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.

Memory, History and the Historians

Unit Code: 
CH115
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

This unit offers an overview of the history of the Christian church through two millennia. It places a particular emphasis on the historians and other writers who have told the story of Christianity at key times in the past. We draw on the writings of the historians to trace changes and continuities in Christian self-understanding, and set the men and women who wrote, and their approaches to history, in the context of their own times.

Learning Outcomes: 

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

  1. Identify key events in the history of the Christian churches from the Jesus movement to the present
  2. Discuss themes Christian writers have identified as central to the history of the church
  3. Identify key features of the context and method of at least one writer on the Christian tradition
  4. Discuss the implications of historical understanding for ministry in the contemporary Christian church
  5. Demonstrate the ability to interpret a range of historical sources.
Lecturer/s: 
Katharine Massam
Timetabling
Semester: 
Semester 2
Day: 
Thursday
Time: 
6:30 - 9:30
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Annual
Years Offered: 
2010
Years Offered: 
2011
Years Offered: 
2012
Years Offered: 
2013
Years Offered: 
2014
Unit Fields
Courses: 
Advanced Diploma in Theology
Courses: 
Bachelor of Theology
Courses: 
Diploma in Theology
Courses: 
Bachelor of Ministry
Field: 
Field C Christian Thought and History
Disciplines: 
Church History
Department Name: 
Department of Christian Thought and History
Unit Level
Undergraduate Level: 
1
Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Workload
Total workload hours per week: 
0
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

1 x 500 word report

Weighting: 
20%
Assessment Type: 

1 x 1500 word essay

Weighting: 
40%
Assessment Type: 

1 x 2 hour precirculated written exam

Weighting: 
40%
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

  • Backus, I. Historical method and confessional identity in the Reformation 1378-1615. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
  • Bauman, M. and Martin I. Klauber, eds. Historians of the Christian tradition: Their methodology and influence on Western thought. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995.
  • Bradley, J. E. and R. A. Muller. Church history: An introduction to research, reference works and methods. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
  • Gonzales, J. The changing shape of church history. St Louis: Chalice Press, 2002.
  • Hastings, A. (ed.). World history of Christianity. London: Cassell, 1999; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.
  • McLeod, H. Religion and the people of Western Europe 1789-1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Miles, M. The word made flesh: A history of Christian thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.
  • Pelikan, J. Jesus through the centuries: His place in the history of culture. New Haven: Yale, 1985.
  • Sheldrake, P. Spirituality and history: Questions of interpretation and method. London: SPCK, 1995.
  • Walls, A. The cross cultural process in Christian history: Studies in the transmission and appropriation of faith. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2002; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 2002.
  • Williams, R. Why study the past? The quest for the historical church. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2005.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.