RELS-365

The Protestant Reformation

Fall 2005MW 2:30-3:45 pmOlin 108Instructor: Nathan ReinOffice hours: Tues & Fri 1:30-3:30 pm or by appt.Olin 211, x. 2571, nrein@ursinus.edu, AIM: nathanrein

Course description

The Protestant Reformation was one of the great turning points in the emergence of modernreligion and culture. Its effects extended deep into the fabric of ordinary life, and the power of theideas it set in motion can still be felt today, both in Christian and secular contexts. In this course,you will be introduced to the major actors on the Reformation stage: Luther, Erasmus, Zwingli,Calvin, and others (with a primary focus on Luther); and you will read, discuss, and write abouttheir theological works. In addition, you will read other contemporary sources: eyewitnessaccounts of events of the Reformation period; official documents published by governments andchurch authorities; hymns and prayers; and the like. The most important goal of this course is toget you to think about the Reformation the way a historian does: to take in its complexity, to thinkabout the connections that it reveals between abstract thinking and everyday experience, and toread historical sources with a curious and critical eye. The overarching questions that define thiscourse are:

•

For the people we are studying, what is at the heart of the Christian life? What isChristian, and what is secular?

•

How should we best understand the relationship between individual religious belief and experience on the one hand, and historical change and historical forces on theother?This will be a seminar-style, discussion-based course. Most of your work will consist of reading,talking about, and writing about historical primary sources. For the most part, there will be nolecturing.

Course goals

In this course, you are asked to:

•

Develop a basic familiarity with the people, ideas, and historical context of theProtestant Reformation

•

Read theological and non-theological texts of the sixteenth century closely andcritically

•

Analyze documentary evidence from the period, and synthesize the results of your analysis in writing, discussions, and oral presentationsThere are no prerequisites for this course.

Assignments and grading

There will be five graded assignments in this course. I will weight them as follows in determiningyour final grade:First paper (1200-1500 words)due 9/2610%Second paper (1500-2000 w.)due 10/2415%First in-class presentationSecond in-class presentation

}

Schedulet.b.d.10%15%One take-home finalfinals period25%Classroom participation (including informal writing; see below) will account for 25% of the finalgrade.You will have the opportunity to

revise

your formal papers. Due dates for revisions will beestablished when your paper is returned to you. In general, you will have between five and sevendays to revise.

-2-

Informal writing

This course also requires regular informal writing. This falls into three categories: focus papers;reading notes and discussion questions; and peer responses to formal papers. The work you doon these assignments will be reflected in your participation grade.Each week (except weeks when formal, graded papers are due) you will need to hand in a

focuspaper

(guidelines below). Since these informal writing assignments are used as preparation for in-class discussion, no late work will be accepted. Ten such papers are required over the courseof the semester.On Mondays and Wednesdays, you are asked to prepare for our meetings by bringing brief

written notes and discussion questions

to class. (By “discussion questions,” I mean questionsthat

require

discussion—such as “What was really at stake in the conflict between Luther andZwingli?” Questions that have a simple factual answer, such as “Who was Albrecht of Mainz?,”can be answered using reference books in the library, such as the

Oxford Encyclopedia of theReformation

or the

New Catholic Encyclopedia

.)Finally, you are asked to submit

peer responses

to four of your classmates’ papers (two for thefirst paper, two for the second). All papers will be available to the entire class. Within a week fromthe due date of each paper, each of you will be responsible for choosing two papers you findparticularly interesting and writing a short response (a few paragraphs) in the form of a letter tothe paper’s author. These responses will also be available to the class.

Guidelines for focus papers

The purpose of these assignments is to help you focus your reading (that’s why I call them focuspapers). A focus paper has two components. First, identify and give a precise summary of someelement of the week’s

primary-source

reading assignment (i.e., not chosen from the textbook; youmay use anything else, including materials from the sourcebook). You can choose a particular passage that struck you as interesting or problematic; you can describe a recurring theme; youcan give a capsule summary of the author’s argument; etc. Second, give your

own

perspective onwhat you have just identified and summarized: a critical analysis of what you find interesting or compelling. In writing your analysis, ask yourself questions that probe into the underlyingmeanings and problems in the texts. Examples might include:

•

What is the author’s unstated agenda? Is he/she trustworthy?

