Course Number: Course Name - Ashland Theological Seminary

CH500A: Survey of Church History 

ASHLAND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 

Summer Quarter, 2013 

June 17-21 (8:30-3:30) 

Instructor: Dr. Onalee J. Pierce 

Phone: 614-440-1657 (home/cell); Email: opierce@ashland.edu 

I. Course Description 

This is an introductory course on the basic outline of church history from the early church to the 

present, noting the influence of culture upon the church and the influence of the church upon 

culture. Attention will be focused upon key events, people, institutions, and ideas that affected 

the development of the church. (ATS Core) 

II. Relationship to Curriculum Model 

The primary purpose of this course is to provide an historical foundation for the remainder of the 

curriculum. The study of church history reveals how those who shaped the community of faith 

through time were motivated by a strong sense that all of life and ministry must be grounded in 

Christ. Discovering mentors in the faith from among the “great cloud of witnesses” helps 

students to grow toward maturity in Christ and to see how issues of faithfulness in vocation, 

struggle in life, and leadership within the church shape the character of Jesus’ disciples. 

Applying insights drawn from major figures and events and the interface of dynamic 

communities of faith with their context helps students develop competencies in pastoral 

leadership. 

III. Student Learning Outcomes 

As a result of this course, students will be able to: 

Articulate and critically reflect upon their understanding of: 

Core Identity rooted in Christ, as the source from which life and ministry flow. 

1. Identify the ways in which those who shaped the history of the church were 

motivated by a sense of the centrality of Christ in all things. 

Character that reflects maturity in Christ. 

2. Envisage Christian maturity through the lens of diverse communities of faith and 

individual disciples who dedicated their lives to the one Lord. 

3. Articulate the characteristics of leaders in the church who exemplified 

faithfulness in ministry and life and the salient themes of movements in Christian 

history that attempted to manifest authentic discipleship. 

Calling that is foundational for servant leadership in the church, community and world. 

4. Discern the connections between the vocational vision and challenges of 

historical leaders and witnesses and the student’s own growing sense of call. 

Demonstrate COMPETENCE in the disciplines and skills relevant to Christian ministry. 

Understand the content and major themes of Scripture, Christian doctrine, and church 

history 

5. Describe the contributions of servant leaders to the ongoing life of the church in 

its history. 

Demonstrate proficiency in biblical and historical exegesis and theological reflection 

6. Demonstrate an ability to incorporate integrative lessons and practices learned 

from history that relate to ministry in the church. 

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7. Demonstrate attentiveness to contextuality through the examination and 

discussion of events in historical context for the purpose of becoming 

increasingly competent contextual exegetes today. 

Critically reflect on one’s own religious tradition and appreciate other traditions 

8. Translate the discoveries of the course into practical forms/actions that will shape 

or inform contemporary practices within the community of faith. 

IV. Teaching Strategies for Student Learning 

This course will utilize a combination of learning strategies including: lecture, discussion, 

small groups, various visual aids, student-led discussions, and reflections. 

V. Course Requirements 

A. Textbook(s) and Other Readings 

Dowley, Tim, ed. Introduction to the History of Christianity, rev. ed. Minneapolis: 

Fortress Press, 2002. ISBN: 0800634969 (ISBN: 0800638123 offers a CD-ROM 

study guide). 

*You will need access to the internet for the primary source readings. I recommend 

copying the assignments from the webpage and pasting the required sections into a word 

processing program (then you can make the selection the desired font size, etc. and you 

don’t have to worry about all the miscellaneous material in the margins of the webpage). 

Please bring the day’s primary source reading with you to class, either printed out or 

saved on a laptop. 

**It is recommended that you have the Dowley reading for the course done before class 

begins, but it is not required (the final exam will be given three weeks after our last class 

session, so you have until then to be completely caught up). However, you MUST have 

the primary source readings done for each session because we will be discussing them 

each time we meet. 

B. Attendance 

According to the student handbook, attendance at all class sessions is expected unless the 

professor has been notified in advance. Any student missing the equivalent of six class 

hours will be required to do additional work, receive a lower grade or withdraw from the 

class; this is at the discretion of the professor. This policy also includes tardiness. 

C. Assignments/Assessment of Student Learning 

Note: Students must place their student mailbox number on the cover page on all papers. 

