Content

This unit traces stories of Christianity in Asia-Pasifika, including Australia, from the 1700s to the 1900s. Looking at the lives and work of women, Indigenous leaders, writers, and missionaries, we will ask how did colonialism impact the experience of faith? And how did theology and local historical contexts combine to shape churches and societies? We will explore the rhetoric of reason from the Reformed tradition and expressions of revival from Evangelicalism. We will interpret a variety of historical sources ― memoir and biography, hymns and church journals, literature and artefacts. Using contemporary historical methods, such as material history, literary history and the history of emotions, we will seek to understand the experience of lived faith in particular contexts. Finally, we will gain an understanding of change and continuity in Christian practice and belief in the region where we serve.

Unit code: CH2040P

Unit status: Approved (New unit)

Points: 18.0

Unit level: Undergraduate Level 2

Unit discipline: Church History

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify significant dates, people and themes in Protestantism in the 18th to 20th centuries

2.

Apply key principles of historical interpretation to a range of primary sources

3.

Analyse how an aspect of Protestant practice or belief has developed over time

4.

Communicate an understanding of the interaction of theology and local historical context

Unit sequence

Prerequisite 18 points of CH or CT

Pedagogy

Seminars, workshops, shared learning experiences, and student-led research aimed at gaining critical understanding of students' own past and/or present contexts.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Ernst, Manfred (ed.). Globalization and the Re-Shaping of Christianity in the Pacific Islands. Suva: Pacific Theological College, 2006.
  • Gardner, Helen B. Gathering for God: George Brown in Oceania. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2006.
  • George, Sam (ed). Diaspora Christianities: Global Scattering and Gathering of South Asian Christians. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018.
  • Handasyde, Kerrie. God in the Landscape: Studies in the Literary History of Australian Protestant Dissent. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.
  • Jacobs, Karen, Chantal Knowles, and Chris Wingfield (eds). Trophies, Relics and Curios?: Missionary Heritage from Africa and the Pacific. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2014.
  • Kim, Kirsteen and Sebastian C. H. Kim. A History of Korean Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Lake, Meredith. The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History. Rev. ed. Sydney: NewSouth Press, 2020.
  • O’Brien, Glen and Hilary Carey, eds. Methodism in Australia: A History. Burlington: Ashgate, 2015.
  • Piggin, Stuart and Robert Linder, Attending to the National Soul: Evangelical Christians in Australian History, 1914-2014. Melbourne: Monash University Press, 2019.
  • Sivasundaram, Sujit. Nature and the Godly Empire: Science and Evangelical Mission in the Pacific, 1795-1850. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Source Analysis - Source Analysis

Analysis of a selected primary source following class discussion

800 20.0
Oral Presentation - Oral presentation on secondary sources

10-minute class presentation (including Q&A) that analyses selected secondary sources for use in the essay

700 20.0
Essay - Scholarly essay

Scholarly essay using both primary and secondary sources

2200 40.0
Article (for Newspaper, e.g. letter to the editor) - Article for a general readership

Engaging article for a general readership, based on the research in the scholarly essay

800 20.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 4 Sep, 2023

Unit record last updated: 2023-09-04 10:16:27 +1000