Historical Theology

Advanced Level Certificate

Course Benefits:
The Advanced Level Historical Theology track is designed to provide the student with a thorough knowledge of the development of Christian theology from the first century to the present.

Course Description:
The Advanced Level track consists of forty courses that can be completed in a three-and-a-half year period. Although students may take longer to complete the courses if they wish, the courses are designed so that the student may earn the Certificate in three-and-a-half years.

After registration, the student will be assigned a tutor to answer questions that may arise from the required reading and who will evaluate the student's coursework. An online forum will also be provided. The forum will provide a place for students in the Advanced Level Historical Theology track to submit questions to the tutor and to discuss course related issues with other students registered for the same track.

Course Requirements:
Each of the forty courses in the Advanced Level Historical Theology track requires a large amount of reading. In order to benefit from the reading, the student is required to keep a reading journal, which is to be submitted to the tutor after completing the final course. The reading journal must be typed. For each required text, the student is to include the following information:

1. State the author and title of the book.

2. In no less than 25 and no more than 50 words, state what the book is about. In other words, what is the subject matter of the book, and how does the author present the material?

3. In no less than 300 and no more than 350 words, summarize how the book has contributed to your understanding of the development of Christian theology and of church history.

4. In no less than 125 and no more than 150 words, state whether you agree or disagree with any of the author's conclusions and why.

5. In no less than 25 and no more than 50 words, state what difference reading this book has made in your life.

In addition to the reading journal, the student is required to write and submit one research paper after completing the final course. The student may choose any subject covered in one or more of the required courses. The paper should be no less than 4,000 and no more than 5,000 words.

The research paper should adhere to the format outlined in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (7th edition).

Students may also find the following work useful in the preparation of the research paper:  Robert Hudson, ed. The Christian Writer's Manual of Style (updated and expanded edition).

Required Courses:
Introduction
 1. Introduction to Historical Theology

Section 1 – Theology in the Early Church
 2. The Apostolic Fathers and the Second Century Apologists
3. Third Century Fathers
4. The Arian Controversy
5. Pastors and Exegetes
6. The Christological Controversy
7. Augustine's Theology

Section 2 – Theology in the Medieval Church
 8. Medieval Byzantine Theology
9. Pre-Carolingian Western Theology
10. Carolingian Theology and the Dark Ages
11. Early Scholasticism and Contemporaries
12. High Scholasticism and Contemporaries
13. The Theology of Thomas Aquinas
14. Late Scholasticism and Contemporaries
15. Erasmus and Renaissance Humanism

Section 3 – Theology in the Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras
 16. Martin Luther's Theology
17. Huldrych Zwingli's Theology
18. The Theology of the Radical Reformation
19. John Calvin's Theology
20. The Theology of the English Reformers
21. The Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent
22. Lutheran Orthodoxy
23. Reformed Orthodoxy
24. Protestant Pietism and Mysticism
25. Puritanism

Section 4 – Theology in the 18th and 19th Centuries
26. A Survey of 18th and 19th Century Theology
27. Protestant Liberalism
28. Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic Theology in the 18th and 19th Centuries
29. Evangelicalism in the 18th and 19th Centuries
30. Reformed Theology in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Section 5 – Theology in the 20th Century
 31. A Survey of 20th Century Theology
32. Liberalism and Modernism
33. Dialectical Theology
34. Roman Catholic Theology in the 20th Century
35. Eastern Orthodoxy in the 20th Century
36. Evangelicalism in the 20th Century
37. Reformed Theology in the 20th Century
38. New Theologies and Theologians I
39. New Theologies and Theologians II
40. Contemporary Evangelical and Reformed Theology

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