Summer Graduate Seminar

After Christendom - This course considers the waning dominance of Christianity as a social and cultural institution, through three units of focus—the recent past, the ancient past, and the contemporary moment. The first of three units considers the beginnings of this shift in the global cultural reconstructions of the early modern European "Enlightenment", Christian missions, and "totalwar".The interactions of these elementsrefashioned Euro-American religiousself-identity, but also shifted Christian self-understandings towards a new non-European centre that is still being worked out. The second unit focuses on Christianity before Christendom. What did ancient Christ-followers think they were joining and what made such affiliation meaningful to them? In what way might their circumstances inform a Christianity that is no longer at the centre? The third unit will focus on the challenges to Christian identity and mission in a post-modern context and pluralistic world. The paradigm shift in theological method and engagement will be explored.