Syllabus HI 585 The History Of Christian Spirituality .

SyllabusHI 585 The History of Christian Spirituality: Beginnings to 1500Winter/Spring, 2015Professor Elizabeth A. Dreyereadreyer@sbcglobal.net 203-230-9938Instructor can be contacted by phone or email between classes.“We tend to discover the past we set out to find. This is not because the past is a willfullyimagined fiction but because it is such a complicated and multifaceted reality.”Norman Cantor, Inventing the Middle Ages“A meaningful connection to the past demands, above all, active engagement. It demandsimagination and empathy, so that we can fathom worlds unlike our own, contexts far from thosewe know, ways of thinking and feeling that are alien to us. We must enter past worlds withcuriosity and respect. When we do this, the rewards are considerable. . . .We live our lives; wetell our stories. The dead continue to live by way of the resurrection we give them in telling theirstories. The past becomes part of our present and thereby part of our future.”Gerda Lerner, Why History Matters. Life and ThoughtCourse DescriptionIn an age of religious and historical illiteracy, this course invites students to delve into the lives,contexts, beliefs, texts, and spiritual practices of notable Christian men and women during thefirst 1500 years of Christianity. We will read and discuss in an open yet critical way a range ofclassic Christian spiritual texts from the Bible to Julian of Norwich (14th century). Goals of thecourse include a) knowledge and appreciation of the general contours of Christian spiritualityduring this period; b) an understanding of the range of methodological issues related to the studyof the history of Christian spirituality; substantive knowledge about how to read select primarytexts; c) an understanding of how social, ecclesial, political, and economic contexts affectedspirituality in each era; d) the ability to discern the strengths and weaknesses of this tradition andto identify which elements are no longer relevant (or even harmful) and which should becreatively and critically appropriated for our own time. A secondary goal is to allow students toreflect on their own spiritual paths in light of this tradition.IntentionsThis course aspires to: encounter the broad and complex story of Christian spirituality, from origins to 1500;understand the complexities involved in “doing” historical study, attending to what itmeans to encounter and engage patristic and medieval sources, and how perspective andidentity shape judgments about the past;articulate basic developments of the church’s theological spirituality as these emergeduring this period;engage the formative power of such traditions, and how these reflect both patterns ofconsensus, selections and exclusions, diversities of view, etc.;1

explore the margins, tensions, and silences that make up this portrait and influence howthis tradition might be read faithfully and critically;identify the role of historical understanding in our varied vocations as pastoral andprophetic leaders in church and societyIt is expected that students will: develop a basic familiarity with the history of Christian spirituality from its origins to1500;understand biblical, spiritual and theological patterns of Christian faith and life in theirvaried expressions;be able to interpret primary texts with insight and confidence;be able to discern problematic stances of exclusion and marginalization, as well asidentify elements of the tradition that do and do not speak to contemporary spiritualneeds and contexts;appropriate in a critical way strands from this common tradition into their personalreligious story, affiliations, and ecclesial responsibilities.RequirementsRequired Texts:Many primary sources can be found on-line, though these are almost always drawn frompublications in the common domain, meaning that they are exempt from copyright. Inmost cases, this means that they are dated and often use antiquated language. There are alsomarvelous web sites which include, alongside texts, non-textual materials (images of paintings,icons, architectural sites, sculpture, etc.). Students are encouraged to use and share their findingswith class colleagues.Williams, Rowan. The Wound of Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 1979 and1990; put out by Rowman and Littlefield, 2003. ISBN: 1-56101-047-2.[The American publication is titled Christian Spirituality: A Theological History from the NewTestament to Luther and St. John of the Cross. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1979. ISBN: 0-80420508-6.]Sheldrake, Philip. Spirituality & History: Questions of Interpretation and Method. New York:Crossroad, 1992. ISBN: 0-8245-1148-4.Holder, Arthur, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.ISBN: 978-1-4443-3765-5.The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection. Trans. Benedicta Ward.Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1984. ISBN: 978-0879079598.Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works. Trans. G.R. Evans. New York: Paulist Press, 1987. ISBN:0-8091-2917-5.Francis and Clare: The Complete Works. Trans. Regis J. Armstrong and Ignatius Brady. Classicsof Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1982. ISBN: 0-8091-2446-7.Julian of Norwich, Showings, trans. Edmund Colledge and James Walsh. The Classics of WesternSpirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1978. ISBN: 0-8091-2091-7.Selected readings provided by instructor.2

