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St. John Seminary
Church History II: Modern History Syllabus
Spring 2016
Dr. Ann T. Orlando, aorlando@mit.edu
Class website: http://web.mit.edu/aorlando/www/SaintJohnCHII/
Wednesdays 1:15 – 3:05
Fridays 1:15-2:05
Prerequisite: Medieval Church History
Purpose:
The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to some of the most
important Christian theologians in their historical context. Emphasis will be placed on
detailed reading of the theological and spiritual writings of a few Christian theologians,
supplemented by shorter works from others, to give the student an understanding of some
of the historical developments of the Magisterium. Students will also acquire an
understanding of the contemporary, universal application of earlier doctrinal
developments.
Class Structure
This second semester course covers the period from approximately 1400 to 2000 AD.
Lectures will include discussion of historical, philosophical, doctrinal and spiritual
developments. This course is divided into six parts. PowerPoint slides for each lecture
are available on the class website,
At the conclusion of Parts I - V, students are expected to write a short paper on some
aspect of the primary readings for that part. The paper should start with a high-lighted
one sentence thesis statement, followed by supporting arguments that support the thesis
statement. The paper should focus on one aspect of the theologian being studied that
week: Biblical exegesis, Christology, spirituality, sacraments, morality, or ecclesiology.
An excellent paper should be focused using ample references to specific primary works.
At the conclusion of the semester, there will be a panel discussion and a 5-10 page
paper, followed by a short bibliography of consulted works, including web resources.
Students should select one of the following for the panel discussion and long paper:
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
Brad Gregory. The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution
Secularized Society. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2012.
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D. A. Brading, Mexican Phoenix, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
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Ruth Harris, Lourdes, New York: Penguin, 1999.
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David Kertzer, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, New York: Vintage, 1997.
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John McGreevy, Catholicism and American Freedom, New York: W. W. Norton,
2003.
Requirements:
Class attendance and active participation during discussion of primary readings are an
important requirement for this class. The specific requirements are:

Panel and long paper at the conclusion of Part VI

Short papers at the conclusion of Parts I – V, a 1 or 2-page paper is required five
times during the semester.
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Two Quizzes (closed book).
o Parts I and II Quiz
o Parts III, IV and V Quiz

No Final.
Early in the semester, the students are asked to share with the professor any personal
concerns regarding learning disabilities or English as a second language.
Class Grade:
The class grade will be based on:

1/3 papers, discussions and panel presentation;

1/3 Quiz 1;

