America since 1877. Eerdmans, 2003 (3rd edition). ISBN 0802822304

www.christianhistory.net. Currently this website is giving access to all articles from all back issues of Christian History magazine (all 99 of ‘em), for free.

Course Requirements:

1. Briefs: 1000-1250 words

http://www.christianhistory.net/

mailto:[email protected]



document.docx P a g e | 2

Throughout the course, you will write brief papers on 5 questions—each one related to a set of readings in the Gaustad volumes (and a Noll chapter). You will hand in each of these by clicking on the appropriate link in Moodle.

Nota Bene: I am looking for interaction with Gaustad in these briefs. Use Noll only to contextualize (briefly) your topic and as occasional reference as you frame your arguments in answer to the brief question. To get marks for these briefs, and good grades on your red-line briefs, in the bulk of your brief you must support your answer with frequent references (whether quoted and cited, paraphrased and cited, or briefly referenced and cited) from the appropriate Gaustad readings.

However, it is equally important that you keep quotations brief—about 3 lines or shorter at the very most. Only quote the gem-like stuff that simply must be in the original writer’s language. For the rest, paraphrase or simply refer to a given reading. When you do quote, paraphrase, or refer to the Gaustad material, you need to cite the document and page. For all citations, use footnotes (not endnotes), and follow this format:

John Smith, “Why I came to America,” Gaustad and Noll, vol. I, 76.

Each brief will be 1000-1250 words long. Use the word-count utility in your word processing program to make sure of length. Papers that are shorter or longer than this range will be docked. Writing to length is an important and helpful intellectual discipline.

These briefs will not be graded qualitatively (that’s what the red-line briefs are about—see below), but in order to receive full marks, each brief must meet the following criteria:

Submitted via the assignment link on Moodle, not by email. Be submitted before class begins on Thursday. Meet the word length requirement (1000-1250 words; no longer or shorter). Follow the citation format described above. Answer the brief question. Use the Gaustad material in answering the question. Be written in essay form (not “expanded outline” form, etc.). Be mechanically sound (without a degree of mechanical problems that would

obscure the clarity of your argument).

Note that we’re talking 5% of the course grade (25% total) just for handing these babies in. Briefs not meeting one or more of the above criteria will be docked percentage points.

Note: You must print a hard copy of each brief and bring it to class for reference during our panel discussion; you’ll keep this copy after the class. Make sure you have also kept an electronic copy.

2. Red-line Briefs: 1000-1250 words; selected from briefs


Each student will select one brief from the first 3 topics and one from the second 3 topics (though because you are not required to do a brief during your presentation weeks, there will be 3 in one set and 2 in the other, for a total of 5) to hand in on the below dates for a grade. Reworking this brief before handing it in (based on lectures, panels, and further thought) is acceptable and encouraged.

3. Exams:

Two exams will be due to Blackboard on May 13 and Jun 3 (both are Fridays, due by 11:59 pm each day). Each exam covers the material in roughly one half of the course, with questions on the lectures and Noll and Gaustad readings. You will have 90 minutes to complete each of these exams. Each consists of two parts:

The first part, worth 40% of the exam score, consists of answering 20 multiple-choice and true-false questions based on the Gaustad readings (choice of 20 out of 23 or 24 questions). You will need to read the Gaustad material carefully and thoroughly to do well on this part. Attend especially to who says what (the basic argument and any outstanding statements from each reading, and the authorship of that reading—see the introductions of the readings and the source footnotes in cases where there is any question about this).

The second part, worth 60% of the exam score, consists of answering a choice of 2 essay questions (so, each essay is worth 30% of the exam) based on the lectures and all the readings. To do well on this part, attend carefully to the major themes of the lectures and the Noll chapters, and think about how you would make an argument related to each of those themes, appropriately supported from the historical evidence you find in your readings (but, to be clear: these are closed-book, closed-notes, closed web pages exams). Each essay should be at least one double-spaced page in length; you may well need more space to answer the question adequately, with historical support.

Exam I, May 13: Noll chaps 1-3; Gaustad; lectures from Apr 1 - Apr 22 inclusive

Exam II, Jun 3: Noll chaps 4-7; Gaustad; lectures from Apr 29 - May 27 inclusive

4. Panel:

At the first class, each student will be assigned to a very small group of two students (possibly 3 in one case) and given a question to address in a panel presentation. Each panel will answer its question out of the Noll chapter and Gaustad readings assigned for the week of their presentation (in other words, the readings supporting that week’s briefs), plus, if you like, Christian History materials assigned for the week of their presentation. The primary focus will be the Gaustad readings.

