HISTORY I (HS-1080)
(09/07/2021-12/17/2021)

This course is co-taught by Christopher Ocker and Pamela Stevens. HISTORY 1F: CHRISTIANITY FROM JEWISH SECT TO COLONIAL CHURCHES This course is an introduction to the history of Christianity and historical theology from the second to the seventeenth centuries. During this time, Christianity developed the main features of what is today the world's largest religion. Along the way, Christianity was transformed again and again as it adapted to vastly different, changing cultural and social environments. The course will introduce you to the continuities and varieties of Christian experience and belief in different times and places, from the Roman Empire to Persia, China, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, and you will be introduced to the complexity of Christianity's social, cultural, and political entanglements in all these places.  You will be introduced to the theologies, liturgies, popular practices, and spiritualities of the periods and places studied. You will learn to break down real life situations and understand the fine points at which religious innovation and change occur, even when people try to resist change or return to the past. Audio files of weekly lectures, illustrated with slides, and videos are provided for each week.