1/3 Quiz 2.
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Academic Honesty
The seminary and the Theological Institute take the matter of cheating, plagiarism,
improper use of material, failure to give credit for work cited or used in a term
paper (or other assignment), and other forms of academic dishonesty very seriously,
viewing them as grave offenses which call for the most serious sanctions.
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary) defines plagiarism as the act of plagiarizing, which is:
“to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use
(another's production) without crediting the source, or to commit literary theft :
present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing
source”.
In case of suspected dishonesty, the faculty member will speak to the student first.
If the faculty member is unconvinced by the student’s explanation, he or she will
report the incident to the Dean of Faculty. A Disciplinary Board may be
convened by the Rector to address the issue.
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Texts:
No specific Church History text is required. No specific Church History text is required.
However, James Hitchcock, History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to
the Third Millennium is strongly recommended. Other recent or frequently referenced
histories which the student may find useful to consult during this course:
1. John Vidmar, The Catholic Church Through the Ages (New Jersey: Paulist Press,
2005)
2. Thomas Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York:
Doubleday, 2004).
3. Norman Tanner, A New Short History of the Catholic Church (London: Barnes &
Oates, 2011)
4. Peter Armenio, History of the Church (The Didache Series), (Midwest
Theological Forum, 2005)
5. John O’Malley, A History of the Popes (Maryland: Sheed & Ward, 2010)
6. Diarmaid MacCulloch, Christianity, the First Three Thousand Years (New York:
Viking, 2010)
Books on Reserve in Library
Thomas Bokenkotter. A Concise History of the Catholic Church. New York: Doubleday,
2004.
Carter Lindberg, Editor. The European Reformations Sourcebook. Malden: Blackwell,
2000.
Francis De Sales Devout Life, Introduction to the Devout Life tran. John Ryan. New
York: Image, 1950.
Francois Viscount de Chateaubriand. The Genius of Christianity. Trans. Charles White.
New York: Fertig, 1976.
John Courtney Murray. We Hold These Truths. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1988.
Henry Bettenson ed Documents of the Christian Church Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1999. 275-282.
John Tracy Ellis. Documents of American Catholic History. New York: Glazier, 1987.
Paul Hyland. The Enlightenment, A Sourcebook and Reader. London: Routledge, 2003.
Romano Guardini. The Spirit of the Liturgy. Trans. Ada Lana. New York: Crossroads,
1998.
Paul Hyland. The Enlightenment, A Sourcebook and Reader. London: Routledge, 2003.
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Outline of Classes and Assignments
Part I
Week 1:
Wednesday, January 20
Class 1: Introductions, Syllabus Review, Expectations
Class 2: Review 14th and 15th C
Hitchcock, Chapter 8
Friday, January 22
No Class
Week 2:
Wednesday, January 27
Class 3: Martin Luther
1. Archbishop Albert Mainz. The Commission of Indulgences in The European
Reformations Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. 29-30.
2. Martin Luther. 95 Theses, available at
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html
3. Martin Luther. Appeal to German Nobility and Babylonian Captivity of the Church. in
The European Reformations Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell,
2000. 36-39.
4. Peace of Augsburg available at
http://www.uoregon.edu/~sshoemak/323/texts/augsburg.htm
Class 4: Martin Luther (cont.)
Assignment:
1. Martin Luther, Freedom of Christian, in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings
Ed Timothy Lull. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005. p386-411.
2. Martin Luther. Disputation on Scholasticism in The European Reformations
Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. 28.
3. Philip Melanchthon Augsburg Confession Prolog, Articles 1-5, 8, 9, 18, 20 available at
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-boc.html#ac
Extra: Joint Catholic-Lutheran Statement on Justification, 1999,
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstu
ni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html
Friday, January 29
Class 5: Zwingli and Calvin
Assignments:
1. Zwingli, selections 6.9-6.14 in The European Reformations Sourcebook. ed Carter
Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. p. 109-114.
2. John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion 9.7-9.8 in The European Reformations
Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. 173-178.
3. John Calvin, Letter on Usury, 14.11 in The European Reformations Sourcebook. ed
Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000 p. 271-272.
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Week 3:
Wednesday, February 3
Class 6: Later 16th C History
Assignments
1. An account of St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, 10.16 in The European Reformations
Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000 p. 197
2. Accounts of Henry IV and Edict of Nantes, 10.19-10.22 The European Reformations
Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000 p. 200-203.
Hitchcock, Chapter 9
Class 7: English Reformation and Anabaptists
Assignments:
1. Schleitheim Confession of Faith 7.10 in The European Reformations Sourcebook. ed
Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. p. 132-133.
2. Thirty Nine Article of Church of England. 12.21 in The European Reformations
Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. p 232-234.
3. SHORT PAPER #1 on Protestants
Friday, February 5
Class 8: Discussion and paper Due
Part II
Week 4:
Wednesday, February 10
No Class, Ash Wednesday
Friday, February 12
Class 9: Jesuits, Theresa of Avila
Assignments:
1. Ignatius Loyola Spiritual Exercises, Rules to Have True Sentiment in the Church
available at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/loyola-spirex.html
2. Theresa of Avila. Autobiography, Theresa’s Arguments of the Chapters available at
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa/life.v.html and Chapter XII available at
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa/life.viii.xiii.html
Wednesday, February 17
Class 10: Trent
Assignments
1. Trent Decrees on Scripture, Sacraments, Justification, Indulgences in Bettenson ed.
