RS 138A:
Church, State, and the Construction of Orthodoxy
Professor
Ann Taves Winter 2008
Office: HSSB
3085 T R 12:30-1:45
Office
Hours: TTh 2:00-3:00 PHELPS
1425
“Roman
Catholicism undoubtedly has some very distinctive beliefs and practices, but it
is perhaps its centralized authority structure which most distinguishes it from
other Christian Churches – indeed from any other world faith.” -- Michael Walsh
in Roman Catholicism: The Basics, p. 9.
This course surveys the emergence and development of
the Catholic Church as a distinctive institution. We will pay particular
attention to how its centralized authority structure emerged in conjunction
with the definition, maintenance, and transmission of “orthodoxy” (a
distinctive religious “path”) and interaction between the church and the
political order. Topics will include the
creeds & councils, the papacy, monasticism and religious orders, the
inquisition, canon law, and lay ecclesial movements.
Overall Point of the Course: Traditional histories of
Christianity or Catholicism often begin with the idea of a core of true
teaching that was revealed at the outset and then defended against false
teachings (heresies) that emerged along the way. In this view, it is assumed that orthodoxy
existed from the beginning independent of heresy (heterodoxy), and if orthodoxy
could be protected from it, it could be passed on more or less unchanged.
In this course, I want to start with two alternative
assumptions. First, traditions (defined as paths to a religious goal) are not
revealed fully formed, but rather emerge, develop, and diverge through
processes that we can analyze and understand.
From this perspective, orthodoxy and heterodoxy are as inseparable as
two sides of a coin and, thus, develop in tandem with one another. They tell us what counts as truth from the
perspective of an in-group (the orthodox) and create the distinction between
insiders (orthodox) and outsiders (heterodox).
Second, human beings are inherently religiously insightful and creative:
they continually have experiences they deem religious. They see visions, dream dreams, hear voices,
find inspiration, and receive revelations.
They share what they experience with others and argue with each other
over the truth or value of their insights.
New ideas are always emerging and religious institutions have to deal
with this in one way or another.
If we start from these two premises, we can ask two
questions. First, how, out of the varied creative responses to the man Jesus,
did some come to (a) define a distinctly Christian and later Catholic tradition
or “path,” (b) distinguish between insiders and outsiders, and (c) create the
institutional structures necessary to define, maintain and transmit that
distinction from one generation to the next? Second, how did the institution
respond to the continuing religious creativity of its members? This course
centers on these questions.
Course Requirements: Participation in class discussion of primary texts, a midterm, and
final exam. The midterm and final exams will include the following:
·
Definitions of
Key Terms. Terms for the midterm are on
the last page of the syllabus. Terms for
the final are listed by class in the syllabus.
·
Short Essays:
This will involve explaining what is going on in short excerpts from primary
texts discussed in class. The excerpts will be provided ahead of time.
·
Longer Essays:
There will be one longer essay on the midterm and (probably) two on the
final. The midterm essay will have to do
with institution building and the construction of orthodoxy. The handout on “Types of Authority” (p. 3 in your reader) is designed to help you
prepare your midterm essay. The final exam essay will have to do with the
development of the papacy and other institutional structures. The handouts on “the Development of the
Papacy” (pp. 133-134 in your reader) are designed to help you prepare a final
essay.
Grading:
·
Midterm Exam
(40%).
·
Final Exam (60%).
· Extra Credit Options (exact details on extra credit still to be worked out)
o
Sunday, January 20: Constantine’s
Sword (Oren Jacoby, 2006, 95 mins), / 3:00 p.m. / Free / UCSB Campbell Hall
o
Thursday, February 7: James Carroll, “The Disputation: Christians Arguing with
Christians about the Jews” / 8:00 p.m. / Free / UCSB Campbell Hall
o
Sunday, February 17: Fr. Thomas Michel, S.J., "At the Convergence of Two Oceans: Issues of
Catholic-Muslim Relations" / 3:00 p.m. / Free / Victoria Hall
o
Monday, March 10, 2008: Catholic Studies conference on Church, Sex and the Public Sphere: Italy
and the United States.
Texts Ordered:
Course Reader, available at Grafikart, 6550 Pardall
Road, Isla Vista (968-3575). REQUIRED.
Justo L. Gonzalez, Church History: An Essential
Guide. REQUIRED.
Eamon Duffy. Saints
and Sinners: A History of the Popes. REQUIRED.
John B. Henderson.
The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy: Neo-Confucian, Islamic,
Jewish and Early Christian Patterns.
REQUIRED.
Roy Porter, The Enlightenment, 2nd
ed. REQUIRED.
Course Outline
and Assignments
01/08/08
(1.1) – Introduction – Overview – A Building Block Approach to the Study of
Religions.
01/10/08
(1.2) – Competing Paths: An Overview of the History of Christianity
Thesis: We can use Gonzalez’s book to get a basic overview
of the history of Christianity and see where the topics we will discuss fit
into that overall history.
