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Canyon College
online Church and State Issues course at Canyon College
COURSE SYLLABUS: Church and State Issues


Course Title: RL560 - Church and State Issues
Department: Religious Studies
Instructor: Don E. Peavy, Sr., Ph.D. E-Mail Vita
Prerequisites: None


PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

Welcome to RL 560 Church and State Issues. In his classic work, “The Kingdom of God in America,” H. Richard Niebuhr writes that “These early American Protestants believed in the kingdom of God… it was rather the living reality of God’s present rule, not only in human spirits but also in the world of nature and of human history.” (51) The early Puritans sought to establish a physical kingdom of God in North America that corresponded to the spiritual kingdom. Niebuhr goes on to discuss to what degree, if any, they succeeded. One thing Niebuhr, and all historians, has to confront is the reality that in 1789 with the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, a wall was established between church and state and what the Puritans sought to make physical was relegated to the spiritual. The purpose of this course is to take a fly over the terrain of Western civilization to see how humans have moved from the direct rule of God as depicted in the Genesis myth to the divine right of kings, to the divine right of popes, and back to kings, and then to notions of democracy and others, to finally the American and French Revolutions in which Luther’s notion of two kingdoms was firmly rooted in the psyche of modern humans.

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

Students should strive to use inclusive language in their writings. By inclusive language is meant language that is not gender specific and which attempts to include as many people as possible. For instance, instead of writing that "God wills that every man obeys His will," inclusive language would require us to write, "God wills that everyone obeys Gods will."

REQUIREMENTS
  1. Readings. The required texts are: Online Bookstore

    From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought by Oliver O'Donovan and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (1999). ISBN13: 9780802842091 ISBN: 0802842097

    Textbooks should be ordered from the Canyon College Online Bookstore to insure that the correct volume and edition is obtained.
  1. Conferences. Students may schedule no more than two Internet conferences between the student and the professor. These should be scheduled as necessary by the student. Of course, students may ask questions of the professor at any time by sending an E-mail to the address at the link above or by posting them to the message board.
  1. Exams. There will be no exams in this course.
  1. Papers.There will be a short paper of at least two single-spaced pages or 1,250 words (not counting end-notes and bibliography), due at the end of each week=s readings in which students will answer the discussion questions and give a reaction to their readings. There is a mid-term paper due of between 1500 and 2500 words. These papers are to be e-mailed to the professor. Those who do not feel comfortable with e-mailing the papers can contact the professor for a mailing address. Papers should conform to the form and style outlined in Kate L. Turabian=s "A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations," 6th ed. Students should use end notes instead of footnotes. Finally, the papers are intended to be reflection papers and not research or the "author said" papers. Students should indicate their understanding of the texts and this cannot be done merely by quoting the authors.
  1. Grades. Course work will be weighted as follows:

    Papers 60%
    Midterm Paper 40%
  1. Grading Scale

    90 - 100% A - Excellent
    80 - 89% B - Above Average
    70 - 79% C - Average
    60 - 69% D - Below Average
    59% or below F - Failing Grade


    A = Clearly stands out as excellent performance. Has unusually sharp insight into material and initiates thoughtful questions. Sees many sides of an issue. Articulates well and writes logically and clearly. Integrates ideas previously learned from this and other disciplines. Anticipates next steps in progression of ideas.

    B = Grasps subject matter at a level considered to be good to very good. Is an active listener and participant in chats, message boards, e-mails and conferences. Speaks and writes well. Accomplishes more than the minimum requirements. Work is of high quality.

    C = Demonstrates a satisfactory comprehension of the subject matter. Accomplishes only the minimum requirements, and displays little or no initiative. Communicates at an acceptable level for a college student. Has a generally acceptable understanding of all basic concepts.

    D = Quality and quantity of work is below average and barely acceptable.

    F = Quality and quantity of work is unacceptable.
WEEK ONE


Read O’Donovan pages 1-22; 66-114.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. How does each of the writers in this week’s readings view the relationship between church and state?
  2. What is similar in their views and what is dissimilar?
  3. Which thinker do you most agree with? Why?
WEEK TWO


Read O’Donovan pages 231-276; 309-361.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. How does each of the writers in this week’s readings view the relationship between church and state?
  2. What is similar in their views and what is dissimilar
  3. How do the thinkers this week differ from those from last week?
  4. Do you see a movement from one mode of thinking to another? If so, what is it?
WEEK THREE


Read O’Connor pages 413-422; 453-475; and 482-513.

Mid-Term Paper

You are to write a coherent essay of between 1500 and 2500 words in proper APA or Turabian format in which you answer the questions below.

  1. Dante writes at page 422, “[A]t no time do we see universal peace throughout the world except during the perfect monarchy of the immortal Augustus.” What do you understand this statement to mean?
  2. What are the implications of Dante’s statement for church –state relations? Please keep in mind that Dante was say he is a Christian of the highest order.
  3. Assume for the moment that Dante’s statement is historically correct at the time it is written. Would it still be correct today? Except for the time recorded in Genesis in the Garden of Eden, has the church or any religion ever brought about “universal peace?”
WEEK FOUR


Read Lecture for this week. Read O’Connor 549-608; and 787-820.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Grotius focuses almost exclusively on the right of the king or governing authority to punish, particularly to punish by means of death. How well do you believe Grotius makes his argument and what do you see as weaknesses in the argument?
  2. Please summarize the writings of the other thinkers from this week’s readings.
WEEK FIVE


Read the letter of Thomas Jefferson at: http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html. Read the Lecture posted for this week and the articles by Peavy.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. A theologian has written that “the first duty of Christian faith ... [is] to preserve a certain distance between the sanctities of faith and the ambiguities of politics?” In light of your journey through this course, do you agree? Why or why not?
  2. What ought to be the proper role of the religious person between faith and politics? For instance, should the pastor of a church run for political office?
  3. “In God we trust.” “One nation under God.” The Supreme Court and other federal courts open with a prayer. Congress opens with a prayer and has a chaplain. Are these things evidence that the United States is a Christian nation? Why or why not?