Reformation Church History

Dr. William VanDoodewaard (Ph.D. Aberdeen) serves as Associate Professor of Church History at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Previously he served as Assistant Professor of European History at Patrick Henry College, near Washington, D.C., and as Visiting Professor of History at Huntington University. Dr. VanDoodewaard is the author of The Marrow Controversy and Seceder Tradition: Atonement, Saving Faith and the Gospel Offer in Scotland (1718-1799) (RHB), and a contributing editor for the recent reprint of the 17th century Puritan work, Edward Fisher’s The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Christian Focus). He has also written for numerous academic journals and other periodicals. An ordained minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches, he has served as a guest speaker and preacher for churches in the United States, Canada, and Scotland. He blogs at The Christian Pundit.

Reformation church history traces the development of the Protestant Reformation from its background prior to the sixteenth century to its impact on the church and world of today. The lives and teaching of the leading Reformers will be examined along with the course of he Reformation in Germany, England, Scotland, France, and the Netherlands.

In the Reformation church history course the student will become acquainted with:

1. Christian historiography: a biblical and theological approach to understanding history, with particular focus on church history.
2. The history of Christianity from AD 1517-1650. This will include:

• an understanding of the narrative or chronology of the history of the Reformation and early post-Reformation church;
• an understanding of developments, continuities, and changes in doctrine and practice in the Reformation church;
• an understanding of debates, divisions, reform, growth, and weaknesses in the life of the Reformation church;
• an understanding of the life and theology of key figures in the Reformation church.

The student will be able to analyze and evaluate the above biblically and theologically, as well as comparatively within the context of ancient church history. The student will also develop the ability to make comparative applications to later periods of church history up to the present day. The course includes a strong focus on student interaction with, and discussion of, primary source documents..

The course textbook is - Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. Second edition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.  (p.1-443)

Other required readings of source documents and journal articles are listed in the attached course schedule and assignments, and will be provided in pdf format or linked to online at the course page. Some of the more substantial readings will be divided and assigned to specific students at the class previous to the class the readings are due for class discussion. Distance students should familiarize themselves with the general content of the whole, and select a section of their choice for careful reading.

Please read this.

The following assignments and examinations are given in Reformation church history (see attached course schedule for due dates), and are weighted as follows. Course grading will follow the scale in the PRTS catalog. (p. 79)

– Research paper (3000-4000 words) 40%
– Source document analysis (1000-1250 words) 10%
– Midterm examination 25%
– Final examination 25%

The research paper is a 3000-4000 word paper which will explore in depth a historical or
theological topic from Reformation church history of personal interest to the student. It will reflect a thorough grasp of the relevant source documents and their history. It will also reflect an awareness of continued scholarly discussion on the topic expressed in journal articles and books to the present day. The paper will conclude with an assessment of the importance of its conclusions for the present day life and ministry of the church. Students may be required to present these papers to the class for discussion.

The source document analysis is a 1000-1250 word analysis of a source document related to the people, events, or issues discussed in the Reformation church history class. The first page will be devoted to a brief explanation of the history and historical context of the writer or document, the remaining pages to an exposition and theological analysis of the content, key ideas, or themes of the document.