Content

This subject explores the quest for “fullness of life” in classic Christian spiritual writings. It sets the sources in the context of the writers’ own times in order to consider images of God, understandings of holiness and faithful living, that have informed the Christian community. Discussion is focussed around “desert”, “cloister”and “marketplace” as distinctive, but interconnected locations for and styles of Christian spirituality, each with Australian dimensions and implications. We will use the tools of social and cultural history to examine the interconnectedness of “spirituality” and “doctrine”, to explore the methodological challenges of holding together “love” and “knowledge” as partners in a Christian understanding of “fullness of life”.

Unit code: CH2000P

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 18.0

Unit level: Undergraduate Level 2

Unit discipline: Church History

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify key writers and prevailing themes within a broad chronology of Christian spirituality

2.

Set those key writers and themes in the context of the international literature on the history of Christian spirituality

3.

Draw appropriately on a range of historical sources to develop historical and theological arguments

4.

Articulate the relationship between theological and spiritual concerns in the work of at least one writer in the Christian tradition

5.

Articulate the relationship between theological and spiritual concerns in a sample of contemporary writing

Unit sequence

15 points in CH

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars, tutorial discussion

Indicative Bibliography

  • Cassian, John, and Boniface Ramsey. John Cassian, the Conferences. New York: Paulist Press, 1997.
  • Cassian, John, and Boniface Ramsey. John Cassian, the Institutes. New York: Newman Press, 2000.
  • Dreyer, Elizabeth and Mark Burrows. Minding the Spirit: The Study of Christian Spirituality. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
  • Haight, Roger. Spirituality Seeking Theology. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2014.
  • Mafi-Williams, Lorraine and Kinsie McDonald. Spirituality, Sydney Aboriginal Program Unit. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1989.
  • Sheldrake, Philip. Spirituality and Theology: Christian Living and the Doctrine of God. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1998. (recommended for purchase)
  • Sheldrake, Philip. Spirituality: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. (recommended for purchase)

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

Research essay (3,000 words)

0 60.0
Essay

Source analysis (1000 words)

0 40.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 19 Oct, 2017

Unit record last updated: 2022-10-27 12:37:51 +1100