Panels will be 30 minutes long for a two-student presentation, with each student speaking for roughly 10 minutes (you can certainly use a dialogue format—just make sure each student gets around 10 minutes of speaking) followed by roughly 10 minutes of Q&A


with the class. If you take longer than 20 minutes for a two-person spoken presentation, the time-keeper (me!) will let you know and, if necessary, cut you off.

Creative approaches are encouraged, in keeping with the tone of the panel questions; remember though, the grade is given for how informative the panel is for the class and how well the panel question is answered. Do limit the amount of actual quotation from the Gaustad documents. Where you use Gaustad material, I’d like to see you re-work it, paraphrasing and re-presenting the ideas and arguments found there.

Each participant must hand in at least 2 pages of preparation notes in class on the day of the panel. These notes need not be finished essays, but they do need to show your sources, and they will count toward your panel grade.

Grading:

5 briefs handed in on time (5% each)......25%2 red line briefs (10% each).....................20%2 exams (14% each).................................28%Panel presentation....................................25%Evaluation………………………………..2%

Pluses and minuses will be given where appropriate. Class discussion may be a factor in borderline grades.

Evaluation:Owing to a change in Bethel Seminary policy, I am required to count your completion of the course evaluation at the end of the course as 2% of the final grade. I won’t be able to look at the evaluation text itself (have no fear!), but I will be able to tell whether you completed it or not, so I can add that 2% to your final grade.

Accessibility:Please contact the instructor as soon as possible if disability-related accommodations are needed. Accommodations for students with documented disabilities are set up through the office of Disability Services. Contact Disability Services at 651-638-6833. You may visit http://www.bethel.edu/disability for further, detailed information.

http://www.bethel.edu/disability


Week Topic(s) / Lectures Assignments*

Week 1: Mar 26-Apr 1

IntroductionEuropean Roots

Week 2: Apr 2-8

CalvinEnglish ReformationPuritan Roots

No presentation or brief due this week;Noll chap 1Browse CH Issue 12: John CalvinBrowse CH Issue 89: Baxter, PuritansRead the two web articles noted below this

schedule grid

Week 3:Apr 9-15

PuritanismCov’t TheologyLegacy of Puritans

Noll chap 2Gaustad*Browse CH Issue 89 (again)Browse CH Issue 41: Amer. PuritansBrief/Panel 1: “Visions & Challenges

Week 4: Apr 16-22

The AwakeningCritiquesThe Revolution

Noll chap 3, GaustadBrief/Panel 2: “Revival & the Voluntary Principle”Browse CH Issue 77: J. EdwardsBrowse CH Issue 8: JE & GA

Week 5: Apr 23-29

DisestablishmentCatholicism

Noll chap 4, GaustadBrief/Panel 3: “Disestablishment—the Case of the Catholics”Browse CH Issue 6: The BaptistsBrowse CH Issue 50: Am. Revolution

Week 6:Apr 30 - May 6

Social Reform (Pt.1)African American Christianity

Noll chaps 5 & 6—at least skim GaustadBrief/panel 4: “High Tide and Turn for the Worse: 1830 – 1865”Browse CH Issue 33: Civil WarBrowse CH Issue 62: Africans in Am.

Week 7:May 7-13

No ClassListen to Civil War& Gender lectures on Moodle

Noll chap 5 (review thoroughly)Red-line 1 and Exam 1 both due inBlackboard 11:59 pm Sunday May 13

Week 8:May 14-20

IndustrializationSocial Reform (Pt.2 & 3)

Noll chap 6 (review thoroughly), GaustadBrief/panel 5: “The Social Challenges of a Swiftly Modernizing World”Browse CH Issue 82: Phoebe Palmer &Holiness Movement


Week Topic(s) / Lectures Assignments*

Week 9:May 21-27

Fundamentalism and Pentecostalism

Noll chap 7, GaustadBrief/panel 6: “Responses to a Modern Intellectual Revolution: Science & the Bible”Browse CH Issue 55: FundamentalismBrowse CH Issue 58: Pentecostalism

Week 10:May 28-June 1 [last day of term]

20th Century & BeyondWrap-up

Noll chap 8Browse CH Issue 65: 20th-c. ChristiansBrowse CH Issue 92: New Evang’lsNo presentationsRed-line 2 and Exam 2 both due inBlackboard 11:59 pm Friday Jun 1

**Lecture topics may vary from this chart. See below for page numbers for Gaustad readings, along with questions for briefs and panels.

