RLGN171 Introducing Christianity

RLGN 171 Introducing Christianity

This course introduces students to the academic discipline of World Christianity, with a focus on diversity and plurality within the Christian tradition as a world religion. Students will explore the global perspectives of Christianity, in recognition of the fact that more than two-thirds of the world’s Christian population today are from the Majority or Two Thirds World, the so-called Global South. Students will also consider the challenges posed by, as well as the possibilities offered by the increasing diversity and plurality within the Christian tradition, as they examine the wider social, cultural, ethical, economic, and political dimensions of Christianity, and themes of community-making, identity formation and constructions, and social movements in regions beyond Europe and North America, through both historical and contemporary perspectives. Students will also investigate the impact and implications of missionary expansion, religious reception, colonialism and imperialism, globalization, transnational migration, postcolonialism, and multiple belonging on the transformation of Christianity from a Eurocentric religious tradition to a truly global world religion.

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Course Syllabus

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Required Books
Required Online Readings & Resources
Video Clips & Documentaries
Links for Religion in the News Project

Required Books

The following textbook is required for this course. As this book is not available at the campus bookstore, please order it through these Amazon links below or other online or brick-and-mortar sources. Do take advantage of the availability of cheap copies on Amazon - click on the "Other Sellers" tab or links to "used" copies):

Douglas Jacobsen, The World’s Christians: Who they are, Where they are, and How they got there (Wiley Blackwell, 2011).

Required Online Readings & Resources

"Historic Christian site found in China: Nestorian Christian site dates back at least 1,200 years," (UCA News, 17 January 2014)
"Did Christianity Thrive in China? Digging for evidence in an ancient church" (U.S. News & World Report, 5 March 2001)
"Ruins of an Old Christian Church on Lao-tzu's Turf" (New York Times, 24 February 2002)
"Faith in Shangri-La: Catholicism Maintains a Hold in China's Tibetan Communities" (Washington Post, 4 December 2000)
"ISIS seeks to control the country’s future by destroying its Christian past" (America Magazine, 7 January 2016) - on the destruction of Dura-Europos
"ISIS Forces Last Iraqi Christians to Flee Mosul", (New York Times, 18 July 2014)
"For Arab World’s Christians, An Uncertain Fate", (NPR All Things Considered, 25 Aug 2013)
"Syrian refugees swell Christian community in Turkey", (BBC News Magazine, 11 August 2013)
"Palestinian Christians ‘bitter and left out’ of Easter celebrations", (Al Jazeera America, 19 April 2014)
"China on course to become world's most Christian nation' within 15 years" (The Telegraph, 19 April 2014)
"The future of Christianity in China: Sino-Theology and the Pope" (CNN, 11 September 2014)
"Special Report: The bishop who stood up to China" (Reuters, 31 March 2014)
"Prophet or Judas? Son of China's church founder tackles thorny legacy" (Washington Post, 7 September 2014)
"Inside China's Secret Churches: How Christians Practice Their Faith Under An Atheist Government" (Huffington Post, 17 October 2014)
"China’s atheist leaders issue some striking new rules on religion", (PRI The World, 12 Oct 2016)
"China Seeks Tighter Grip in Wake of a Religious Revival", (New York Times, 7 Oct 2016)

Video Clips & Documentaries

Links for Religion in the News Project

International

National

Revision 1.005. Originally created: 12 October 2016. Last updated: 8 January 2018.