1. learningobjectives2010.doc
  2. Lecture 3: Catholic Renewals and Humanism II (8 September)
    1. Compare and contrast the political and theological commitments of Jerome's Vulgate with those of Erasmus' New Testament in an effort to explain how Erasmus' translation figured in ecclesial reform.
    2. Characterize Devotio Moderna, Reform of Religious Orders, Reform of Spirituality, and Conciliar reform as responses to humanism and late-medieval/early modern global-political events.
  3. Lecture 4: Luther (10 September)
    1. Compare, contrast, and relate Luther's and Erasmus' methods for interpreting Scripture with their ideas about the role of Scripture in ecclesial reform. Be sure to include descriptions of Luther's vision of law and gospel, and his concept of sola scriptura.
    2. Compare and contrast Luther's and Byzantine images of Christ, and explain why Luther’s images figure in his views of justification and human salvation. Be sure to contrast theosis and justification in the course of your answer.
    3. Explain how Luther's theology is characteristic of the inward turn, and how it differs from the inward turn of humanism. Draw your examples from his debate with Erasmus about the freedom of the will, his idea about the Deus absconditus, and his characterization of the human as simil iustus et peccator.
    4. Explain how Luther imagines the relations of Scripture, church authority, and political authority to the Christian life with constant reference to his theme, "the Christian is perfectly free lord of all, subject to none, and servant of all, subject to all."
  4. Lecture 5: Martin Luther, Council of Trent, Ignatius and Teresa (15 September)
    1. Compare and contrast Luther and Trent on justification, with particular attention to 1) how they read scripture; 2) the status of human beings; and 3) the humiliated, defeated Christ.
    2. With attention to social and political contexts, compare and contrast the strategies of the “inward turn” and aims for ecclesial reform of Ignatius and Teresa with those of Erasmus and the humanists.
    3. Compare and contrast Ignatius' use of imagination in biblical accounts to Erasmus' attempts to get at the originals and Luther's use of a primary interpretive principle (justification by faith/law and gospel). Explain how these methods relate to different images of Christ, different kinds of inward turn.
  5. Lecture 2: Catholic Renewals and Humanism I (3 September)
    1. Describe some of the global and political events in early modern Europe and illustrate how they precipitated a shift from the exalted imperial Christ to the humiliated, defeated Christ. Be sure to compare and contrast the Byzantine political ordering with that of the humanist republican Italian city-states within your answer.
    2. Explain how the rise of humanism and reforming efforts exploited the light of Christ in their efforts to address changing global and political conditions. Explain the relation of the collapse of the empire to new humanist images of authority (particularly those in Cusanus, Pico, Ficino) and their critics (Savonarola and Machiavelli) in the course of your answer.
    3. Topic
  6. INTRODUCTION
    1. Identify and describe the principal features of the four Christs and Bibles; explain how they reflect certain political arrangements
    2. Explain what it means to say that Christianity is “a religion of the Book.”
    3. Identify four different notions of faith, together with the Bibles and historical contexts with which they are associated.
    4. Explain the difference between recollection and remembrance.