Students without a mailbox: provide the professor with a self-addressed stamped envelope. 

 

Historical Sketches (15% each). You will choose one person for each of four 

historical sketches. You may choose the subject for each of your sketches. However, 

you must read at least 10 pages from a primary source 1 either written by the person 

or about him or her at the time. It is highly recommended that you choose people 

1 For more information about what constitutes a primary source, please see Kate L. Turabian, A 

Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th edition (Chicago: University 

of Chicago Press, 2007), 25. If you have remaining questions, please contact me. 

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from a variety of backgrounds and/or theologies. (Don’t be afraid to choose someone 

with whom you disagree!) The format for the sketches is attached to the end of the 

syllabus (pg 10). For the first sketch, the person should be from the 100 CE- 500 CE 

and is due June 15 (Note that this is the Saturday before class starts. If you have any 

questions about this first sketch, please contact me). The subject of the second sketch 

should be from 500 CE- 1000 CE and is due June 22. The third sketch should focus 

on a person from 1000 CE- 1500CE and is due June 29. The fourth sketch will be 

on a figure from 1500 CE to the present and is due July 6. 

Discussion Facilitator (15%). Each student will sign up to lead the primary source 

discussion time for one session. Email the instructor by Friday, June 7th with your 

top two choices of sessions to be the facilitator. As the facilitator, you should work 

through the relevant primary sources carefully and prepare enough discussion 

questions for a 30-minute discussion. Where appropriate, you should also bring in 

points from the Dowley text and points of application of the material for the church 

today. You will turn in your list of questions to the instructor the session in which 

you present. 

Final Exam (25%). The final exam will be comprehensive and will have two parts. 

The objective section (multiple choice/ matching/ true or false/ etc.) and a short 

answer identification section will be taken on ANGEL on July 13. The test will be 

open from 8:00am-11:00pm. You may take the test any time within that window and 

you will have 75 minutes to complete the test once you begin. A study guide will be 

given on the last day of class. The second part of the final exam will consist of two 

comprehensive essay questions to be answered in a take-home format. The questions 

will be given with the study guide and are due at the time of the final exam and will 

be submitted via an ANGEL drop-box on July 13. 

D. Calculation of Grade 

Assignments Learning Outcomes Percent of Final Grade 

Historical Sketches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 60% 

Discussion Facilitator 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 15% 

Final Exam 3, 5, 6, 7 25% 

VI. Tentative Course Schedule 

Session Date(s) Lecture/Topic Readings/Assignments 

# 

1 June 17, 

morning 

Introduction to the 

Course 

Dowley, 14-25; 37-43; 56-81 

2 June 17, 

afternoon 

Background and the 

Early Church 

The Church in 

Theological Debate 

“The Martyrdom of Polycarp,” from 

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/martyrdompol 

ycarp-lake.html 

Dowley, 82-122; 164-194; 204-211 

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, “Preface” from 

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103100.htm 

Augustine, Confessions, Book VIII from 

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http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/110108.htm 

3 June 18, 

morning 

The Medieval Church Dowley, 226-246; 260-303 

Unam Sanctum, from 

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/b8-unam.html 

Rule of St. Benedict, choose 2 chapters, from 

http://www.osb.org/rb/text/toc.html 

4 June 18, 

afternoon 

5 June 19, 

morning 

Calls for Reform Dowley, 307-315; 320-350 

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Chapter VIII from 

http://www.gospelweb.net/FoxeMartyrs/FS_FoxeMartyrs 

.htm 

The Reformation Dowley, 366-394 

Martin Luther, “Ninety-Five Theses,” from 

http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html 

6 June 19, 

afternoon 

7 June 20, 

morning 

8 June 20, 

afternoon 

9 June 21, 

morning 

10 June 21, 

afternoon 

Reformation, cont. 

Scholasticism & 

Rationalism 

Christianity in 

America 

Christianity in 

America 

The Global Church of 

the 19th and 20th 

Centuries 

NO CLASS 

Dowley, 401-434; 485-506 

“Schleitheim Confession of Faith,” “The Cover Letter 

[Introductory]” and “the Seven Articles,” from 

http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/S345.html 

Dowley, 436-461 

Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” 

from 

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html 

Charles Finney, Lectures on Revival of Religion, Lecture I, 

from 

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/finney/revivals.iii.i.html 

Dowley, 518-547; 646-653 

Harry E. Fosdick, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” from 

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5070/ 

Martin Luther King, Jr, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” from 

http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html 

Dowley, 557-570; 628-645; 660-672 

Elizabeth Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa, 323-352 

(will be available on ANGEL as a pdf file). 

