Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

History of Christian Spirituality

Unit Code: 
CH/DS316
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

This unit explores classic Christian spiritual writings, setting them in the context of the writers’ own times in order to consider images of God, understandings of holiness and definitions of spirituality that have informed the life of the Christian community. Discussion is focused around ‘desert’, ‘cloister’ and ‘marketplace’ as distinctive locations for and styles of Christian spirituality, each with Australian dimensions and implications. The unit draws on classic sources (Antony, Syncletica, Cassian, Benedict, Francis, Bonaventure, Gertrude, Teresa, Luther, Calvin, Ignatius, Ward, MacKillop, Therese, Merton and contemporary biography) and uses the tools of social and cultural history to examine the interconnectedness of ‘spirituality’ and ‘doctrine’.

Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

  1. identify key writers and themes within a broad chronology of Christian spirituality;
  2. set those key writers and themes in the contexts of the international literature on the history of spirituality, and within various theoretical frameworks and approaches to theological reflection;
  3. draw appropriately on a range of historical sources (text of various genres, art, artefact, music) to develop historical and theological arguments.
Lecturer/s: 
Katharine Massam
Timetabling
Semester: 
Intensive
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Biennial
Years Offered: 
2011
Years Offered: 
2013
Notes: 

In 2011 this unit will be taught from 6pm-8.30pm on Fridays September 16, 23 and 30, and 9am-4.30pm on Saturdays September 17, 24 and October 1.

Unit Fields
Courses: 
Bachelor of Theology
Courses: 
Bachelor of Ministry
Field: 
Field C Christian Thought and History
Field: 
Field D Theology: Mission and Ministry
Disciplines: 
Church History
Disciplines: 
Spirituality
Department Name: 
Department of Christian Thought and History
Unit Level
Undergraduate Level: 
3
Prerequisites: 

15 points in Church History at level 2

Prohibited Combinations: 

CH/DS217/317 History of Christian Spirituality

Mode of Teaching: 
Intensive
Teaching Methods: 

Lectures and seminars

Workload
Workload: 

36 contact hours

Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

source analysis (1,000 words)

Weighting: 
30%
Assessment Type: 

research essay (level 2: 3000 words; level 3: 4000 words)

Weighting: 
70%
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

Dreyer, Elizabeth and Mark Burrows, ed. Minding the Spirit: the Study of Christian Spirituality. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.

Dupre, Louis and Don Saliers, ed. Christian Spirituality: Post-Reformation and Modern. New York: Crossroad, 1989.

Holder, Arthur, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.

Jones, Cheslyn, Geoffrey Wainwright and Edward Yarnold, ed. The Study of Spirituality. London: SPCK, 1986.

Raitt, Jill, ed. Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation. New York: Crossroad, 1987.

Sheldrake, Phillip, ed. The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.

* Sheldrake, Phillip. Spirituality and Theology: Christian Living and the Doctrine of God. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1998.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.