History of Christianity: Modern Times

Teacher(s)

Gay Jean-Pascal;

Language

French

Main themes

In order to achieve its set objectives, the course will include the study of the Protestant Reformation in its main forms, the Council of Trent with its consequences (Catholic reform, Counter-Reformation), which have permanently marked Catholicism: Roman impulses and certain religious orders, resistance to reform, spiritual dynamism, missionary expansion. It will also devote to the study of State Catholicism (Spain'Portugal, France, Austria), Jansenist controversy, anti-clericalism of the 18th century, and French Revolution from a religious angle.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of the course, the student will be able:   ·        to locate the chronology of the history of Christianity in the modern era; ·        to identify the major issues of the religious history of the period; ·        to know the main paradigms of interpretations; ·        to initiate reflection on the importance of the doctrinal fact in religious history; ·        to use the historian's work instruments profitably; ·        to comment on a historical document on the history of modern Christianity.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

The course alternates a sequence of knowledge acquisition and a sequence of implementation of the knowledge gained from the study of cross-cutting issues. The sequence of acquisition of knowledge is organized into two chronological subsequences (1. of late medieval Christianity in the mid 17^th century; 2. from the confessional age to revolutionary Europe). The sessions in this framework are thematic and related to the major issues that cross the history of Christianity and especially of the Catholic Church on each of these periods.
The sequence of knowledge implementation examines both the religious dynamics at local level in Belgium and the dynamics at work on a more general scale (churches and globalization). In these sessions, the work is mainly based on documentary studies.

Teaching methods

The course will operate on the principle of the inverted class on the basis of a syllabus for the first 10 sessions of knowledge acquisition. The syllabus is repeated and commented on during the first part of the course. In the second part of the course, knowledge is applied to the study of a document.

Evaluation methods

·        Submission of a written observation on the document and its presentation and discussion within the course.
·        Oral examination of the course including the study of an open-ended question, a series of course questions and the presentation by the student of a historical document and its issues.

Bibliography

Faculty or entity

TEBI