• Course Description

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    This course charts the history of geographically vast Christian movements during the centuries of early Christianity as well as contemporary expressions of Christianity around the globe, particularly the Global South. Methodologically, we will focus not on doctrines, theologies, Biblical studies, or intellectual movements, but rather the complexity of thought and praxis of Christian agents around the world throughout the past two millennia. This course will convey the extent to which Christians’ various beliefs, cultures, experiences, and desires challenge the conformity and uniformity portrayed by ecclesiastical and intellectual authorities.

     

    In this course we will focus on the historical, social, and religious conditions in which Jesus attracted followers and in which those followers have lived their faith. We will learn about the extent to which localized, historical issues and concerns of practitioners shape their religious expressions and intellectual debates. We will begin by exploring Christian communities and movements during the centuries after the death of Jesus including those in Alexandria, Nubia, Axum, Persia, central Asia, and the Mediterranean world. We will then shift to European explorers, traders, and missionaries as the primary factor in the spread of Christianity from the 14th-20th centuries. We will examine what Christian life looked like for various communities of converts and how their social contexts and beliefs shaped their Christian faith and practices. Finally, we will study contemporary Christian expressions and ideas primarily beyond the West, in the Global South, where the majority of the world’s Christians reside.

     

    By the end of the course, students will understand that Christianity was, from the time of its origins, a movement that took root in diverse areas, and has therefore taken just as many forms. Cultural characteristics of these locales shape and come through in the global Christianities of the world and that Christianity’s spread has depended on its translatability to other cultures. Students will therefore be well versed in various, historical, cultural translations of Christianity around the world.


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  • Week 2

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  • Monday, March 30

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    This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.

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  • Wednesday, April 1

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    This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.


    Reading Questions:

    1. What were some of the essential/important beliefs, practices, and characteristics of Pentecostalism when it began?

    2. What were some of the reasons (both spiritual and non-spiritual) that people were attracted to Pentecostalism? That is, what are some of the reasons that Pentecostalism grew so quickly?

    3. What were some of the critiques that other Christians (fundamentalists and mainline) had of Pentecostalism?

    4. What was the role of race in the popularity and later splits in Pentecostalism?

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  • Monday, April 6

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    This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.


    Reading Questions (Harvey Cox, Fire From Heaven, chapter 13)

    1. What do you learn in this chapter about the author's conflicted and ambivalent feelings about Pentecostalism generally (not just the one service that he attends)?

    2. What are some of the things in the church service that make the author feel uncomfortable and why? What reactions do you have to them?

    3. How does this modern, Pentecostal service compare with the original Pentecostal movement in the early 1900s? What are some similarities? What are some differences?

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  • Wednesday, April 8

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    This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.

    Reading Questions:
    1. What is "hard prosperity" teaching (page 97)? What were some of the Biblical and theological arguments behind this teaching (pages 94-100)?
    2. What were "megaministries" and why did they become so popular when they did?
    3. What is televangelism and what were some of the scandals that resulted?
    4. What were the four reasons that African American prosperity gospel preachers continued to thrive in the 1980s-2000s? (pages 111-114)

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  • Monday, April 13

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    This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.


    Reading Questions:

    1. In what ways does "soft prosperity gospel" differ from "hard prosperity gospel"?

    2. What are some of the ways that soft prosperity gospel preachers use to convince followers to give money? That is, what arguments or rationales do they use?

    3. For people who believe in the prosperity gospel, why is it actually MORE convincing if preachers are excessively wealthy?

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  • Wednesday, April 15

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    I apologize! I made a mistake!

    The coursework on Christianity's shift from the Global North to the Global South was supposed to be posted on, Monday, April 20 instead of this day, Wednesday, April 15. You were supposed to have today, Wednesday, April 15 free to work on your reflective response.

    If you've already completed the lesson posted here, you will have next Monday, April 20, free.

    If you HAVE NOT already completed the lesson posted here, you can pretend it was posted under Monday, April 20 and complete it later.


    Please Note: The revised syllabus says that you need to read Hartch, pages 184-187; 193-201, but I am dropping this reading. You do not need to read it.

    Reading Questions:
    From Olupona

    1. What is "transnationalism," according to Jacob Olupona, and why is that term a good way to describe African Christianity"?

    From Hickman:

    1. What are some of the challenges of spreading the European form of Christianity to the Global South (page 44)?

    2. What, according to Hickman, are some of the opportunities inherent in the shift of Christianity to the Global South?



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  • Monday, April 20

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    I apologize! I made a mistake!

    The coursework on Christianity's shift from the Global North to the Global South was supposed to be posted on this day, Monday, April 20 instead of Wednesday, April 15. You were supposed to have last Wednesday, April 15 free to work on your reflective response.

    If you've already completed the lesson intended for today, "Christianity's shift from the global north to the global south," take this time to catch up on old work.

    If you HAVE NOT already completed the lesson intended for today, "Christianity's shift from the global north to the global south," you can find it under "Wednesday, April 15."

    • Wednesday, April 22

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      This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.


      Reading Questions from Kwame Asamoah-Gyadu's chapter, pages 165-171; 178-185:

      1. What is a "deliverance" and why do people do them?

      2. What do people in Ghana believe is the source of their life problems?

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    • Monday, April 27

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      This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.


      This week, your assignments are:

      1. Watch the film posted below

      2. Post on the discussion forum in response to the film and reply to another post (due Friday at noon)

      3. Write a reflective response, due Friday at 5pm

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    • Wednesday, April 29

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      This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.

      • Monday, May 4

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        This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.

        Reading Questions:

        From Connie Au (YOU ONLY NEED TO READ PAGES 96-98):

        1. According to the author (Connie Au), what are some of the main characteristics of Chinese Pentecostalism and how has the political situation in China shaped Pentecostal beliefs and practices of Chinese Christians (pages 96-98)?

        From the article, "China's Underground Churches,":

        1. What is the Chinese government's stance on "house churches" and why do you think they are growing so fast in China?


        “China’s Underground Churches”: https://www.equaltimes.org/china-s-underground-churches?lang=en#.XcRTPVVKiUl


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      • Wednesday, May 6

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        This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.





        Reading Questions

        From Todd Hartch's book, The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity:

        1. What were the Medellin and Puebla conferences? Who met there and what did they discuss?

        2. What was the "preferential option for the poor" and how did it shape the Catholic church's stance towards the poor and the global sources of poverty (69-71)?


        From Gutierrez's A Theology of Liberation

        1. What, according to Gutierrez, is God's stance on poverty? Who/what causes poverty?

        2. What, according to Gutierrez, should the ideal Christian stance be towards poverty and the poor?


        From "The Truth Behind Banana Republic"

        1. How did the American government and the American United Fruit Company instigate war, poverty, corruption, and instability in Guatemala?


      • Friday, May 15

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        This is a link to a google doc on which students can ask questions and post answers. Anyone who clicks on the link can edit the document. Feel free to ask questions and answer other students' questions. I will also write answers to questions. If you have a question about expectations, assignments, or other course information, please check this document. If you do not find the answer to your question, write your question here and I or someone else will write an answer.

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      • Exam/essay materials

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        THE REVISED MID-TERM EXAM SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY MONDAY, MARCH 30 AT NOON



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      • Reading Question Responses

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        You should submit all six of your reading question responses here. Attach them as a word doc.

      • Course Evaluations

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