Additional reading for Week 1 (by first class session, if possible; or at least by second class session), please complete the following readings on the craft of history and the use of primary documents:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.html http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/ -- choose "How to read a primary source" from the left navigation bar.

Gaustad Readings

These readings form the core of this course. If you carefully follow the reading program, you will get the most out of the course, and your grade will reflect it. If you cut corners, you will cheat yourself of a complete learning experience, and your grade will reflect it.

I have not included the Gaustad chapter introductions in this reading list. But they are helpful orienting devices: if you find yourself at sea when reading any of the assigned Gaustad pages, I recommend you check the table of contents and flip back to the intro-duction for that chapter. Note that each chapter is divided into subsections, and each sub-section is summarized in the introduction for that chapter. Cross-referencing with the Noll book (via the index) and comparing notes with colleagues may help too!

Note that you will be responsible for reading in Gaustad only on weeks when a Brief is due. Therefore, on the following schedule I have identified each Gaustad reading by not-ing which numbered Brief that set of Gaustad pages accompanies.

Finally, note that each numbered Brief (and its associated Gaustad readings) relates to the material in the Noll chapter that is one number higher: Brief 1 relates to Noll chapter 2; Brief 2 to Noll chapter 3, etc. [Brief and presentation questions and detailed reading assignments start on next page]


Brief 1 and Panel 1: “Visions and Challenges”

Brief question: European Protestants came to America from a variety of church tradi-tions, bearing with them a variety of visions of what “church in America” ought to look like. But each of them had this much in common: the New World faced them with strange new challenges as they set up churches and communities on these shores. From the assigned readings, compare the churchly visions and New-World challenges of at least two groups of transplanted European Protestants. Remember, you have just 1,000 words to work with (that would be just 4-5 old-fashioned, double-spaced, monotype type-writer pages). So be concise! And think of yourself as writing this for an intelligent friend who has not read any of the pertinent Gaustad or Noll material. So be clear, too!

Panel presentation: It is late in the colonial period: let's say around 1700. A Puritan, an Anglican, a Baptist, a Lutheran (pick as many as members in your panel)—all weary from a long day's traveling—meet at an inn somewhere in New York. (This sounds like the set-up for a joke, and perhaps it is!) Each makes his or her case for why their particu-lar vision of church life is The Future Of American Christianity—and grumbles a bit at the challenges that face his or her denomination in achieving that vision. “Have at it,” Fellow Travelers! But remember, you have only 10 minutes between the three of you to persuade your audience of assorted riff-raff in the inn—that is, your classmates. And they'll have their say as soon as you're done.

Pages Subject

Volume I:

54-82 England anew96-99 Puritans keeping order: Hutchinson, Dyer99-104 Puritans and witchcraft104-05 Proposals, Saybrook Platform106-09 Vs. Anglican sheep-stealing120-24 The Anglican desire for American bishops127-32 Salzburger Crossing136; 139-44 Muhlenberg144-46 On Congregationalism146-49 Baptists


Brief 2 and Panel 2: “Revival and the Voluntary Principle”

Brief question: From your readings, describe how—and theorize why—“revivalism” took off on American soil in the 1700s and 1800s, driving huge church growth, especially among the Baptists and Methodists. Think of yourself as writing to an intelligent friend who has never heard of revivalism. So be sure to give your friend a clear idea of what this phenomenon is. Remember, just 1,000 words!

Panel presentation: It's some time in the 1830s. You are an English counterpart of Alexis de Tocqueville—a cultured native of England and member of the Church of England who has traveled for years across America, observing the boundless energy of American Protestantism for revival and reform. Now you are addressing a gathering of your fellow Anglicans back home in England, telling them what it is about America and American re-ligion that has led to its rapid growth and zealous evangelistic and social activity. Think carefully about how to divide up this topic among the panelists, so each can handle a dif-ferent aspect. And be prepared to answer the questions of your curious British brethren (your classmates) who want to know more about this Strange New World and its wildfire religion.