There will be a number of books on reserve in the library. For those students who would like todo some background reading prior to the course, the following might be helpful.Andrew Louth, The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys. Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1981. ISBN: 0-19-826668-5.Recommended:MethodCollins, Francis. The Language of God.Dreyer, Elizabeth A. and Mark Burrows, eds. Minding the Spirit: The Study of ChristianSpirituality. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.Essay CollectionsHolder, Arthur, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.Holly wood, Amy and Patricia Z. Beckman, eds. The Cambridge Companion to ChristianMysticism. Cambridge, 2012.McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 1:The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century. New York: Crossroad,1991.McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 2:The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great through the 12th Century. New York:Crossroad, 1994.McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 3:The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism – 1200-1550.New York: Crossroad, 1998.McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 4:The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany. New York: Crossroad, 2005.McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 5:The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism: 1350-1550. New York: Crossroad, 2012.World Spirituality. Volume 16: Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century. Eds.Bernard McGinn and John Meyendorff. New York: Crossroad, 1985.World Spirituality. Volume 17: High Middle Ages and Reformation. Ed., Jill Raitt. New York;Crossroad, 1987.BibleBowe, Barbara E. Biblical Foundations of Spirituality: Touching a Finger to the Flame.New York: Sheed & Ward, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.Schneiders, Sandra. “Scripture and Spirituality.” in World Spirituality. Volume 16: ChristianSpirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century. Eds. Bernard McGinn and JohnMeyendorff. New York: Crossroad, 1985, pp. 1-20; “Biblical Spirituality,”Interpretation 56 (April 2002): 133-42.DesertThe Book of the Elders: Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Systematic Collection.Trans. John Wortley.3

[Sayings began to be collected and written in fifth century. First organized alphabetically acc/ toname of abba. A supplementary collection, the Anonymous Apophthegmata followed later. Thenboth collections were combined and arranged systematically between 500 and 575. Later wentthrough a couple of major revisions, the second of which appeared sometime before 970. Thissecond revision was published in new critical ed. in French in 1993. Now this translation inEnglish based on Greek text.]The Hermitage Within: Spirituality of the Desert by a Monk. Trans. Alan Neame.Becoming Fire: Through the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Ed. Tim Vivian.A Life Pleasing to God: The Spirituality of the Rules of Saint Basil. Augustine Holmes.Saint Mary of Egypt: Three Medieval Lives in Verse. Trans. Ron Pepin and Hugh Feiss.Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources. BenedictaWard.The Lives of the Desert Fathers. Trans. Norman Russell.The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Apophthegmata Patrum: The Alphabetic Collection.Trans. Benedicta Ward.Words To Live By: Journeys in Ancient and Modern Egyptian Monasticism. Tim Vivian.In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. John Chryssavgis,Revised. Bloomington, IND: World Wisdom, 2008.Desert Wisdom: Sayings from The Desert Fathers. Nomura, Yushi, translator and artist, withIntroduction by Henri J. M. Nouwen. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, Eighth printing, 2010.Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources. Benedicta Ward.Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1987PatristicsMcGinn, Bernard and Patricia Ferris McGinn. Early Christian Mystics: The Divine Vision of theSpiritual Masters. New York: Crossroad, 2003.Assessment Expectations1. Attendance at all classes; evidence of careful preparation of assignments; occasionalleadership of class discussion; willingness to contribute in significant ways to the generalconversation. Since this class is text based, it is imperative that you have a copy ofthe text under consideration with you in class. 30%2. Four “critical analysis” papers of primary texts/topics covered in class (each ca. 800words). 10% each -- 40%.a) Paper #1 Due February 5b) Paper #2 Due February 26c) Paper #3 Due March 19d) Paper #4 Due April 93. Final essay/ paper (approximately 10-12 pages – font 12; double spaced with one inchmargins). Paper topic should be shaped in consultation with instructor. Thesis statementdue . Outline due. Final paper is to be handed in on or before the date scheduled for thefinal exam for this class. 30%Attendance policyAttendance in class is required. Given the format of this course, it is imperative to attend all fivesessions. Only one missed class will be allowed and only for a grave reason. Alternate4