Documents of the Christian Church Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1999. 275-282.
Class 11: Saints
1. Francis De Sales Devout Life, Prayer, Preface and First Part of Introduction in
Introduction to the Devout Life, available at
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/desales/devout_life.toc.html
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Week 5
Friday, February 19
Class 12: Voyages of Discovery
Week 6
Wednesday, February 24
Class 13: Missionary Activities (West)
Hitchcock, Chapter 12; pp 389-415
1. Juan Gines de Sepulveda and Bartolome de las Casas. On the Indians. in The European
Sourcebook. ed Carter Lindberg. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. 279-281.
Class 14: Missionary Activities (East)
2. Francis Xavier Letter from India. Available at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1543xavier1.html
3. Chinese Rites Documents, excerpts at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1715chineserites.html
4. SHORT PAPER #2, Catholic Response or Missionary Activities
Friday, February 26
Class 15: Paper 2 Discussion and Quiz Review
Week 7
Wednesday, March 2
Class 16, 17: Quiz 1
Friday, March 4
Class 18: History 17th C
March 7 – 11 No Class
Part III
Week 8
Wednesday, March 16
Class 19: Philosophy in early 17th C, Descartes, Pascal
Assignments:
1. Blaise Pascal Pensees Series III available at
http://www.classicallibrary.org/pascal/pensees/pensees03.htm
Class 20: Physics and Religion in 17th C
1. Galileo Galilei, Letter to Grand Duchess Christina, available at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/galileo-tuscany.html
2. Robert Bellarmine Letter on Galileo available at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1615bellarmine-letter.html
3. Isaac Newton. Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Available at
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http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/newton-princ.html
Friday, March 18
Class 21: Later 17th C Philosophy, Hobbes, Bayle and Leibnitz
Assignments:
1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Chapters XIII, XIV, available at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/hobbes-lev13.html
2. Leibniz, Summary of the Controversy Reduced to Formal Argument, in Theodicy,
trans. E.M. Huggard, La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, 1985, pp 377-388.
3. Voltaire Lisbon Earthquake in The Portable Voltaire. In Paul Hyland. The
Enlightenment, A Sourcebook and Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. p 77-82.
4. SHORT PAPER #3 on 17th C
Hitchcock, Chapter 10
Week 9
Wednesday, March 23
Class 22: Discussion and Paper Due
Class 23: History early 18th C
Friday, March 25
No Class, Good Friday
Part IV
Wednesday, March 30
Class 24: Political Philosophy and John Locke
Assignment:
1. Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration available at
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccerreldem?id=LocTole.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/p
arsed&tag=public&part=all
2. John Locke, Constitution of the Carolinas, 1669, available at
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/nc05.asp
Class 25: Enlightenment and American Revolution
Assignment:
3. Thomas Jefferson Letter to Danbury Baptist Association available at
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html
4. John Adams. Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Preamble and Part I
Available at http://www.mass.gov/legis/const.htm
Week 10
Friday, April 1
Class 26: Enlightenment and French Revolution
Assignment:
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1. Civil Constitution of Clergy available at http://history.hanover.edu/texts/civilcon.htm
2. St Just Republican Institute available at http://history.hanover.edu/texts/stjust.html
3. Immanuel Kant. What is Enlightenment? Available at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~mgamer/Etexts/kant.html .
SHORT PAPER #4 on Enlightenment
Week 11
Wednesday, April 6
Part V
Class 27: History of 19th C, Political and Social Developments
Political and Social Developments 19th C
Assignment:
1. Karl Marx, Scientific Socialism, available at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/marx-summary.html
2. John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Chapters 2 and 5, available at
http://www.constitution.org/jsm/util5.htm
Hitchcock, Chapter 11
Class 28: Catholic Reaction to French Revolution and Pius IX
1. Francois Viscount de Chateaubriand Genius of Christianity, Book I, pp 43-70.
2. Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors, available at
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P9SYLL.HTM
3. First Vatican Council, First Dogmatic Constitution on Church of Christ, available at
http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/V1.HTM
Friday, April 8
Class 29 Paper Due and Discussion
Week 12
Wednesday, April 13
Class 30: Leo XIII
Assignment:
1. Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_lxiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum_en.html
Short paper; must be on R.N.
Class 31: Mary and the Saints in Modernity
Assignments:
Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_pxii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus_en.html
Friday, April 15
Class 32: History 20th C
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Week 13
Wednesday, April 20
Class 33: Paper Due and Discussion on R.N.
Class 34: Catholicism in 20th C
Assignments:
Hancock, Chapter 14
1. Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, available at
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_pxi_enc_19310515_quadragesimo-anno_en.html
2. Pius X Encyclical Against Modernism, available at
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_x/encyclicals/documents/hf_px_enc_19070908_pascendi-dominici-gregis_en.html
3. Romano Guardini. The Spirit of the Liturgy. Trans. Ada Lana. New York: Crossronds,
1998. p 17-42.
4. Pius XI (optional) Mit Brennender Sorge,
www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_14031937_mitbrennender-sorge_en.html
5. Pius XII (skim) Mystici Corporis,
www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_pxii_enc_29061943_mystici-corporis-christi_en.html
Friday, April 22
Class 35: Quiz 2 Review
Week 14
Wednesday, April 27
Class 36, 37: Quiz 2
Friday, May 1
Class 38: Panel
Week 15
Wednesday, May 4
Class 39: Panel
Class 40: Panel
Friday. May 6
Class 41: Panel
FINAL EXAM (NONE)
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