(The final exam will take place on July 13, via ANGEL.) 

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VII. Other Course Instructions 

A. Writing Guidelines 

When writing your papers, please follow these general guidelines: use 12-point Times New 

Roman or Courier New fonts only; use one inch margins; use Turabian formatting for 

citations; when in doubt, include a citation. For this course, all papers must be submitted 

via ANGEL drop-boxes. This saves a vast amount of paper and allows the instructor to spotcheck 

for plagiarism. 

B. Late Policy 

Assignments turned in after the deadline will be docked five points for each day late, unless 

permission to do otherwise was granted by the professor ahead of time. 

VIII. Recommendations for Lifelong Learning 

As you participate in this course and engage in the material, you will encounter figures who 

intrigue you. Make note of these and, as you continue on in your seminary career and in 

your ministry, bring these people along with you. Continue to investigate them, allowing 

their life-lessons and wisdom to permeate your walk. 

Also, the Selected Bibliography below contains many wonderful resources which may 

further enrich your appreciation for church history. You may also want to consider 

consulting journals such as Church History and Fides et Historia. 

IX. Seminary Guidelines 

A. ATS Academic Integrity Policy 

Ashland Theological Seminary seeks to model servant leadership derived from biblical standards of 

honesty and integrity. We desire to encourage, develop, and sustain men and women of character 

who will exemplify these biblical qualities in their ministry to the church and the world. As 

members of the seminary community, students are expected to hold themselves to the highest 

standards of academic, personal, and social integrity. All students, therefore, are expected to abide 

by the academic integrity standards outlined in the Student Handbook. 

B. Academic Support Services 

If you need assistance with writing projects for your coursework, contact the ATS Academic Support 

Center. The center provides free sessions with a peer consultant who can help you with all of your 

concerns about academic support including writing, critical thinking, documentation, reading skills, 

study skills, test taking skills, time management. Contact the center if you have a question about 

how to complete your assignment, if you have documentation questions, or if you would like to have 

your paper evaluated for areas needing improvement. The ATS Academic Support Center can be 

reached at 419-289-5162 or by e-mail at atswc@ashland.edu. 

C. Students with Disabilities 

Students with documented disabilities who require academic adjustments for this class are 

requested to contact me to discuss reasonable accommodations. While not required, it is in the best 

interest of the student to have this conversation early in the semester. In order to receive academic 

adjustments paperwork from Disability Services must be provided to document this need. 

Disability Services is located in 105 Amstutz, extension 5953 (419-289-5953). 

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D. ATS Grading Scale 

Grade Percent Description 

A 97-100 Superior achievement of course objectives, diligence and originality, high degree 

of freedom from error, outstanding evidence of ability to utilize course 

knowledge, initiative expressed in preparing and completing assignments, 

positive contributions verbalized in class. 

A- 92-96 

B+ 89-91 

B 86-88 Good work submitted, commendable achievement of course objectives, some 

aspects of the course met with excellence, substantial evidence of ability to utilize 

course material, positive contributions verbalized in class, consistency and 

thoroughness of work completed. 

B- 83-85 

C+ 80-82 

C 77-79 Acceptable work completed, satisfactory achievement of course objectives, 

demonstrating at least some ability to utilize course knowledge, satisfactory class 

contribution. 

C- 74-76 

D+ 71-73 

D 68-70 Passing but minimal work, marginal achievement of course objectives, poor 

performance in comprehension of work submitted, inadequate class contributions. 

D- 65-67 

F Below 65 Unacceptable work resulting in failure to receive class credit, inadequacy of work 

submitted or of performance and attendance in class. 

X. Selected Bibliography or References 

General Texts 

Barrett, David B. World Christian Encyclopedia. New York: Oxford, 1982. 

Brauer, Jerald C. The Westminster Dictionary of the Christian Church. Westminster, 1971. 

Cross, L. and E.A. Livingsone, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford, 1974. 

Douglas, J.D. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974. 

González, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought, 3 vols., rev. ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1987. 

