Beau Weston Calvinism and Modern Culture Cheek Emeritus (x8789)
Centre College SOC 341/REL 325 Hours: See sign up
Spring 2005 Phone: 238-7580 (h)
Calvinism has had a pivotal role in shaping modern culture. The "Protestant work ethic" laid the foundations for modern capitalism. Puritan scientists sought to read the divine order in the "book of nature." The Reformed covenants promoted a new idea of democratic citizenship. The Presbyterian mission to educate the laity promoted a social obligation to educate. This course explores the several ways in which the Reformed tradition shaped modern society.
TEXTS:
John Leith, Introduction to the Reformed Tradition
Donald McKim, ed. Calvin's Institutes , abridged edition.
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Robert Merton, Science, Technology & Society in Seventeenth-Century England
Douglas Kelly, The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World
Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism
Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self
William Weston, Leading from the Center
William Weston, Centre College
We will meet as a seminar on Thursday nights from seven until about ten. The heart of the seminar is the quality of everyone's participation; a vital conversation can lift a seminar above even the best lecture. "Seminar is sacred" (attendance is mandatory).
On Friday, April 22, we will take a field trip to the Presbyterian Center and seminary. We will leave at 9:15 and be gone all day. To balance this trip, we will not meet on Thursday, May 5.
WORK (and % of final grade):
A five-page paper (10%) due 2/10 OR 17 (choose one) at the start of class.
Either explain the main point of the main reading OR consider the main point of the skimmed section for that week, compared with the argument made in some outside source on that subject.
For example, if you wrote a paper for 2/10, you would explain what Calvin was centrally concerned with in Books I and II of the Institutes , compared with what Leith says about the characteristics of Reformed theology in general. A good paper will do just that; an excellent paper will do that and offer your critical thought on the entire subject. The alternative paper for week 2/10 would compare Leith's account of the development of Reformed theology and theologians with another author's account of this same subject. A good paper would compare and contrast the two accounts. An excellent paper would do that and offer your critical thought.
A five-page paper (10%) due 2/24 Main point or Weber vs. critic
A five-page paper (10%) due 3/3/, 3/10 OR 17 Main point or author vs. critic
A five-page paper (10%) due 3/31 OR 4/7 Main point or author vs. critic
A five-page paper (10%) due 4/14 Main point
A five-page paper (10%) due 4/ 26 OR 4/28
Leading from the Center vs. Presbyterian leaders OR Centre College main point
A ten-page paper (20%) due 5/11 Calvinism and Modern Culture: your critical assessment of some important point, topic to be arranged with me before spring break.
Participation (20%)
3 The Reformed Churches: Basic history and ethos
Leith, Introduction to the Reformed Tradition , chs. 2 & 3 (55 pages)
10 The Foundations of Calvinism: the sovereign God as creator and redeemer
McKim, ed., Calvin's Institutes , Book 1 and Book II (65)
Leith, Introduction to the Reformed Tradition , ch. 4 - read "What is Theology?" and "Characteristics of Reformed Theology" (20), skim "The Development of Reformed Theology" and "Representative Theologians."
17 Being a Reformed Christian: Living the faith and reforming the institutions
McKim, ed., Calvin's Institutes , Book 1II and Book IV (110)
Leith, Introduction to the Reformed Tradition , skim chs. 5 (polity) and 6 (liturgy)
24 Calvinism and Economic Life
Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism , chs. 1, 2, 3, 4 section A (Calvinism), 5 (about 120, depending on the edition; skip the footnotes)
Merton, Science, Technology & Society in 17th-Century England , chs. 4 - 6 (80)
10 Reformed Politics
Kelly, The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World , Introduction, chs. 1 - 4 (120)
17 Reformed Politics, part two
Kelly, The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World , ch. 5 and Conclusion (25) PLUS find contemporary examples of Reformed politics to discuss
BREAK
31 Calvinism and Modern Culture: A Calvinist View, I
Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism , chs. 1 - 3 (100)
7 Calvinism and Modern Culture: A Calvinist View, II
Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism , chs. 4 - 6 (90)
Leith, Introduction to the Reformed Tradition , ch. 7 (25)
14 The Calvinist Self
Taylor, Sources of the Self , Part III, chs. 13 - 17 (100)
21 Presbyterianism Today
Weston, Leading from the Center , entire (115)
4/25 Field Trip: Presbyterian Center & Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
NOTE: This paper is due Saturday, 4/26, at 7 p.m.
28 The Presbyterian Mission to Educate: the case of Centre College
Weston, Centre College , entire
5 No class
11 Seminar dinner, Westons' house. Final essay due.