School:

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry

BTI Category:

Church History & History of Religions

TMHC7166

Popes & the Papacy: From Peter to the Present

A survey course of popes and papacy from Peter to Francis I, with attention to institutional, theological, and cultural contexts. The course is organized chronologically, while giving thematic attention to issues that cut across eras, e.g., papal primacy, conciliarism, infallibility, evolution of church structures, attitudes toward and roles of women, the laity, political alliances and relations with Jews, Protestants, etc. Coverage of major events, e.g. breach with eastern Christianity, crusades, Reformation, Trent, Holocaust controversies, Vatican II, conflict with U.S. nuns. Lectures with regular opportunities to discuss and probe readings for their relevance today.

School:

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry

BTI Category:

Church History & History of Religions

TMHC7195

Classic Wisdom for Discerning the Spirits

A study of the discernment of spirits in the ancient church, beginning with the Old and New Testaments, select Church Fathers, the Life of St. Anthony, the sayings of the desert fathers and mothers, and Evagrius Ponticus and John Cassian. For the purposes of showing their relevance for the present day, continuities with the "Spiritual Exercises" of St. Ignatius Loyola and "The Screwtape Letters" of C. S. Lewis will be considered.

School:

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry

BTI Category:

Church History & History of Religions

TMHC8028

Seminar: Saints & Sanctity

This seminar examines the Christian saints from the formation of the cult of saints in early Christianity through today. Topics include how to read saints' lives; martyrdom; why notions of sanctity change; how saint-making shifted from popular acclamation to papal canonization; the role of gender, race, and ethnicity; shrines, relics and pilgrimage; and the contemporary relevance of saints. Extensive discussion of primary sources.

School:

Boston College Department of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

THEO7042-01

Augustine's City of God

This course offers a close reading of Augustines City of God. While the immediateoccasion was the sack of Rome by Alaric (410), Augustines thought on the two cities had been germinating for several years. Partly an apology for Christianity, the book offers a sweeping survey of human history from Adam to the eschaton, as well as searching reflections on Christian existence in the present age (saeculum). He treats topics such as the nature of bodily existence, Christian participation in the political order, the value of ancient philosophy, the role of the emotions, divine providence, and the interpretation of Scripture.

School:

Boston College Department of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

THEO7613-01

13th Century Franciscan Theology: Alexander and Bonaventure

This course explores the thirteenth-century Franciscan theological tradition through a substantial engagement with the theology of Alexander of Hales and of St. Bonaventure, focusing on the central theological topics of the theological method, Trinity, and Christology.

School:

Boston College Department of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

THEO5426-01

From Nile to Niger: African Christian Fathers and Mothers of the Church

This course counts as an elective towards the interdisciplinary Minor in Ancient Civilization.. Introduction to the Fathers of the Church, with special emphasis on the period after the apostles to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). The lives, writings, and teachings of the Church Fathers will be studied through readings in English translation.

School:

Boston University Graduate Program in Religion

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

GRS RN683

African Diaspora Religions

This course introduces students to religions of the African Diaspora, with a specific focus on the
Caribbean and the Americas. Religious traditions such as Africanized Christianity, Cuban Santera, Haitian Vodou, Brazilian Candomble and African American Spiritualism will be explored.

School:

Boston University School of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

STH TH826

Reformations

Survey of social, personal, institutional, and theological aspects of reform and renewal in the late medieval and early modern periods, including Nominalism, Conciliarism, the papacy, Luther, the German and Swiss Reformations, Anabaptism and radical reformers, Calvin, the French Reformation, the English Reformation, Catholic Reform, Ignatius and Theresa, and the Council of Trent.

School:

Boston University School of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

STH TH827

History of American Christianity

The development of American Christianity as a social, intellectual, institutional, and cultural movement. The course includes visits to churches in Boston.

School:

Boston University School of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

STH TH845

Asian Christianity

This course explores the dynamism, co-option, stagnation and renewal of East Asian Christianity throughout its history--from the 7th century to the 21st. Special attention is given to Christianity's complex interaction with the religious, political, and social realities of Japan, China, and Korea. Students are introduced to important Christian leaders and movements across the centuries, and they investigate the implications of East Asian Christianity's recent expansion both at home and abroad.

School:

Boston University School of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

STH TH853

Christianity in Colonial Latin America

Christianity in Colonial Latin America is a graduate-level survey course that introduces students to the historical trajectory of Christianity in Latin America from the arrival of Christopher Columbus (1492) to the period of the Latin American wars of independence (1791-1821). Attention is given to the encounter with pre-Colombian religions as well as the transactional adaptation of core Christian theological, institutional, and ascetical traditions. Accordingly, special consideration will be given to theological discourses of the other, the adaptation of ecclesiastical institutions such as the episcopacy, and missionary practices. Reading selections include primary source material as well as secondary scholarly literature. Students will have the opportunity to acquire both a general appreciation for the historical trajectory of Christianity during the colonial period as well as an in depth understanding of selected topics intended for independent research.

School:

Boston University School of Theology

BTI Category:

Church History/History of Religions

STH TN829

Enslavement and Early Christian Literature

No Course Description