Religion 200: Introduction to
The Christian Faith
Spring 2008
Dr. Fred Kellogg
Emory & Henry College
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Religion 200: Introduction to Dr. Fred Kellogg |
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UNIT 1: HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
Christian history up to 1500
Jesus’ life: Luke 1-5, 19-24 (Wed Jan 9)
Jesus’ teachings: Luke 10-11, 14-16 (Fri Jan 11)
Disciples and the early church: Acts 1-8 (Mon Jan 14)
Paul, the epistolary apostle: skim (don’t study details) Acts 9-28 (Wed Jan 16)
The Apocalypse: Revelation 1, 12-13 (Fri Jan 18)
The Christian Church in the early centuries and the Middle Ages: no reading assignments (Mon Jan 21 – Mon Jan 28)
The Catholic Church: www.vatican.va
Catholics in America: Albanese 59-61, 68-79, 282-287 (Wed Jan 30)
Catholic beliefs and worship: Albanese 61-67 (Fri Feb 1 – Mon Feb 4)
Review of unit 1 and overview of Eastern Orthodox Christianity: Albanese 202-206
Review program: www.ehcweb.ehc.edu/faculty/fkellogg/200u1.htm (Wed Feb 6)
4 Reflections paper 1 on Catholics (Wed Feb 6)
Test 1, including Map 1 – the Christian faith in Europe and the Middle East (Fri Feb 8)
UNIT 2: CHURCHES OF THE REFORMATION
The Lutheran branch of Protestantism
The Protestant Reformation (Mon Feb 11)
Martin Luther and Protestantism in Germany: Albanese 81-84 (Wed Feb 13)
Lutheran Churches: www.elca.org (Fri Feb 15)
The Calvinist branch of Protestantism
John Calvin and Protestantism in Switzerland: Albanese 84-85 (Mon Feb 18)
Presbyterian Churches: www.pcusa.org (Wed Feb 20)
The English branch of Protestantism
Henry VIII and Protestantism in England: Albanese 85-86 (Fri Feb 22)
[Spring break Mon Feb 25 – Fri Feb 29]
Episcopal Churches: Albanese 86-88, www.episcopalchurch.org (Mon Mar 3)
John Wesley and Methodism in England (Wed Mar 5)
Methodist Churches: Albanese 115-117, www.umc.org (Fri Mar 7)
John Smyth and Baptists in England and Holland (Mon Mar 10)
Baptist Churches: Albanese 92-93, 118-119; www.sbc.net (Wed Mar 12)
Review of unit 2 and overview of Mennonites and Amish (Fri Mar 14)
Review program: www.ehcweb.ehc.edu/faculty/fkellogg/200u2.htm
4 Reflections paper 2 on one of these groups: Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, or Baptists (Fri Mar 14)
Test 2, including Map 2 – Protestantism in Europe (Mon Mar 17)
UNIT 3: CHURCHES WITH DISTINCTIVE EMPHASES
Churches of Christ and Christian Churches: Albanese 117-118,
www.church-of-christ.org, www.christian-church.org (Wed Mar 19)
[Easter break Fri Mar 21 – Mon Mar 24]
Revivalism and the Pentecostal-Holiness movement
Churches of God: Albanese 111-115, 121-124; www.churchofgod.cc, www.chog.org (Wed Mar 26)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Albanese 157-160 (Wed Apr 2)
Health and healing
The Church of Christ, Scientist: Albanese 161-164, 190-193; www.tfccs.org (Fri Apr 4)
The Seventh-day Adventist Church: Albanese 164-167, www.adventist.org (Mon Apr 7)
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Albanese 167-170, www.watchtower.org (Wed Apr 9)
Review of unit 3 and overview of African American Christianity: Albanese 124-128, 134-145
Review program: www.ehcweb.ehc.edu/faculty/fkellogg/200u3.htm (Fri Apr 11)
4 Reflections paper 3 on one of these groups: Churches of Christ, Christian Churches,
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana or Cleveland, Tennessee), Latter-day Saints,
Christian Scientists, Seventh-day Adventists, or Jehovah’s Witnesses (Fri Apr 11)
Test 3 – no map (Mon Apr 14)
UNIT 4: WHAT CHRISTIANS HAVE IN COMMON
Seekers
Friends: Albanese 91-92, www.fum.org (Wed Apr 16)
Unitarian Universalists: Albanese 96-97, www.uua.org (Fri Apr 18)
Discussion of basic Christian beliefs
What Christians believe about God (Mon Apr 21)
What Christians believe about Jesus Christ (Wed Apr 23 )
What Christians believe about the Holy Spirit (Fri Apr 25)
Review program: www.ehcweb.ehc.edu/faculty/fkellogg/200u4.htm
Final exam
Comprehensive Map 3 – the Christian faith in America
Short-answer section over the entire course
Two essays over the entire course
TEXTBOOKS
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1989.
Albanese, Catherine L. America: Religions and Religion. 4th edition.
Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.
