Course Prospectus For THL 320 Introduction to Church History

Transcription

1 Course Prospectus For THL 320 Introduction to Church History Overview Important details of the early church in the late first and early second century are found in Revelation 2-3. These two chapters tell of the spiritual conditions present in seven of the congregations of the Church of God in Asia Minor, along a Roman mail route, while under the oversight of Apostle John Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. They also provide a prophetic outline, which lies imbedded within the text, of the historical development of the church in seven eras or historical epics. The literal prophecies in Revelation 2-3 were fulfilled in their own time as churches in Asia Minor, but they have important prophetic meaning, fulfilled over the course of nearly 2,000 years as successive eras in church history, as well. Revelation is a prophetic book. The seven churches have prophetic significance, or it makes no sense to embed otherwise disconnected historical accounts in a major prophetic book. Overlooked by historians far too long, these two chapters provide a general outline of church history from the birth of the church in 31 CE to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the Age. In this sense Revelation 2-3 constitute a prophetic history of the Church of God with an important message for the people of God in every century. The period extending from the founding of the Church of God until the Resurrection and Christ s return is distinctly the Age of the Church in seven successive stages. This history is the focus of our course. Course catalog description This course traces the history of the Church of God from apostolic times to the present day. Topics include the development of the Church through each of its seven distinct eras. Upon completion, students should be able to analyze significant developments in the history of the Church. Prerequisites and corequisites None. Course credit Three (3) semester hours. The ruins of ancient Pella. Members of the Jerusalem headquarters church, the mother of all churches, relocated to Pella prior to the First Jewish Revolt. Pella was a Greek city in the Decapolis, located east of the Jordan River, in what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Instructional objectives On successful completion of this course, a student should be able to: Page 2 of 7 Copyright Living University. All Rights Reserved.

2 1. Describe the cultural milieu in which the ancient church evolved; 2. State and detail the defining characteristics of the Church of God in each of its successive stages and identify its leaders; 3. Define basic terms and develop basic research skills in the field of church history; 4. Describe the development of traditional Christianity through the Greek (Orthodox) and Latin (Roman Catholic) churches and identify significant doctrinal differences; 5. Describe and explain the Protestant Reformation and show the differences in approach and doctrine with the the Church of God in its progressive stages; 6. Demonstrate the history of the Church of God as it relates to the development of traditional orthodox Christianity; and 7. Relate the history of the Living Church of God and its predecessors. Your instructor The instructor of record for this course is Dr. Michael P. Germano. To contact him on course details and issues please use the feature in the e-learning system (Populi) or His telephone is Dr. Germano held responsibilities in Ambassador University s involvement in archaeological excavations at the south Temple Mount directed by Benjamin Mazar, the Umm el-jimal Project directed by Bert de Vries, the Mozan Expedition directed by Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, and the Hazor Excavations in memory of Yigael Yadin directed by Amnon Ben-Tor. His research focus has been on early church history and archaeology. Based on his research in Jerusalem he presented a paper The Ancient Church of the Apostles: Revisiting Jerusalem s Cenacle and David s Tomb to the Near Eastern Archaeological Society (NEAS) and has a book in preparation detailing the history of the first era of the Church ( CE) entitled The First Christians: History, Myths and Traditions of the Apostolic Church. Ordained in 1983, Dr. Germano is an elder in the Living Church of God and serves as President of Living University. Students with Disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities have a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. Students having a disability requiring an accommodation should inform the instructor by (on the Course Info page, click on the instructor s name and then select Send ). Technology access This course requires web access and the student has to have an established account. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is necessary to view documents that are PDF files. You can download the reader free at Page 2 of 6 Copyright Living University. All Rights Reserved. Revised January 29, 2014.

3 Attendance in this online course One of the most vital aspects of the college and university experience is attendance and punctuality in the learning environment. Regularity of attendance is necessary for students to derive maximum benefit from a course and to maintain a satisfactory academic record, whether in an online course or in an oncampus course. We have noticed that students who fall behind in their coursework typically drop out. Therefore, we highly encourage you to complete your assignments on time, as we want you to succeed. Remember Ecclesiastes 9:10: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you go. Please be aware that all students who fall behind in an online course and do not complete twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total assignments and other required activities for a course, on or before Last day to withdraw from a course as set forth in the University Academic Calendar, will receive a grade of W for it. After that date, the grade will be a WF and counted in a student s GPA. Moreover, an instructor may drop a student from a course whenever the instructor concludes that a student s class attendance or punctuality endangers the student s success or places other students at risk. Textbooks Textbooks for this course are: Ball, Bryan W. The Seventh-day Men: Sabbatarians and Sabbatarianism in England and Wales, Cambridge, UK: James Clarke and Co., Conybeare, Frederick Cornwallis. The Key of Truth. Elibron Classics. Chestnut Hill MA: Adamant Media Corporation, McGoldrick, James Edward. Baptist Successionism. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press Inc., Richardson, Cyril C. Early Christian Fathers. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co, Inc., Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, Supplementary books are: Elwell, Walter A. and Robert W. Yarbrough. Readings from the First-Century World. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. Vol. 1. Revised and Updated. San Francisco: HarperCollins, Liechty. Daniel. Sabbatarianism and the Sixteenth Century: A Page in the History of the Radical Reformation. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, Rogers, Albert N. Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America. Vol. 1. Memphis, TN: General Books LLC, Seventh Day Baptist General Conference. Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America. Vol. 2. Memphis, TN: General Books LLC, Students may order books through the University Bookstore. The books used or referred to in this course are commercial publications. They represent the views and ideas of their authors, editors, and publishers. Living University does not endorse these texts nor vouch for their accuracy. We simply employ them in helping you master the content of the course. Page 3 of 6 Copyright Living University. All Rights Reserved. Revised January 29, 2014.

