RELS 3621/5611 The Christian Right and Left in America: Protestant Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and Liberals
Syllabus
RELS 3621/5611 – The Christian Right and Left in America: Protestant Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and Liberals RELS 3611/5611
University of Minnesota, 3 credits, Spring 2009
Instructor: Jeanne H. Kilde
Office Hours:
TTh 10:00 – 11:30
Office: 150C Nicholson Hall
Tel: 612-625-6393
Email: jkilde@umn.edu
Course Description:
From the Sarah Palin, to Mike Huckabee to Mitt Romney, from the Left Behind series of apocalyptic novels to Mel Gibson’s Passion, from teaching evolution to stem cell research, issues surrounding the Christian right have dominated media coverage of Christianity in America in recent years. Yet other Christian voices are now garnering attention in the public arena as well. Liberal Protestant organizations, such as Barak Obama’s United Church of Christ denomination, and liberal and moderate evangelicals like Jim Wallis and Rick Warren have been posing Christian counter-narratives focused on topics such as social justice, Christian outreach, and environmental stewardship. So just what is the “Christian right”? And is there a “Christian left”? What theological beliefs and practices unite the historically disparate groups that now make up these blocs? Through what processes do the religious beliefs of these groups translate into political and social agendas?
This course will trace the roots of evangelicalism, fundamentalism, and liberal Protestantism in 19th and 20th century religious thought, explore the range of religious ideas and practices embraced by these groups, and examine some critical public policy issues currently being contested. The course is organized into four distinct but overlapping thematic units, which will be examined consecutively: 1.) Theological and cultural roots of the Protestant left and right, 2) Theology and Science among the Christian Left and Right, 3) Christian Left and Right views of History and Progress, and 4) Faith Experiences of the Christian Left and Right.
Course Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course should be able to. . .
- Trace the historical growth and development of Christian liberalism, evangelicalism and fundamentalism.
- Identify and explain the spectrum of theological and religious perspectives across these three categories as well as the range of perspectives within each category.
- Identify the range of religious practices and experiences of Protestant Christians.
- Analyze comparatively the range of positions held by these groups with respect to role of religion in public life, particularly the relationships between religion and science and religion and history.
- Articulate the ways in which these groups have contributed to social, political, scientific, and educational thought in the U.S.
Required Texts:
R. Marie Griffith. God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
E. Brookes Holifield, Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003.
George M. Marsden. Fundamentalism and American Culture, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University, 2006.
Edward J. Larson. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Porterfield, Amanda. The Transformation of American Religion: The Story of a Late-Twentieth-Century Awakening. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Jim Wallis. God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. Harper/San Francisco, 2005.
Course packet and other readings listed below in calendar
Supplemental Texts:
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Left Behind.
Hulsether, Mark. Religion, Culture and Politics in the Twentieth-Century United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Bruce David Forbes and Jeanne Halgren Kilde, eds. Rapture, Revelation and the End Times: Exploring the Left Behind Series. New York: Palgrave, 2004.
George M. Marsden. Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1991.
Course Requirements, Undergraduate:
10% Participation. This will include attendance, discussion during class periods, and periodic in-class writings (responses to the readings) and group assignments.
30% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam
30% Three 3-page papers. Papers will explore an aspect of each of the main units covered in the class: Views of Science, Views of History, and Faith Experience. Each paper must include some research or reading beyond class assignments. Students may revise one paper for a new grade.
Course Requirements, Graduate:
10% Participation. This will include attendance, discussion during class periods, and periodic in-class writings (responses to the readings) and group assignments.
30% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam
30% Individual analytical research project. Option A: three 6-page papers. Option B: one 18-page paper. All paper topics must be approved by the instructor.
Grading Criteria:
A Achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.
B Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.
C Achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect.
D Achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements.
S Achievement that is satisfactory, which is equivalent to a C- or better
I (Incomplete) Assigned at the discretion of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances, e.g., hospitalization, a student is prevented from completing the work of the course on time. Requires a written agreement between instructor and student. F-N Represents failure (or no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I (see also I).
Protocols:
- Students should come to class having read the day’s readings and prepared to discuss them.
- Students must complete all assignments to receive a final grade in the course.
- Attendance is expected. One absence is a freebie, no questions asked. Furhter unexcused absences will reduce your participation grade.