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Please bring your Bible to class each day,
so that you can relate the information from the lectures and discussions to
appropriate biblical passages.
COURSE GOALS
You will understand the biblical and historical foundations of the Christian faith.
You will identify ways in which Christian churches have developed in organization, beliefs, and rituals, from the first century A.D. to today.
You will learn about the lives and teachings of key Christian leaders and church founders.
You will locate on maps a number of key places in Christian history and know why each place is significant.
You will compare and contrast the beliefs, ethical principles, and liturgies of a wide variety of denominations within the Christian faith.
You will refine your understandings of three specific denominations by reflecting on key characteristics of each.
You will develop your ability to express your observations and reflections in clear and grammatically correct writing.
You will have the opportunity to relate what you have been learning in this class to experiences outside class, further developing your understanding of the Christian faith.
You'll understand the Christian faith best if you spend about two hours in study for every class session. Here are my recommendations for success in this course.
Take about an hour before class to study the assigned readings, so that you’ll have a head start on understanding the lecture. Note any questions that you’d like to ask during the session.
Take another hour, soon after the class session, to put your notes on the lecture in a form that you can use later. Give the date at the beginning of each day’s notes; that way you can refer to them easily when studying for tests. You may want to store your notes on a flash drive or disk so that you can revise them easily, filling in gaps or making corrections. Study the sections of the textbook and the Bible that are related to your lecture notes, and look at the website(s) identified in the schedule, so that you have a thorough grasp of the denomination on which we focused. In the years ahead, you’ll remember the information that you’ve learned day by day much better than what you’ve crammed the night before a test.
Before each test, go through the computer review of the unit. Type into your Web browser either the address for the individual review or for my Home Page, which has links to all the review programs. Type the numerals carefully: for example, 200u1 stands for Religion 200, unit 1. If you have questions, call me at extension 6150, email me at fkellogg@ehc.edu, or come by my office, just across the hall from Wiley Auditorium. I enjoy discussing questions about the Christian faith!
REFLECTIONS PAPERS
You’ll write short papers on three of the denominations that we're studying in this course, as specified on the schedule. Here are the guidelines.
1. At the top of the first page, put your name, paper number, and date. Identify the denomination: Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, etc. If you choose the Church of God, identify which particular denomination you’re describing; the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) is quite different from the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), also called First Church of God.
2. Describe your understanding of the basic beliefs, worship practices, ethical principles, and significant modern issues for the denomination. Be as thorough and specific as you can, focusing on the characteristics which make this denomination different from other Christian churches. Draw on any or all of the following three sources.
3. The paper should be based primarily on your studies of this denomination in the textbook, biblical foundations, and appropriate online sources (not Wikipedia). You may mention the names of books or websites that you’ve consulted if you wish, but that’s not required in such a short paper. You don’t need to identify page numbers from your sources or include a bibliography. Please don’t quote – put all information in your own words, not in the words of your sources.
4. If you can visit a worship service of a church belonging to the denomination before you write the reflections paper, that will enrich your paper with insights into the denomination based on your own first-hand observations. If you want to share your impressions from the service, please include the church’s name, place, and date of your visit, and tell how your observations helped you to understand the denomination. Weddings and funerals are not appropriate occasions for such observations. You are not required to attend a worship service for your reflections paper.
5. You may include anything that you’ve learned from friends or family members who belong to the denomination, or your own personal experiences with church members.
6. Conclude with reflections on what you have learned about the Christian faith in general from your in-depth study of this denomination. X Don't evaluate the denomination, its teachings, or any worship services that you have observed. Your task is not to criticize or praise, but to reflect on the varieties of Christian churches!
7. I don’t accept emailed papers. Instead, print your reflections paper neatly with your computer set for double spacing (to give me plenty of room for comments and suggestions), a 12-point font, and one-inch margins. It must be at least 500 words long. An excellent (A) paper will normally be significantly longer than the bare minimum of 500 words.
8. Backup, backup, backup! < Save each draft of your paper on a flash drive or floppy disk, so that it’s not lost if your computer crashes. L
9. Fold the pages together lengthwise (unstapled), write “Pledged” on the outside, and sign your name. Whether or not you remember to write “Pledged,” I expect the paper to be entirely your own work, in accordance with the Honor Code. Please meet the deadline for each paper; late papers will receive reduced grades, and a paper that is significantly late may receive a zero.
10. I'll return your first draft promptly, together with a checklist and suggestions to help you improve your paper. I’ll keep your final draft for evaluation of your group of three papers – or, in rare cases, I’ll keep your first draft if it is so good that it doesn’t need to be rewritten. This evaluation will count as 1/5 of your course grade.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Base grade. If you come to class faithfully and on time, remain alert, and take careful notes on the lectures, you should learn the information well. If your cell phone rings during class time, your base grade will be lowered by 1 point for every such disruption of the class. In the very rare circumstance that the college is on a Delayed Opening schedule, announced on area radio and TV stations, this class and all other afternoon classes will meet at the regularly scheduled time.