4 Icebreaker assignment To officially begin this course you must complete an icebreaker assignment by which you introduce yourself to your classmates through posting a short autobiography on the course Discussion Forum. The icebreaker assignment must be submitted not later than the eighth day of the semester. Post your biography as a reply to the Icebreaker topic on the lesson Welcome and Overview Discussion Forum. Please read and comment on at least two other bios by the due date in order to get credit. Do NOT create a NEW discussion. Simply tell the class about yourself and your goals. This is not the place for a profession of faith, or the details your conversion experience, or problems you have had with previous fellowships, as that information is more of a private nature. Here you inform your classmates what you would like them to know about you. As we have people from all over the world enrolled in this course each autobiography will help us know, understand and appreciate each other. This assignment is worth 30 points. Course evaluation Student input is welcome, and suggestions can be helpful for improving this course. Our goal in this course is to facilitate the successful achievement of all instructional objectives by all students. We want to make e-learning courses as effective as we can. At the end of the course students have the opportunity of assessing the course. By completing the assessment you can earn 35 points toward your final grade. We may also ask some other questions concerning a student s experience in distance learning to help us improve our program. We appreciate students letting us know how we can improve our products and services for them and other distance learners. Course requirements and grades Due dates and extensions Students must complete the course by the last official day of instruction as set forth in the Academic Calendar. Reading and writing exercises Reading assignments are integrated into the seven lesson webpages. When you undertake your critical book reviews you may find the reviews of these titles on Amazon.com helpful. Writing assignments All writing assignments in this course should follow the MLA style as set forth in Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide by Lester & Lester. Please cite your sources and use quotation marks where needed. The Files feature on the Assignment Submission page lets you submit your work so your instructor can have it handy for download, review and grading. Lectures This course includes a series of lectures by Dr. Germano. Links to lectures are on the lesson webpages. Page 4 of 6 Copyright Living University. All Rights Reserved. Revised January 29, 2014.

5 Quizzes and examinations Each of the seven lessons has an associated online quiz of not more than 25 questions. They are closed book quizzes. Under no circumstances are students to print a quiz. Students have 60 minutes to complete each quiz. Quizzes are objective tests which may include true/false, matching, multiple-choice questions covering lectures, readings, vocabulary words and any discussion topics. There are two closed book exams of 50 objective questions each. These are proctored examinations that are to be taken online. A proctored exam is one that is overseen by an impartial individual (called a proctor) who monitors or supervises a student while he or she is taking an exam. The proctor ensures the security and integrity of the exam process for all involved. In order for a proctored exam grade to be recorded, a signed Proctor s Signature Form must be sent to LU. No graded proctored exam will be returned to the student or to the exam proctor. Grading A course grade will be determined based on the number of points a student has earned over the semester as follows: Icebreaker Assignment (30 points) Critical Book Review (75 points) Discussion Forums (seven, each worth 10 points, for a total of 70 points) Exams (two, each worth 100 points, for a total of 200 points) Lesson Writing Assignments (seven, each worth 20, for a total of 140 points) Research Paper (100 points) Quizzes (seven, each worth 50 points, for a total of 350 points) Course Evaluation (35 points) TOTAL 1,000 points Posting the Icebreaker assignment on time is worth 30 points. These points could make the difference between an A or a B, or passing or not passing. Grades are in the traditional American style of an A, B, C, D or F. In distance learning, we believe that the measure of mastery of course subject matter is completion of 80% of the objectives for a course. That means that we want students to earn at least 800 points in this course. If they do not do so then they have not achieved the level of the mastery we would like them to have. We want this course to be competency-based and so it is possible for the entire class to receive an A or a B. There is no artificial curving of scores in the assignment of grades (if you do not know what that means, do not worry about it). Mastery of the material is what one s goal should be. Grades, assigned by points, are as follows: A points B points C points D points F Below 600 points Page 5 of 6 Copyright Living University. All Rights Reserved. Revised January 29, 2014.

6 Course calendar Lessons and Topics (Readings and viewing assignments are integrated into the lessons) Lesson 1 The Early Church (31-135) Topic 1 Introduction Topic 2 Early Christianity Topic 3 The Church at Jerusalem Topic 4 The Expansion of the Early Church Lesson 2 The Period of the Great Separation ( ) Topic 1 The Great Separation Topic 2 Controversies and Councils Topic 3 The Early Church Fathers Topic 4 Readings from the Early Church Fathers Lesson 3 The Church in the Wilderness I ( ) Topic 1 Paulicians and Bogomils Topic 2 The Eastern Orthodox Church Topic 3 The Western Church Topic 4 The Adoptionist Heresy Lesson 4 The Church in the Wilderness II ( ) Topic 1 Christianity in the High Middle Ages Topic 2 Vaudois, Cathars and Albigenses Topic 3 Peter Waldo and the Waldenses Topic 4 The Lollards Lesson 5 The Period of Terrible Turmoil ( ) Topic 1 The Church of God in England Topic 2 Stephen Mumford, Baptists and the Seventh Day Men Topic 3 Millerites and the Rise of Sabbatarian Adventism Topic 4 The Church of God (Adventist) and the COG7 Lesson 6 The Emergence of the Revitalized Church ( ) Topic 1 Herbert Armstrong and the Radio Church of God Topic 2 The Worldwide Church of God Topic 3 Apostasy and the Splintering of the Church Topic 4 The Living Church of God Lesson 7 The Church at the End of the Age ( ??) Topic 1 Naturalistic Secularism Topic 2 Lukewarm Christians Topic 3 Evangelicals and the Protestant Decline Topic 4 Neo-Orthodoxy (Christianity Sans God) Page 6 of 6 Copyright Living University. All Rights Reserved. Revised January 29, 2014.