RELG 210 - Introduction to the History of Christianity

Credits: (3)
College Curriculum: COLL 200
Domain (Anchored): ALV
Additional Domain (if applicable): CSI
This course is designed to engage students with some of the key topics and seminal moments in the history of Christianity. We will begin with the life of Jesus and the competing stories that surrounded it. We will end with contemporary issues that involve Christianity and will discuss some of the grand theories of religion in the broad context of modern globalization. Thus, the course will move through two consecutive parts. In the first part, we will cover early forms of Christianity, major theological disputes that involved emperors, bishops, and monks throughout the Mediterranean and into the far East. In the following part, we will bring the story of Christianity to current times and will discuss the relevance of Christianity to such highly contested topics as the future of Europe, American political life and culture, progressive secularization, and unification of culture throughout the world.