Description: Will Christianity survive in a modern world? This was a burning issue in Western Christendom since the Enlightenment. In the nineteenth century the rapidly growing divide between traditional belief and modern ways of thought led Christians to rethink the ‘fundamentals’ of their faith, resulting in vehement controversies between progressive and conservative believers both in Europe and North America.
A major issue revolved around the question of adaptation: should one adjust the Christian faith to modern scholarship? Or would such a strategy mean the end of faith? How should one cope with the findings of modern biblical criticism and Darwinism?
The MA Seminar War and Peace: Science and Religion in Roman Catholicism 1880-1940 will focus on the so-called ‘modernist crisis’ in the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and the United States.
An analysis of the modernist crisis will be instrumental in rethinking the so-called ‘warfare thesis’ concerning science and religion.
Teaching method: – A combination of lecture and independent study of academic literature
On the basis of close reading of academic treatises, articles in periodicals, autobiographies and biographies students will investigate the main topics of the Catholic modernist crisis, including the authority and infallibility of the Bible, the development of dogma, the ‘essence’ or ‘fundamentals’ of faith, the role of the early Church, legendary elements in the lives of saints, the general notion of ‘sacredness’, and the role of the laity.
Admission requirements: Students which possess a basic knowledge of the history of Christianity and have a working knowledge of English and German. A working knowledge of French is also welcomed.
Course objectives: The MA-seminar will confront students with basic topics concerning the relationship between science and religion in a formative period of Western religious history. They will study the material from the theoretical pespective of the the ‘warfare thesis’ and be urged to reformulate this thesis.
Course load: We will meet once a week over spring term. Our discussions will focus on the weekly reading assignments. For each meeting you will need to have read 1) the week’s ‘core readings’ ,and 2) a selection from the list of ‘recommended general readings’.
Seminar overview & assignments (5 ects= 140 hrs)
weekly meetings 12 × 2 = 24 hrs
weekly reading assignments 12 × 3 = 36 hrs
presentation 40 hrs
Ecclesiastical History Society S.S.S 40 hrs
———————— 140 hrs = 5 ects
nb plus Extra Paper 140 hrs + 280 hrs = 10 ects
Required reading:
Appleby, R. Scott, ‘Church and Age Unite!’. The Modernist Impulse in American Catholicism, Notre Dame 1992
O’Connell, Marvin R., Critics on Trial. An Introduction to the Catholic Modernist Crisis, Washington 1994
Arnold, Claus, Kleine Geschichte des Modernismus, Freiburg i/Br 2007
Test method: Participation in class and the presentation
Time table: A Schedule of Classes & Readings will be distributed before the course starts.
Information: Please contact prof.dr. Ernestine van der Wall before signing up for this course e.g.e.van.der.wall@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Registration:
Blackboard: No use of Blackboard
Remarks: The course will be given only if a minimum of 4 regular students will sign up for the course. Otherwise special arrangements will be made with students.