Every once in a while throughout the semester, I’ll give a short quiz, providing you an opportunity to share what you’ve learned from studying the assignment before class. Each quiz will be evaluated on a simple scale: +, P, – , or 0.
You may also participate actively in discussion, expressing your understandings of the Christian faith which will help the rest of us. If you’re a member of a denomination that we’re studying, please clarify, elaborate, or suggest other things that we should know about that denomination. Feel free to come by my office any time during my office hours and talk with me about issues in your study of the Christian faith which interest you.
Attendance. I value faithful attendance highly, as an indication of your commitment to the course goals. But I don’t want you to come to class when you’re sick, for your own sake and for the sake of your fellow students. I’ll give you an absence form if you miss a class session; you do not need to let me know about your absence by email or by phone.
You should normally expect to write a makeup paper for any absence, regardless of the reason, to learn what you missed. The paper must be turned in within two weeks of an absence. It should summarize the content of the class session that you missed, thoroughly and precisely, in your own words. Base your summary on notes from someone who was present. Include readings referred to in the class session. Your paper must be at least 500 words long, double-spaced, unstapled, printed clearly – not an email attachment. A satisfactory makeup paper will mean that your absence is excused.
I recommend that you do the makeup work – whatever the reason is for your absence – so that I can identify for you any major gaps or errors in your summary. But if you prefer not to submit a makeup paper to me, here are the requirements:
· You may have up to three excused absences with no makeup work, because of appropriate reasons such as sickness, college-sponsored trips or athletic events, or dangerous driving conditions because of severe weather. Please don’t ask for an excused absence to deal with personal matters or family matters.
· If you would like for me to consider excusing an absence with no makeup work, please write your reason on the absence form that I will give you after any absence.
· If you choose the option of an excused absence with no makeup paper, you’ll need to get someone's notes, study the assigned reading, and ask me about anything that needs explanation. I want you to keep up with the rest of the group.
· You may count one absence as a personal absence, with no need to give me an explanation, no makeup work required, and no penalty. Reasons for a personal absence include such things as finishing a test in another class, attending a wedding, helping a friend, participating in a workshop or seminar related to your major, going home to take care of a family matter, or traveling with little green people in a UFO to learn all about religion on the planet Mars.
· Any unexcused absence will reduce your class participation grade by 5 points.
Extra credit. Here are a few possibilities to boost your participation grade.
1. You may find a lyceum event this semester which helps you to understand the Christian faith. I especially encourage you to attend the Winter Forum.
2. If you have been involved in a community service project this semester, you may reflect on how it relates to something from the Christian faith that you have studied in this course.
3. You may watch a full-length video relevant to the Christian faith. (Watching a TV program would not earn extra credit.) You may view it any time in the semester, not only when we’re studying that particular topic. I especially recommend any of these:
Brother Sun, Sister Moon [Francis of Assisi, video BX 4700.F7]
Martin Luther [DVD BR 333.2.M372]
Witness [Harrison Ford and the Amish, DVD PN 1997.W587]
If you want me to consider awarding extra credit for any of these options, write a short paper (about one page), showing how the activity relates to Religion 200. Please don’t evaluate the program or church service; I don’t need to know what you liked or disliked about it. Instead, in your paper follow these guidelines:
· Give the title and date of the program or project or the title of the video and the date that you viewed it.
· Write a brief summary.
· Relate it to what you’ve been learning about the Christian faith in this course.
· Your paper should be double-spaced, in a 12-point font, not stapled but folded, with “pledged” and your signature on the outside.
· Do not email your paper to me; give me a hard copy.
· Turn it in within a week after the event, while it is still fresh on your mind.
· You may submit one or two extra credit papers. Each acceptable paper will add 5 points to your base grade, up to 10 extra points or a maximum class participation grade of A = 95.
EVALUATION
2/5: the best two of the three tests. I’ll drop your lowest test grade. If you miss a test for any reason, I’ll count that as your lowest grade and drop it; you won’t have to take a makeup test.
1/5: the quality and timeliness of your three reflections papers
1/5: final exam
1/5: class participation, including any extra credit
A = 95 (90‑99)
B = 85 (80‑89)
C = 75 (70‑79)
D = 65 (60‑69)
F = 50 (0-59)
The true evaluation of the course will be in your assessment of how well you understand the Christian faith. You’ll know this several years from now; please come back and tell me. I pledge to work with you to the best of my ability, so that in the future you'll look back to this course as a valuable part of your lifelong learning!
Fred Kellogg
Many of the denominations that we study in this course have their own websites; their web addresses are given at the end of each denominational description in your textbook, so you can go to them for further information. If you would like you can send me e-mail: fkellogg@ehc.edu
To look at one of my other syllabi, go to my Home Page.
To review a unit in the course, go directly to one of the following:
Unit 1, Foundations
Unit 2, Churches of the Protestant Reformation
Unit 3,
Churches with distinctive emphases
Unit 4,
What Christians have in common
If you prefer, you may return to the Emory & Henry College Home Page.
Last updated: December 11, 2007