__________. The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 1985. 

Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity, 2 vols., rev. ed. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 1975. 

Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language, 2nd ed. Nashville: Nelson, 1995. 

Walker, Williston. A History of the Christian Church. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1985. 

Anthologies 

Bettenson, H. Documents of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Bindley, T.H. and F.W. Green. The Oecumenical Documents of the Faith. Methuen. 

McGrath, Alister. Christian Literature: An Anthology. Whiley. 

Oden, Amy. In Her Words: Women’s Writings in the History of Christian Thought. Nashville: Abingdon, 1994. 

Stevenson, J. Creeds, Councils and Controversies (371-461). SPCK. 

__________. A New Eusebius. SPCK. 

Van Voorst, Robert E. Readings in Christianity. Wadsworth. 

Multi-Volume Series 

The Cambridge History of Christianity. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 

Classics of Western Spirituality. Paulist Press. 

IVP Histories Series 

Library of Christian Classics. Westminster. 

Library of Protestant Thought. Oxford University Press. 

The Pelican History of the Church. Penguin Books. 

SPCK Church History Series (TEF Volumes) 

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Early Church History/Patristics 

Anderson, Graham. Sage, Saint, and Sophist: Holy Men and Their Associates in the Early Roman Empire. New 

York: Routledge, 1994. 

Anti-Nicene Fathers. Eerdmans. 

Casiday, Augustine and Frederick W. Norris, eds. Constantine to c. 600. New York: Cambridge University Press, 

2007. 

Denzey, Nicola. The Bone Gatherers: The Lost Worlds of Early Christian Women. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007. 

Dungan, David L. Constantine's Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007. 

Harris, W.V., ed. The Spread of Christianity in the First Four Centuries: Essays in Explanation. Boston: E.J. Brill, 

2005. 

Humphries, Mark. Communities of the Blessed: Social Environment and Religious Change in Northern Italy, AD 

200-400. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. 

Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers, 3 vols. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 

Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Doctrines. A & C Black, 1977. 

__________. Early Christian Creeds. New York: Longman, 1972. 

Lyman, Rebecca. Early Christian Traditions. Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1999. 

Nasrallah, Laura and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, eds. Prejudice and Christian beginnings: Investigating Race, 

Gender, and Ethnicity in Early Christian Studies. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. 

Pelikán, Jaroslav. The Excellent Empire: the Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church. San Francisco: Harper, 

1990. 

Räisänen, Heikki. The Rise of Christian Beliefs: The Thought World of Early Christians. Minneapolis: Fortress 

Press, 2010. 

Schwiebert, Jonathan. Knowledge and the Coming Kingdom : the Didache's Meal Ritual and Its Place in Early 

Christianity. New York: T & T Clark, 2008. 

Verbrugge, Verlyn D. Early Church History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. 

Young, Frances. From Nicea to Chalcedon. Fortress, 1983. 

Middle Ages 

Bornstein, Daniel E., ed. Medieval Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. 

Bredero, Adriaan H. Christendom and Christianity in the Middle Ages : the Relations between Religion, Church, 

and Society. Translated by Reinder Bruinsma. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994. 

Chadwick, Henry. East and West: the Making of a Rift in the Church : from Apostolic Times until the Council of 

Florence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 

Colish, Marcia L. Medieval Foundations of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 400-1400. New Haven: Yale 

University Press, 1997. 

Fletcher, Richard. The Barbarian Conversion: from Paganism to Christianity. New York: H. Holt and Co., 1998. 

Freeman, Charles. The Closing of the Western Mind: the Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason. New York: A.A. 

Knopf, 2003. 

Geary, Patrick J. Readings in Medieval History, 3rd ed. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2003. 

Knowles, David. Christian Monasticism. McGraw-Hill, 1990. 

Lynch, Joseph H. The Medieval Church: A Brief History. New York: Longman, 1992. 

MacMullen, Ramsay. Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries. New Haven: Yale University 

Press, 1997. 

Noble, Thomas F.X. and Julia M. H. Smith. Early Medieval Christianities, c. 600-c. 1100. New York: Cambridge 


Runciman, Steven. History of the Crusades, 3 vols. Penguin Books, 1971. 

Vauchez, André. The Laity in the Middle Ages: Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices. South Bend: University 

of Notre Dame Press, 1993. 

