Unit name | The Theology of John Calvin |
---|---|
Unit code | THRS20095 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Balserak |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Religion and Theology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit examines the life, teachings and legacy of the Sixteenth-century reformer, pastor, theologian, biblical interpreter, lawyer, social visionary, and humanist, John Calvin. One of the most significant thinkers in the Western tradition, Calvin has been called profoundly forward-looking, hopelessly conservative, shamefully licentious, ruthlessly dictatorial. Whatever he was, his thought has had a great impact on Western society. The unit will examine Calvin's context and seek to understand his theology: both its broad contours and the positions he takes on a range of subjects - doctrine of God, creation and the fall of humankind, predestination and soteriology, the church, etc. It will also consider his thinking on government, economics and other 'secular' subjects. Post-Calvin Calvinism from the Remonstrants to New England Puritanism, Kuyper, and Apartheid will also be considered. Our overall aim is to question our current sense of superiority to the past by examining one of its seminal thinkers.
Aims:
By the end of the unit students will be expected to have:
acquired knowledge and skill to discuss late medieval and early modern theology
acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the life and thought of Calvin within its context
acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the shape of Calvins theology and the positions he held on main theological topics
acquired knowledge and skill to discuss Calvinism
acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the academic study of Calvin, his life, his theology, his thought on secular issues, Calvinism more broadly
Weekly: two hour lecture
Students will be assessed via a summative 3000-word essay. They will submit a 500 word formative essay on an assigned topic.