'I am with you always': Introducing the History of the Church (CH8003Y)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This survey unit gives students a sense of the history of the Christian community since the time of the New Testament to today. It also introduces students to historical skills like textual criticism, material culture studies and historical research. It is a chance to meet the people and ideas that made Christianity what it is today.

Unit code: CH8003Y

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Foundational

Unit discipline: Church History

Delivery Mode: Blended

Proposing College: Yarra Theological Union

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify and critically apply the methods of historical study
2.

Analyse primary and secondary historical sources
3.

Demonstrate the capacity for research and sustain a historical argument on a selected event in Church History
4.

Analyse with historical evidence the inter-relationship between history and theology
5.

Critically engage with debates on major historiographical issues in Church History

Pedagogy

An interactive mode lecture, exploratory workshops, series of pre-prepared materials and online resources will be employed.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd Ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1999 (or other editions)
  • Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, AD 200-1000. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
  • Brown, Stephen (Ed.), The Church and Empire. Cambridge University Press, 2018
  • Cameron, Euan. The European Reformation. 2nd ed. Oxford: OUP, 2012
  • Comby, Jean. How to Read Church History.* 2 Vols. New York: Crossroads. 1989.
  • Gonzalez, Justo L. The Changing Shape of Church History. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2002.
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christian History: An Introduction to the Western Tradition. London: SCM Press, 2012.
  • McGrath, Alister. Christian history: An Introduction. Chichester: Blackwell, 2013.
  • Schjørring, Jens Holger and Norman A. Hjelm (eds). The History of Global Christianity, Translated by David Orton. Leiden: Brill, 2018
  • Threlfall-Holmes, Miranda. Essential History of Christianity. London: SPCK Publishing, 2012.
  • Wallace, Peter G. The Long European Reformation. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Portfolio 6000 100.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 25 Jun, 2026

Unit record last updated: 2026-06-25 10:13:46 +1000