Historical and Cultural Studies
Christianity and Quakerism show the work of God and God's
people within time, an ongoing life where God's purposes and human groups,
cultures, and historical settings have continually interacted. Preparation for
a ministry related to the human world in which we live needs an understanding
of how the faith and the church have shaped and been shaped by history. The
writing and lives of great religious personalities also give us insight into
conversion, mystical, sacramental, ethical, and other kinds of personal
experience different from and enriching to our own. In this pluralistic world,
it is also important to see Christianity and Quakerism in relation to other
religious cultures and living faiths.
HCST 101 & 101AC Early Christianity
This course provides an integrated study of the
life, doctrines, and great leaders of the church, and the development of
theology up to the Crusades. Primary focus is given to development of Christian
doctrine with special attention to Trinitarian and Christological issues.
3 semester hours
HCST 102 & 102AC Christendom and Reformation
This course offers an interlinked study of Christian
society, the church's institutions, doctrines, and great personalities, from
the early Middle Ages through Luther, Calvin, and the Anabaptists to the
Puritans, stressing the Church's efforts to establish a Christian social order.
3 semester hours
HCST 103 & 103EA U.S.A. Church History
This introductory course studies the roles of major
churches in the development of American culture and society, their European
roots and links to ethnic groups, the frontier, the Civil War, industrialism,
and urbanization; also an examination of persons and books from such movements
as the Awakening, Revival Movement, liberalism, fundamentalism, the Social
Gospel, and present standpoints.
3 semester hours
HCST 107 Quaker Life
This course deals with the institutions, practices,
vocabulary and controversies characteristic of the Society of Friends. It
scrutinizes the separate traditions of contemporary Quakerism from the
standpoint of history and theology to note the stages whereby 17th-century
Quakerism becomes what we have today. This process inevitably raises theological
questions, and it is hoped to review both the distinctiveness of Quaker faith
and practice, and some of the critical questions that can be posed to it.
3 semester hours
HCST 230 Creation of Modern Quaker Diversity, 1800-1925
This course examines the development of
controversies in the Religious Society of Friends during the nineteenth
century, and the historical impact that these have had.
3
semester hours
HCST 341 Directed Readings in Denominational Polity
Students who are other than Quaker may develop a
directed reading course under the guidance of an approved supervisor from their
denominational tradition or a regular member of the ESR faculty. 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
HCST 303 The History of Religious Thought in America
This course explores the growth of American
theologies and religious thought systems from predominantly Puritan origins to
current times. Each student will take the thought of a particular theologian to
explore in depth. Among the questions we will try to answer: What makes each
theologian we are studying especially "American" in his or her identity? What
notable contribution has this theologian made to America and the world?
3 semester hours
Prerequisite: HCST 103
HCST 324 Sociology of Religion
The course focuses on theories of sociological
origin and basis of religion, evolution of religious forms of organization,
religion as a force for social change or control.
3 semester
hours
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
HCST 347 Modern Quaker Life and Thought
This course seeks to explore the institutions,
practices, and intellectual activities of Friends, beginning with the year
1900. Particular emphasis will be placed on the intellectual richness of Quaker
thought in the last century, especially that of the liberal and evangelical
strands which have become predominant in Quakerism during this period. Intellectual
roots of these traditions will be sought, with a goal of charting the
boundaries between Quaker and non-Quaker expressions of these types of
Christianity and religious thought.
3 semester hours
Prerequisite: HCST 107
HCST 390 Seminar in Historical Studies
Upper level seminar work on selected topics. Focus
primarily falls on the Patristic period and Reformation. Seminar work deals
with people such as Augustine or Luther and topics such as ascetical theology,
Christology, or sacraments.
3 semester hours
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
HCST 400 Independent Study
See ATST 400.
HCST 500 Master's Thesis
See BIST 500.