Volz, Carl A. The Medieval Church: From the Dawn of the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation. Nashville: 

Abingdon, 1997. 

Reformation 

Bogchi, David and David C. Steinmetz, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology. Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press, 2004. 

Bouwsma, William A. John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. 

Brady, Thomas, Heiko A. Oberman, and James Tracy, eds. Handbook of European History, 1400-1600. Leiden: 

Brill, 1995. 

Cameron, Euan. The European Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. 

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Diefendorf, Barbara B. Beneath the Cross: Catholics and Huguenots in Sixteenth-Century Paris. New York: 

Oxford University Press, 1991. 

George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999. 

Gregory, Brad S. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. Harvard Historical Series, no. 

134. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999. 

Hillerbrand, Hans Joachim. Historical Dictionary of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Lanham, MD: 

Scarecrow Press, 2000. 

Maag, Karin, ed. Melanchthon in Europe: His Work and Influence Beyond Wittenberg. Grand Rapids: Baker, 

1999. 

Marshall, Sherrin, ed. Women in Reformation and Counter-Reformation Europe: Public and Private Worlds. 

Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. 

McGrath, Alister. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999. 

Oberman, Heiko A. The Dawn of the Reformation: Essays in Late Medieval and Early Reformation Thought. 

London: T and T Clark, 1986. 

__________. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil. Translated by Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart. New York: 

Doubleday, 1989. 

Ozment, Steven. When Fathers Ruled: Family Life in Reformation Europe. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 

1983. 

Scribner, R.W. For the Sake of Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation. Oxford: Oxford 


Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (there are many translations and editions of this 

book available). 

Whiting, Robert. Local Responses to the English Reformation. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. 

Williams, George H. The Radical Reformation. Westminster, 1962. 

Scholasticism/Rationalism 

Armstrong, Brian G. Calvinism and the Amyraut Heresy: Protestant Scholasticism and Humanism in Seventeenth- 

Century France. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969. 

Barnett, S.J. The Enlightenment and Religion: the Myths of Modernity. New York: Manchester University Press, 

2003. 

Brown, Dale. Understanding Pietism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978. 

Byrne, James M. Religion and the Enlightenment: from Descartes to Kant. Louisville: Westminster John Knox 

Press, 1997. 

Clark, Kelly James. Return to Reason: a Critique of Enlightenment Evidentialism, and a Defense of Reason and 

Belief in God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990. 

Frei, Hans. The Eclipse of the Biblical Narrative: A Study in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth- Century Hermeneutics. 

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974. 

Gay, Peter. The Enlightenment, 2 vols. Knopf, 1966-69. 

Muller, Richard A. After Calvin: Studies in the Development of a Theological Tradition. New York: Oxford 


__________. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: the Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 

to ca. 1725. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003. 

Scholder, Klaus. The Birth of Modern Critical Theology: Origins and Problems of Biblical Criticism in the 

Seventeenth Century. Translated by John Bowden. Philadelpia: Trinity Press International, 1990. 

Spinoza, Benedict. A Theologico-Political Treatise. New York: Dover, 1951. 

Stoeffler, F. Ernst. German Pietism during the Eighteenth Century. E.J. Brill, 1973. 

van Asselt, Willem J. and Eef Dekker. Reformation and Scholasticism: an Ecumenical Enterprise. Grand Rapids: 

Baker Academic, 2001. 

Wolfe, Michael, ed. Changing Identities in Early Modern France. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997. 

American Church History 

Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972. 

Blumhofer, Edith. Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1993. 

Braude, Ann. Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, 2 d ed. 

Bloomington, Ind.: University of Indiana Press, 2001. 

Cott, Nancy F. Bonds of Womanhood: “Woman’s Sphere” in New England, 1780-1835. New Haven: Yale 


Danaher, William J. The Trinitarian Ethics of Jonathan Edwards. Columbia Series in Reformed Theology. 

Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. 

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Douglas, Ann. The Feminization of American Culture. New York: Knopf, 1977. 

Epstein, Barbara Leslie. The Politics of Domesticity: Women, Evangelism, and Temperance in Nineteenth-Century 

America. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1981. 

Gaustad, Edwin and Leigh Schmidt. The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from 

Colonial Times to Today, rev. ed. San Francisco: Harper, 2002. 

Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity. New Haven:Yale University Press, 1989. 

Holifield, E. Brooks. Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War. New 

Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 

Keller, Rosemary Skinner, and Rosemary Radford Ruether, eds. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North 

America. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2006. 

Kidd, Thomas S. The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America. New Haven: 

Yale University Press, 2007. 

Marsden, George. Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism. 

New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. 

McGreevy, John T. Catholicism and American Freedom: A History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. 

Noll, Mark A. America’s God: from Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. New York: Oxford, 2002. 

__________. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 

1992. 

Raboteau, Albert J. A Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African-American Religious History. Boston: Beacon 

Press, 1996. 

Smith, Christian. American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. 

Smith, Timothy L. Revivalism and Social Reform: American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil War. Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980. 

Soper, J. Christopher. Evangelical Christianity in the United States and Great Britain: Religious Beliefs, Political 

Choices. London: Macmillan, 1994. 

Stoeffler, F. Ernest, ed. Continental Pietism and Early American Christianity. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock 

Publishers, 2007. 

Global Christianity 

Ambacher, Henry B. Under the Shadow of the Dragon: the Growth of God's Church in Hong Kong. Harrisburg, 

PA: Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, 2003. 

Angold, Michael. Byzantium. St. Martin’s Press, 2001. 

Bays, Daniel H., ed. Christianity in China: from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. Stanford: Stanford 


Bergunder, Michael. The South Indian Pentecostal Movement in the Twentieth Century. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 

2008. 

Clark, Donald N. Christianity in Modern Korea. University Press, 1986. 

Drummond, Richard H. A History of Christianity in Japan. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971. 

Drussel, Enrique D. A History of the Church in Latin America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981. 

Dyrness, William A. Emerging Voices in Global Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. 

Gilley, Sheridan and Brian Stanley. World Christianities, c. 1815-1914. New York: Cambridge University Press, 

2006. 

Goodpasture, H. McKennie. Cross and Sword: an Eyewitness History of Christianity in Latin America. Maryknoll, 

NY: Orbis Books, 1989. 

Hastings, Adrian. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 

Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of Christianity in Africa: from Antiquity to Present. London: SPCK, 1995. 

Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity, rev. ed. New York: Oxford University 

Press, 2007. 

Kalu, Ogbu U., ed. Interpreting Contemporary Christianity: Global Processes and Local Identities. Grand Rapids: 

Eerdmans , 2008. 

Lewis, Donald M. Christianity Reborn: the Global Expansion of Evangelicalism in the Twentieth Century. Grand 

Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004. 

McLeod, Hugh, ed. World Christianities c. 1914-c. 2000. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 

Neill, Stephen. A History of Christianity in India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. 

Shenk, Wilbert R. Enlarging the Story: Perspectives on Writing World Christian History. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis 

Books, 2002. 

Suman, Michael D. The Church in China : One Lord Two Systems. Bangalore, India: SAIACS Press, 2006. 

Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church. Penguin, 1993. 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH FORMAT 

I. Context 

What are some events/ church happenings/ theologies that may have shaped the life 

and ministry of the person? Briefly describe the culture of the day. (NB—this section should 

not include details about the person’s life.) 

*2-3 paragraphs 

II. Background information 

Describe what is known (or in some cases, may be logically inferred) about the person’s life 

before he/she became prominent (such as details about the person’s family life, childhood, 

education/ training, etc.). 


III. Ministry information 

Discuss aspects such as calling into ministry, distinctive characteristics, the primary 

influencers in the person’s life, obstacles in ministry, climactic moments, distinctive 

thoughts/ theologies, writings, etc. You decide what is most important to include. 


IV. Present Day Applications 

With an understanding of the cultural differences, what are some aspects of the individual’s 

life that can be applied to ours? Think of both positives and negatives (i.e., things to emulate 

and things to avoid). You may use first person here, but ONLY here. 


V. Bibliography 

You should use at least three scholarly secondary sources and only one may be from the 

internet (the Dowley text does not qualify as one of these sources, though you should 

include it in your bibliography if you did use it as a source). You are strongly encouraged to 

reference journal articles when possible. Additionally, one source must be a primary source 

(this may be from the internet). 

**The total page count should be 3-4 pages total, double spaced** 

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Course Number: Course Name - Ashland Theological Seminary

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