RELG315

A survey of the history of the Christian church from the close of the period of the New Testament to the present day, this course deals with a variety of Patristic writers in the eastern and western traditions of Christianity followed by a sample of medieval and Reformation writers and concludes with a few modern examples, influenced by the renewed interest in patristic resources. In the patristic period there are some significant shifts of perspective to be noted. Authors to be examined include Perpetua, Origen, Arius, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Adolph von Harnack, Karl Barth, and Yves Congar. Modern studies have been selected to demonstrate the contribution of research in the earlier resources have contributed to creative reassessment of Christian perspectives.