REFORMATION & MODERN CHURCH HISTORY

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to the history of Christianity from the Reformation to the modern or present day. The story of Reformation and its aftermath is a story of courage, struggle, success, and victory of the truth and the expansion of the church. This course will cover the Reformation story, reaction of the Catholic Church and its measures to check the spread of Reformation ideas and Counter Reformation, prominent people and their contributions, spread of Reformation ideas in the European nations. The Reformation in selected nations of Europe would be studied in details, the origin and development of various Protestant denominations would be part of the study, development of doctrinal differences among Protestants, the very general history of the Christianizing of the New World by various Christian denominations, and the taking of Good News to the Third World would be done, in all, the sovereignty of God over the turn of events in history would be seen and acknowledged. This course is divided into two major sections such as Reformation history and the modern History of Christianity.

Course Objectives
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Understand the factors that led to the Reformation of the church;
2. Explain the differences among the Reformers on important theological issues;
3. Recognize the benefits of the Reformation and its doctrines;
4. Explain the context of the major creeds and confessions of the Reformation;
5. Appreciate the people whom God used to bring about the Reformation;
6. Recognize the influence of various historical movements on the Church, such as pietism, the Enlightenment, evolution, etc.;
7. Trace the development of the Protestant churches since the sixteenth century;
8. Evaluate the development of the church from a historical and contemporary perspective;
9. Recognize the missionary impulse in modern times.

Course Outline
• Introduction: Background of the Reformation: Renaissance, Corruption in the Roman Church, Papal Authority, etc.
• Sixteenth Century: The Protestant Reformation, its prime motivators: Germany (Luther…), England (Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer), Switzerland (Calvin, Zwingli…), France (Coligny), and Scotland (Knox), The Catholic Counter-Reformation, Origins of Protestant Denominations, Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, Anabaptists
• Seventeenth Century: Reformed Creedal Developments and the spread of Protestantism, The Heidelberg Catechism, The Synod of Dordt, The Westminster Assembly and Standards, Rise of Protestant Scholasticism
• Eighteenth Century: Rationalism, Enlightenment, and Pietism, Methodism
• Nineteenth Century: Modern Missionary Enterprise, Liberalism, Evangelicalism and Revivals
• The Twentieth Century: Fundamentalism, Ecumenism, and Indigenous Missions.
• The Orthodox Churches: An Overview

COURSE PLAN:
Lectures, Class Discussion, buzz groups, Breakout rooms
Assessment :
Class Attendance and participation 10%
Assignment 30%
Final Exam 60%