Professor: Dr. Frank Walker

Church history traces the providential hand of God in gathering, preserving, renewing, and disciplining His church since the time of the apostles. Students gain insight into how the Holy Spirit has worked in the church in previous generations in order that they might serve Him more wisely today.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1)

CH231/631 ANCIENT CHURCH HISTORY

A study of the ancient church from the birth of Christ through the accession of Pope Gregory I (AD 590). Emphasis will be given to the development of doctrine, worship, ecclesiology, and the growth of the papacy. (3 hours).

CH241/641 MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY

A study of the doctrinal and organizational development of the church in the Middle Ages. The effects of scholasticism and the sacerdotal theology on European church and society will be considered. (2 hours).

CH245/645 READINGS IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL THEOLOGY (elective)

A seminar in primary source materials from the first century through the middle ages. (2 hours. Prerequisites: CH231/631 and CH241/641).

CH351/651 REFORMATION CHURCH HISTORY

A study of the sixteenth-century Reformation, focusing on the pre-Reformers, the relationship between the Renaissance and the Reformation, the work of the Reformers (specifically Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and Knox), and the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. (3 hours).

CH355/655 THEOLOGY OF THE REFORMATION (elective)

A seminar in primary sourcematerials fromchief Reformers of the sixteenth century. Attention will be given to distinguishing the views of the various authors. (2 hours. Prerequisites: CH351/651).

CH671 MODERN CHURCH HISTORY

A study of the doctrinal developments since the Reformation. Attention will be given to changes within Lutheranism, Calvinism, Evangelicalism and Romanism. An examination of modern theological liberalism will be included. (3 hours).

CH391/691 AMERICAN CHURCH HISTORY

A study of the issues of American Protestantism. Topicswill include NewEngland Puritanism, Edwards and the NewDivinity, the impact of the Civil War and slavery on the development of the American church, Princeton and the Southern Presbyterians, Darwinism and the Social Gospel. (2 hours).

CH751 HISTORY OF CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS

An historical consideration of the Christian creeds from the apostles to the present. Particular attention will be given to the early ecumenical creeds and the confessions of the Reformation. The effects of these creeds on church and society will also be considered. (3 hours. Prerequisites: CH631, CH641, CH651. The student may elect to take CC711 and CC712 in place of this course).