Pre-requisites

HS502.306 Introduction to Christian History

Co-requisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Analyse historical events, movements, ideas and individuals, which have changed the course of mission history.

• Distinguish the main people, events and movements of the historical development of Christian missions within the Protestant and Catholic traditions from the New Testament period to the present.

• Assess the reasons for the growth of the church in different locations at particular moments in history.

• Evaluate an historical mission movement.

• Analyse an historical mission text.

Unit Description

This unit commences with an introduction to the study of history and provides criteria for analysing missiologically the history of the expansion of the church worldwide and the missionary movement.

The first section (from the early church up to 1793) begins with a consideration of: the growth of the early church and its expansion in the Roman world; attention is given to the rise of monasticism and the missionary expansion associated with the Celtic church into Britain and northern Europe; the growth of the church in China and Russia; the effects of the rise of Islam upon the Christian movement; the movements that arose in the Middle Ages, particularly the Dominicans, Franciscans, and those associated with John Wycliffe and Peter Waldo; emphasis is given to the Reformation and the Catholic-Reformation; the missionary ventures that gradually emerged, particularly those associated with the Jesuits, Puritans, Pietists, Moravians and Methodists. The student analyses historical missionary movements in terms of the ten theses which are presented at the beginning of this unit.

The second section (from Carey onwards) considers the following: the modern missionary movement beginning with Carey and the emergence of Protestant mission structures; an overview of mission to Asia, Africa, South America and the Pacific; the growth of both the student volunteer movement and the women’s missionary movement; the establishment of the church in Australia and its mission to the first Australians; the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference, and the development of the ecumenical movement; and trends and issues in mission during the later part of the twentieth and early part of the twenty-first century. The skills that are required to assess and analyse issues in mission are developed through the use of a case study methodology.

Teaching Strategies

Teaching strategies include lectures, tutorials, weekend schools and presentation of instructional material in the form of printed documentation, OHP, DVD, video and audio tape and online interaction. Students also learn by class discussion, personal study, preparation of assignments and assessment comments on their work.

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Unit offerings

Online: (Every 2nd Year (Odd), Semester 1)
Online: (Every 2nd Year (Even), Semester 2)

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.