Pages Subject

Volume I:

160-76 Revivalism176-83 Colonial colleges: “Nurseries of piety”183-90 Jonathan Edwards, “A Divine and Supernatural Light”271-76 Methodism, white and black280-85 Susanna Anthony, John Leland299-327 The voluntary principle and revivalism391-401 Voluntarism revisited: Tocqueville, Robert Baird, the 1858 Revival


Brief 3 and Panel 3: “Disestablishment—the Case of the Catholics”

Brief question: Using at least three distinct phases or episodes in American Catholic his-tory, demonstrate the following claim: “The Roman Catholic Church presents a striking example of an old European church that faced great challenges—and made radical changes in itself—as it adjusted itself to the American social and religious landscape. Ul-timately, these American challenges and changes helped to change the Roman Catholic Church worldwide.”

Panel presentation: It is 1965. A small group of Roman Catholics meet at an outdoor cafe in Rome as Vatican Council II is winding up its momentous proceedings. At least one of these is American, and excited about the changes that have been going on in the Catholic church in that country. At least one is European—and very conservative—and is worried that the new “wind” that is already blowing through the “windows” Pope John XXIII has opened in the old church is a wind of a destructive modernism: just the sort of thing Pius X warned about in his 1907 encyclical Pascendi Dominici. This conservative European voice blames this “ill wind” on American Catholicism. Again, have at it! And be prepared to engage with the audience of Protestant onlookers (your classmates) who have begun gathering curiously to listen in on your conversation.

Pages Subject

Volume I:

276-80 John Carroll's report379-84 Catholic “revivals” and “retreats”437-39 Trusteeism439-44 Brownson445-51 Hecker/Brownson correspondence451-54 England on education & Catholicism's compatibility with religious liberty

Volume II:

13-17 Catholic education in America21-23 Anti-Catholic and pro-Catholic positions on Catholicism and democracy252-56 Anti-Catholic immigration rhetoric263-68 Alfred E. Smith: con and pro391-96 “Americanization”: Ireland vs. McQuaid396-401 Pope vs. people on American “modernization”535-39 Vatican II543-46 Vatican II on religious liberty (influenced by American John Courtney

Murray)655-57 U.S. reaction to Humanae Vitae498-504 JFK—a Catholic running for president679-82 Mario Cuomo on Catholicism and politics682-85 Neuhaus


Brief 4 and Panel 4: “High Tide and Turn for the Worse: 1830 - 1865”

Brief question: The period from 1830 to 1865 was, argues Mark Noll, both the “high tide” of American Protestantism and a turn for the worse. Noll says that white evangelical Protestants went from shaping the “manners and morals” and public events of America (1795 to 1835) to being shaped in negative ways by “political circumstances and social forces” (mid-1830s through the Civil War). You are writing to show an intelligent friend how the struggle over slavery and the events of the Civil War support this claim of Noll's. As always, 1,000 words.

Panel presentation: In his introduction to the chapter of Volume I on “Sectional Crisis and Reconstruction,” Gaustad paints the following picture of the diversity of American opinions on slavery: “Some were all-out champions of the existing system as directly or-dained by God. Others defended slavery in principle while calling upon slave-holders to act with greater humanity to the slaves. Still others favored gradual emancipation, and of that number some wanted to see slave-owners paid for giving up their 'property' while others considered it just for liberated slaves to be staked with 'forty acres and a mule.' Still others appealed for the immediate abolition of the system. For all of these views there were forceful religious arguments to hand, often backed by appeals to the 'spirit' or the 'letter' of the Scriptures.” In a church hall in one of the border states, Christians holding several of these positions described by Gaustad meet for a fellowship dinner. Soon the dinner table conversation becomes heated, as each tries to persuade the others to come over to his or her viewpoint. The other dinner guests (your classmates) will have their say, too. . . .

Pages Subject

Volume I:

471-89 Black religion and slavery489-500 Schism over slavery520-43 Debate over slavery555-63 Theological reflection on the war568-75 Lincoln on Americans under God


Brief 5 and Panel 5: “The Social Challenges of a Swiftly Modernizing World”

Brief question: In the period from the end of the Civil War through 1906, Protestant Americans found themselves facing a new urban landscape marked by burgeoning di-verse immigrant populations—millions of whom did not share the religious views and practices of their adopted country's “de facto Protestant establishment”—and ravaged by human problems related to poverty, overcrowding, economic oppression, and social vices. Summarize for an intelligent friend some of the most notable solutions Protestants came up with for these problems (and, if you like, some of the failures of Protestants in addressing these same issues). 1,000 words!

