This course follows the extraordinary development of Western Christianity from its early persecution under the Roman Empire in the third century to its global expansion with the Jesuits of the early modern world. We explore the dynamic and diverse character of a religion with an enormous cast characters. We will meet men and women who tell stories of faith as well as of violence, suppression, and division. Along the way, we encounter Perpetua and her martyrdom in Carthage; the struggles of Augustine the bishop in North Africa; the zeal of Celtic monks and missionaries; the viciousness of the Crusades; the visions of Brigit of Sweden; and the fracturing of Christianity by Martin Luther’s protest. We hear the voices of great theologians as well as of those branded heretics by the Church, a powerful reminder that the growth of Christianity is a story with many narratives of competing visions of reform and ideals, powerful critiques of corruption and venality, and exclusion of the vanquished. The troubled history of Christian engagement with Jews and Muslims is found in pogroms and expulsions, but also in the astonishing ways in which the culture of the West was transformed by Jewish and Islamic learning.
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A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650)
Yale UniversityAbout this Course
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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Welcome to A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650)
Introduction: From Persecution to Empire
Augustine and the North African Church
Monastic Lives: Desert Fathers to Celtic Christianity
Reformers and Crusaders
Reviews
- 5 stars82.67%
- 4 stars13.20%
- 3 stars2.22%
- 2 stars1.02%
- 1 star0.85%
TOP REVIEWS FROM A JOURNEY THROUGH WESTERN CHRISTIANITY: FROM PERSECUTED FAITH TO GLOBAL RELIGION (200 - 1650)
I was excited to learn what was presnted session by session throughout the course. I like to continue the journey on the western Christanity after 1650.
Excellent thousand foot view of roughly 1400 years of Western Christianity, covering a huge number of critical events.
I enjoyed this course so much!! I learned a lot about history and the church. It has kept me looking for more courses and books to learn more!!!!!
Thank you so much for offering this!
Well developed and presented course.. It'll be good to have it continued from 1650 to where the Christian faith is today. I'll be very interested to be part of it if it is developed.
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