•

What is at stake in this text? Is there some underlying conflict?

•

What historical conditions or causes might explain the author’s point of view? Would

have written something like this given same circumstances? Why or why not?Focus on the assigned readings, not on other texts or ideas you may be aware of. Length:approx. 300 words (usually about a page or a little more).

Guidelines for in-class presentations

Everyone in the class will present twice during the semester. The presenter’s responsibilities areto (1) introduce the texts for the day and (2) act as a discussion leader and “resource person” for the rest of the hour. This can take many forms, but in general, you should plan to speak for ten tofifteen minutes at the start of class, giving a basic introduction to the day’s assigned material. Thiscan mean, among other things:

•

identifying major themes;

•

providing helpful context for understanding the reading;

•

pointing out connections between different texts or different ideas, or between theprimary sources and the textbook reading;

•

showing how the day’s readings represent a continuation of or a departure fromthemes and positions we’ve seen before;

•

drawing the class’s attention to significant, confusing, difficult, or problematic areasfor discussion.

-3-You should be as comfortable with the day’s readings as possible. This may involve some libraryresearch, but it doesn’t have to. You don’t have to have a

perfect

understanding of the texts for the day; but if there’s something you don’t understand, be honest about it. Come to classprepared to talk about what you found interesting or confusing, give us the benefit of your ideas,and ask your classmates what they thought.You will also lead the day’s discussion. Determine what you think are the most central questionsthat the class needs to talk about. Bring a list of questions and of the most important themes andquotations from the reading. (Since everyone in the class is responsible for bringing ideas andquestions to class, you won’t be completely on your own.) A handout may be very helpful. It ishighly recommended that you a short meeting with me several days before your presentation isscheduled so that we can go over your ideas.Your grade for this assignment will be based on your engagement with and insight into thereadings, as reflected by your introduction and the questions you raise for discussion.

A note on the readings

As you’ll notice, the readings in this class may be very different from what you’ve done in other courses. You will often be reading collections of short (less than a page each) historicaldocuments and sources. This may be difficult to get accustomed to at first. Keep in mind that youare learning to use historical materials as a historian does: by trying to synthesize, or fit together,a complicated composite picture using a collection of fragmentary documents. If you arepresenting, part of your job will be to communicate your version of that picture to the class. Youwill be asked to read harsh polemical texts that you may find disturbing or offensive; you will alsobe reading a fair amount of theology, which is probably a very unfamiliar type of writing, thoughyou may also find some of what you read profoundly moving. Pay attention to those reactions,write them down, and try to ascertain what it is about the texts that provokes them. Your reactionsprovide a clue about the historical distance that separates you from what you’re reading. Many of the texts will make more sense on a second reading. In general, you will be asked to read arelatively small amount of primary documents, but to read them with extreme care and attention.You should also be watching closely for themes that connect the readings throughout the course.Your take-home final exam will ask you to comment on such overarching themes. Some of theones to bear in mind include: the importance of individual piety and experience versus thedemands of the community or church; the value of belief contrasted with that of morality or actions; the sacraments (especially baptism and communion); the question of authority (wheredoes religious truth come from?); human freedom and predestination; and others that you maydiscover as the semester progresses.

Assigned texts

Five texts have been ordered for purchase. The list may be viewed online athttp://snipr.com/rels365books. The following three are required:Carter Lindberg,

The European Reformations

. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.Carter Lindberg, ed.

The European Reformations Sourcebook

. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.Hans Hillerbrand, ed.

The Protestant Reformation

. San Francisco: Harper, 1968.The following two are optional, but recommended:John Dillenberger, ed.

Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings

. NY: Anchor /Doubleday, 1961. (

We will be reading around 120 pages of this text.

)You may also find a copy of the Bible (preferably the New Revised Standard version) extremelyuseful.Additional readings have been collected into a course reader; others are posted on the courseBlackboard site. You are responsible for printing the online readings and bringing them to classwith you.

The fine print

RITTEN

WORK

: All written work must be submitted in order to receive a passing grade for the class.Late papers will be penalized by one grade-step (from B+ to B, etc.) for each day they are late,unless you have arranged with me for an extension well in advance of the due date.