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/DS317
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’. The subject also explores the methodological challenges of holding that ‘love’ and ‘knowledge’ have been partners in the Christian quest for holiness.

Learning Outcomes: 

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

  1. identify key writers and articulate prevailing 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
  4. analyse and articulate the relationship between theological and spiritual concerns in the work of at least one writer in the Christian tradition
  5. analyse and articulate the relationship between theological and spiritual concerns in a sample of contemporary writing.
Lecturer/s: 
Katharine Massam
Timetabling
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Occasional
Notes: 

This is the twelve-week semester version of CH/DS316.

Unit Fields
Courses: 
Graduate Diploma in Theology
Courses: 
Master of Divinity
Courses: 
Master of Theological Studies
Field: 
Field C Christian Thought and History
Field: 
Field D Theology: Mission and Ministry
Disciplines: 
Church History
Disciplines: 
Spirituality
MDiv Field: 
Christian Thought and History
Department Name: 
Department of Christian Thought and History
Unit Level
GradDip Field: 
Elective
MDiv Type of Study: 
Specialised
Prerequisites: 

15 points of Foundational study in Church History

Prohibited Combinations: 

CH/DS316 History of Christian Spirituality

Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Teaching Methods: 

Lectures and seminars

Workload
Number of timetabled hours per week: 
3
Expected personal study hours per week: 
9
Total workload hours per week: 
12
Total workload hours for unit: 
144
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

1 x historical source analysis (1,000 words)

Weighting: 
20%
Learning Outcomes Assessed: 
1, 2, 4
Assessment Type: 

1 x contemporary source analysis (1,000 words)

Weighting: 
20%
Learning Outcomes Assessed: 
1, 2, 4, 5
Assessment Type: 

1 x research essay (4,000 words)

Weighting: 
60%
Learning Outcomes Assessed: 
1, 2, 3, 4
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.