Panel presentation: The year is 1906. A small, mixed group of Christians (whatever fla-vors of Protestant you would like to choose, as panelists; plus, if you like, a Catholic or two!) meet at an interfaith conference dedicated to addressing the problems of the urban poor. Over coffee, a few of you begin a friendly competition over the question, “What Christian programs or initiatives during the past few decades have taken the best ap-proaches to addressing the problems of the urban, immigrant poor?” Each of you favors a certain group or denomination, so line up your evidence, folks, and let 'er rip. You can base your arguments on these approaches' demonstrated success, suitability to the Ameri-can situation, philosophical superiority, fidelity to Scripture, or whatever else works for you. As usual, your conversation attracts a small crowd of fellow conferees (your class-mates), each eager to pitch in with their two cents.

Pages Subject

Volume II:

6-13 Protestant immigration17-20 Ethnic Roman Catholic immigration78-83 Diversity93-124 The social gospel168-73 Salvation Army and YMCA178-80 The Federal Council of Churches183-87 Temperance223-36 Preachers: McConnell and Coffin268-71 Unsure of capitalism272-74 Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement275-77 Reinhold Niebuhr and “Christian realism”504-06 Methodists and “the Great Society”


Brief 6 and Panel 6: “Responses to a Modern Intellectual Revolution: Science & the Bible”

Brief question: In the midst of a period of continued denominational diversification, many Christians in the last decades of the 1800s and the first decades of the 1900s be-lieved that the eternal fate of thousands hung in the balance as churches and individual Christians determined how they would respond to evolutionary science and higher bibli-cal criticism. Many conservative Christians saw in these two modern developments a mortal challenge to the foundations of Christian civilization—a challenge that must be met by reaffirming and defending a list of doctrinal “fundamentals.” Other, “modernist” believers felt that the church must adapt its theology to the new science and the new views of the Bible, or the next generation—their children—would be lost to Christ. Using the readings, outline for an intelligent friend (who has never read this material) first, the main points of debate on science, faith, and scripture; and second, a profile of the major “camps” in each part of the debates. NOTE: look for the mediating positions and the moderate mainstream that Noll insists remained strong through the debates. 1,000 words!

Panel presentation: You have been invited as a panel of experts on Christian history (-: to address a group of freshmen in a Christian college who are about to launch into four difficult years of scientific study with a focus on biology and genetics. As a panel, you have been asked to give these students a sense of the different ways American Christians interacted with developments in science at the end of the 19th century and the beginning

of the 20th. You are then to draw out lessons from this history that will help these young Christians as they pursue their scientific vocations. You have ten minutes. Go! (And then brace for the questions from these fresh-faced undergraduate scientists—your class-mates.)

Pages Subject

Volume II:

278-98 Revivalism, millennialism, holiness, Pentecostalism322-352 Science and religion353-58 Bible360-64 Fosdick364-69 Church trials401-06 Modernism and fundamentalism419-426 Neo-orthodoxy432-35 Carl F. H. Henry


Two notes on paper-writing:

First, a friend of mine at Westmont has done students everywhere a service with a very strict (and appropriate) list of suggestions about how to put essays together for his classes. You can find my friend’s “A Few (Strong) Suggestions on Essay Writing” at the following web address: http://www.westmont.edu/~work/material/writing.html. Please don’t let his suggestions paralyze you, as I am not as strict as he is. However, following his suggestions will result in a near-guaranteed improvement in your papers for this course—and future courses. Second, some students will benefit from my favorite web source for writing help; all should find something useful here. It is a “master list” of helps for writers that I put together while working as a writing tutor at Duke. You can find this list at the following web address: http://uwp.aas.duke.edu/wstudio/resources/writing.html. Each subject link provides a set of helps in that subject area. Especially helpful are the materials under “Drafting,” “Revising,” and “Editing for Usage and Grammar.” See also the “grammar and reference” link on the left.

http://www.westmont.edu/~work/material/writing.html

hs610de: syllabus - bethel university web view1. briefs: 1000-1250 words. ... you will write brief...

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