Disciples of Holiness (CH3216Y)

Content

Christians profess belief in a ‘communion of the saints’; believers are united in Christ to the holy ones of all ages and places. This unit investigates how believers have understood the idea of ‘holiness’ through time. How has holiness found expression, how has it been taught and depicted and how is it expressed in contemporary society. Encountering the saints, these models of holiness, is a key focus of the course.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

1 unit in Church History

Pedagogy

Christians profess belief in a ‘communion of the saints’; believers are united in Christ to the holy ones of all ages and places. This unit investigates how believers have understood the idea of ‘holiness’ through time. How has holiness found expression, how has it been taught and depicted and how is it expressed in contemporary society. Encountering the saints, these models of holiness, is a key focus of the course.

Indicative Bibliography

• Bartlett, Robert. Why Can the Dead do Such Great Things? Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
• Bingemer, Maria Clara. Saints and Sanctity Today. London: SCM Press, 2013
• Clarke, Peter, and Tony Claydon (eds). Saints and Sanctity. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2010
• Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exultate, Apostolic Exhortation, 2018
• Head, Thomas. Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology. London: Routledge, 2001
• Le Goff, Jacques. In Search of Sacred Times. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014
• Sevcenho, Nancy Patteron. A Celebration of Saints in Byzantine Art and Liturgy. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2012
• Wilson, Stephen. Saints and their Cults. Cambridge: CUP, 1985

Assessment