Semester II, Week 10: 21st Century Christianity

In this last class, we take time to review the entire semester. We then open the floor to discuss two questions: what changes in the Church have your experienced in your life; and what voices are influencing the Church today? Everything is wrapped up as we consider what a church in Barcelona, Spain has to do with Our Christian History.

Lecture Notes

Whiteboard

Lecture Recording (1:27:32; 80.1 MB)


Additional Resources

Rev. Bill Fisher: "Airplanes, Bicycles, and Churches"

Year-in-Review Barna's Top 10 Findings from 2014 - Barna Group

Six Megathemes Emerge from Barna Group Research in 2010 - Barna Group

One church’s sunset means a new day for another - The Washington Post

Semester II, Week 09: The Church in a Nuclear Age

As we enter the volatile 20th century, we’ll study three Christian reactions to massive crisis in culture:

• the Church exchanged
• the Church estranged
• the Church engaged

Lecture Notes

Lecture Recording (1:10:08; 64.2 MB)


Extras:

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Semester II, Week 08: The Religious Marketplace in 19th Century America

The religious vitality once found in Europe found a new home in 19th century America. Religious freedom, a progressive and democratic spirit - along with other factors - created a fertile environment for religious experimentation. American Protestantism seemed poised to take over the world. So what events caused the market to abandon such optimism?

Lecture Notes

Whiteboard

Lecture Recording (1:11:11; 65.2 MB)

The Most Amazing Thing In The World

Semester II, Week 07: Awakenings and Revivals

The Great Awakenings were a reaction to the rational, intellectual, heady faith that was emerging in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment. It sought to reconnect and re-affirm the place of emotion in self-authenticating religious experiences. Revivalism in America sparked a debate over the answer to this question: What must I do to be saved?

Teacher's Guide

Lecture Recording (1:21:08; 74.2 MB)

Additional Resources

The Great Awakening - 1

The Great Awakening - 2

The First Great Awakening

Religious Transformation 

Puritanism/Predestination 

Whitefield - Timeline and Biography

Open air preaching 

Opposing Views - Old/New Lights 

Whitefield/Wesley split  - 1

Whitefield/Wesley split  - 2

Edwards versus Chauncy

John Wesley Almost Marries Grace Murray

Semester II, Week 06: Coming to America

DISCLAIMER: This week's recording was destroyed by either providence or technology; it is hard to say. The recording linked here is taken from last year's class. Please understand that some of the lessons referred to in this recording are not in the same order as this year's.

That said, today's lesson discusses the Puritans - from their origin in England, and the dissenting groups who left to create a New World in America.

Lecture Notes

Slide Deck

Lecture Recording (1:13:41; 67.4 MB)

John Winthrop's "Model of Christian Charity" 

Dramatization of the Trial of Anne Hutchinson

Transcript of the Trial of Anne Hutchinson

Semester II, Week 05: Faith and Reason

We finish our time in Europe discussing a time when the praises reserved for God alone were instead spent lifting up the virtues of mankind and his place in a rational universe. We will be discussing faith and reason in a time known as "The Enlightenment".

In the following weeks, we will turn our attention to America. This lesson will provide a lot of framework for understanding the movements we will be looking at. That said, please don't be alarmed that this lesson covers about 300 years in one very broad stroke, only to return to the 1600's next week. All will be revealed - just trust the process.

Teacher's Guide

Whiteboard

Lecture Recording (1:05:41; 60.1 MB)

Readings

Enlightenment 

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/enlightenment/

Dover Beach, A famous poem about, among other things, the loss of Religion's prominence in Western Europe

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172844

Proof that Faith has not died in our "enlightened age"
Devastating Arguments Against Christianity (Courtesy of the Internet)

Semester II, Week 04: The Reformations, part 2

The lesson continues the discussion about the reforming events of the 16th century. We look this time at the specific events played out in Switzerland, Great Britain, and Rome itself.

Lecture Notes

Lecture Recording (1:15:12; 68.9 MB)


Additional Resources

General

• McGrath, Alister E. "Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution-- a History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-first." 

• Gonzalez, Justo L. "The Story of Christianity. Vol. 2." 

Ulrich Zwingli

• "Ulrich Zwingli" http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ulrich_zwingli.htm

• "The beliefs of Ulrich Zwingli" http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/beliefs_zwingli.htm

• http://www.theology.edu/h373.htm

John Calvin

• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/John_Calvin.htm

• http://www.theology.edu/h373.htm

Distinctions between Lutheran and Reformed

• http://opc.org/qa.html?question_id=31

Henry VIII

• http://video.pbs.org/video/2365444192/

The English Reformation

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/english_reformation_01.shtml