- Papers will be docked 1/3 of a letter grade ( + or – equivalent) for each day late without instructor’s approval.
- Students will employ the highest standards of ethical discourse and interaction. Students will demonstrate respect for the views of others. Efforts to transform or shape the religious views of individual students will not be tolerated.
Students will be held to the highest standards of academic honesty. Plagiarism or cheating in any fashion will be reported to the Dean’s office.
The MLA Handbook defines plagiarism as the use of another person's ideas or expressions in your writing without giving proper credit to the source. The word comes from the Latin word plagiarius (“kidnapper”), and Alexander Lindey defines it as “the false assumption of authorship: the wrongful act of taking the product of another person's mind, and presenting it as one's own” (Plagiarism and Originality [New York: Harper, 1952] 2). “In short, to plagiarize is to give the impression that you have written or thought something that you have in fact borrowed from someone else.” This can include paraphrasing, copying someone else's writing word for word, or using ideas that aren't your own without proper citation. Plagiarism is often unintentional, and bad research habits can form early in elementary school. Unfortunately, these bad habits can continue throughout high school and college and may result in severe consequences, from failure in a course to expulsion. To avoid these consequences, always cite your sources if you are unsure if you are plagiarizing. (Gibaldi, Joseph, and Walter S. Achtert. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 3rd ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1988. 21-25.)
For further information, see the Center for Writing’s Website at http://writing.umn.edu/tww/plagiarism/definitions.htm.
Tentative Calendar:
Changes to this calendar will be announced in class and posted on the WebVista course site. It is the responsibility of the student to keep apprised of all changes.
Week 1 Course introduction.
Lecture: Theological liberalism and conservativism
Week 2 Lecture: Evangelicalism in the nineteenth century: revivalism and the rise of affective religion. Read: Holifield on Bacon. Read: Marsden
Lecture: The Civil War, millenarianism, and the rise of fundamentalism
Week 3 Lecture: Modernism, consumerism and the rise of therapeutic religion
Read: Marsden Read: “Acres of Diamonds” at http://www.temple.edu/documentation/heritage/speech.html
Lecture: Liberalism, Mainline Religion, and Progressivism
Read: Porterfield
Lecture: Liberalism and Fundamentalism in dialogue
Read: Marsden
J. Gresham Machen, “Introduction” from Christianity and Liberalism online at www.biblebelievers.com/machen
Harry Emerson Fosdick, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win? at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5070/
Week 4 Lecture: Modernism, Science, and Teleology: the Scopes trial
Read: Excerpts from William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow
Week 5 Topic: Retelling Scopes from the liberal perspective
Film Screen: Inherit the Wind
Lecture: Contemporary advance of Creation Science, Intelligent Design
Read: Larson and Marsden
Film screening in class: Randall Balmer on the Creation Institute
Week 6 Lecture: Liberal-fundamentalist debate: Science and Public Policy
William Bell Riley vs. the University of Minnesota
Review for Exam
Week 7 Midterm Exam
Spring Break
Week 8 Lecture: Models of History and Society: Postmillennialism, the Kingdom of God and Social Justice
Lecture: Models of History and Society: Premillennial Dispensationalism and Divine Justice
Screen Left Behind (film) outside of class or read Left Behind (book)
Read: Marsden (tba)
Week 9 Topic: America as the Chosen Nation
Film screening in class: America’s God.
Film screening prior to class: George W. Bush: Faith in the White House
Lecture: Liberal Protestantism’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Roots: The Case of Habitat for Humanity
Read: Clarence Jordan, excerpts from The Cotton Patch Gospel
Film screening in class: Briars in the Cotton Patch
Week 10 Lecture: Liberal evangelicalism
Read: Wallis, God’s Politics. See also, Sojourner’s at www.sojo.net
Lecture: Diversity within the Christian right
Read: Evangelical Manifesto at http://www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com/
and Re-Vision at http://www.revision.org/index.asp
Week 11 Lecture: Diversity in Religious Practice among Evangelicals (Cultus)
Film screening in class: The Changing Face of Worship.
Lecture: Faith experience and power: Pentecostalism and Prosperity Gospel
Week 12 Lecture: Worship Practice: Healing
Read: Griffith
Lecture: Communities and Relationships
Read: Griffith
Week 13 Lecture: Liberal and mainline worship practice
Read: Porterfield
Week 14 Course conclusion