Content

This unit involves students in the history of the Reformation era, so that they may better understand the Lutheran tradition as a movement for evangelical reform within the church catholic. Students will study the period from Christendom at the end of the Middle Ages, through the various European reformations to the end of the 16th century. This study will include: a special focus on the career of Martin Luther and the Lutheran reformation; the reform movements led by Zwingli and Calvin; the radical reformers; the expansion of the reformation movement in Europe; Catholic renewal; and the legacies of reformations.

Unit code: CH2203L

Unit status: Archived (Major revision)

Points: 18.0

Unit level: Undergraduate Level 2

Unit discipline: Church History

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Australian Lutheran College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify various approaches used in the study of the reformation era

2.

Demonstrate familiarity with the main events, movements and theological issues encountered in the study of the 16th century reformations

3.

Encounter texts from the reformation period and be able to judge their value for today’s world

4.

Identify the theological insights of the great reformers and show an awareness of their spiritual, pastoral and communal importance

5.

Analyse and evaluate the cultural, literary and theological features of texts from the reformation era

6.

Compose theological essays on the Reformation that incorporate feedback

Unit sequence

At least 18 points in Field C—Church History (CH) is desirable

Pedagogy

This unit utilises learner-centred approaches by enabling students to encounter primary texts, ask critical questions of those texts and discuss each other’s questions in a weekly tutorial. The unit also utilises a considered approach to feedback, enabling ‘feed-forward’ feedback from both lecturer and co-students on the essay, followed by an opportunity to incorporate and react to this feedback.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Appold, Kenneth G. The Reformation: a brief history. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
  • Calvin, John. 1961. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Library of Christian Classics. John T. McNeill, ed, Ford Lewis Battles, trans. London: SCM Press.
  • Chemnitz, Martin. 1971. Examination of the Council of Trent, translated by Fred Kramer. St Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
  • Hendrix, Scott H. 2016. Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  • Luther's Works. 1951–88. American edition, edited by H. Lehmann and J. Pelikan. 55 volumes. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress. (Also available as Luther's Works on CD-ROM, ibid. 2000.)
  • Melanchthon, Philip. 2014. Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521, translated by Christian Preus. St Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
  • Stjerna, Kirsi, ed. 2015. The Annotated Luther. Vol 2, Word and Faith. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.
  • Tanner, Norman P., ed. 1990. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. London and Washington DC: Sheed & Ward, and Georgetown University Press.
  • Wengert, Timothy J., ed. 2015. The Annotated Luther. Vol. 1, The Roots of Reform*. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.
  • Wicks, Jared, trans., ed. 1978. Cajetan Responds: A Reader in Reformation Controversy. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Forum

Identify and submit critical questions arising from weekly readings and then participate in weekly tutorial discussion.

1000 25.0
Essay

Apply primary source research to writing on a key topic in Reformation theology.

2800 40.0
Essay

Submit a revised essay, from task 2, incorporating feedback from lecturer and peer

0 20.0
Written Examination

40 minutes

700 15.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 27 Sep, 2019

Unit record last updated: 2021-06-07 08:43:51 +1000