Study
Questions: Read Gonzalez alongside
the syllabus, the “Diverging Paths” chart (in reader) and the “Development of
the Papacy” handout (in reader). How do the topics on the syllabus fit into
Gonzalez’s overall history? Make sure
you read the scholarly introductions to the New Testament books of Luke & Acts,
along with the assigned passages. Keeping in mind that they are theologically
informed interpretations of the meaning of Jesus crucifixion, read between the
lines of the texts to try to reconstruct the crisis that faced the Jewish
followers of Jesus after his death.
Class
Exercise: Come to class prepared to
identify the major points where paths diverge that we will discuss during the
quarter. We will then analyze on the passages from Luke and Acts to identify
the first century Jewish Christian “path” as it emerged in this community,
paying particularly attention to (1) the meaning they find in Jesus crucifixion
and (2) how they arrive at that meaning (how they know they have it
right).
Readings:
·
Justo L.
Gonzales, Church History: An Essential Guide. Read entire book.
·
Diverging Paths
and Authority Handouts (in reader)
·
NT Selections:
Luke 24; Acts 1-2; 9:1-31; 10:1-11:26.
01/15/08
(2.1) - The Construction of Christian Identity (1st-3rd
centuries)
Thesis: People who thought of themselves as Christians and
thus Christianity as a distinct religion emerged as Christians differentiated
themselves from Jewish and Greek philosophical traditions.
Study
Questions: (NT selections): What factions emerged among
the early followers of Jesus? What were
the chief areas of disagreement and their implications for who counted as a
believer? What arguments did they use to
make their respective cases?
(Justin): According to Justin,
what made Judaism different from the philosophical schools? Reading between the lines, how did Trypho
view Christian claims? What, according to Justin, distinguished Christianity
from Judaism?
Class
Exercise: Come to class prepared to
identify the Jewish and Greek philosophical traditions (as paths) with whatever
variants you can identify.
Readings:
·
NT Selections:
Galatians 1:11-2:21; Acts 10:1-11:26; 15:1-35.
·
Justin's Dialogue
with Trypho - readings #3 & #16 in ANT.
01/17/08
(2.2) – From Apostolic Authority to Apostolic Succession (1st-4th
centuries)
Thesis: Peter was
neither a pope nor a bishop, but his and Paul’s leadership were widely
recognized and the accounts of their martyrdom in Rome widely believed. Their association with Rome, the capital of
the empire, gave the church in Rome special status early on. East and West, however, diverged from the
outset: while Rome was the center in the West; Rome competed with other
apostolic centers, especially Jerusalem, in the East. With the emergence of the office of bishop,
bishops came to be seen as the successors of the apostles (apostolic
succession) and by the 3rd century the bishop of Rome was viewed as
the successor to Peter (following Matt 16). The Old Roman creed (a precursor to
the Apostles Creed), which was memorized and recited as part of the baptismal
liturgy, provides a window on the development of baptism as a core practice.
Study
Questions: (Duffy & NT): What
factors came together to make Rome a center (and for some the center) of
Christianity? How was the emergence of
Rome as a center linked to the emergence of authority structures (e.g.
episcopacy and apostolic succession)?
What in particular connected Peter and Paul to Rome? How does the bishop of Rome
get connected to Peter? (Young):
Consider the reason Peter and Paul were connected with Rome in light of the
baptismal ritual. How are the two connected and what light do both shed on the central practice(s) the informed the
Christian path?
Readings:
·
Eamon Duffy, Saints
and Sinners, 1-19.
·
NT Selections:
Matthew 16:13-23 (two versions, plus gospel parallels); John 21; Acts 12:1-17;
21:15-22:29; 28:11-28.
·
Frances Young, The
Making of the Creeds (1991), 1-8 (focus on the Apostles Creed, the
‘catch-phrases’ upon which it was built [pp. 7-8], and the context in which it
was used).
01/22/08
(3.1) - The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: A Comparative Approach.
Thesis: Comparison across traditions suggests that orthodoxy
and heterodoxy are two sides of the same coin and emerge in tandem.
Written
Assignment: Identify and define the
five strategies traditions often use for depicting orthodoxy and the five
strategies often used for depicting heresy, as discussed by Henderson.
Readings:
·
Sheila McDonough,
“Orthodoxy and Heresy,” Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed.,
6909-6913.
·
John B.
Henderson, The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy: Neo-Confucian, Islamic,
Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns (SUNY, 1998), pp. 1-5, 39-49, 85-117,
119-169 (skim).
01/24/08
(3.2) -- The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, con’t. (2nd-3rd
centuries)
Study
Questions: Test out Henderson’s
argument using these two texts. How has
the debate changed relative to what we saw with Justin?
Readings:
·
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Lyon, c. 180. Ehrman, readings #31 (esp. 1.10, 2; 3.3-4)
& #52.
·
The Coptic Apocalypse of Peter, 3rd C.
Ehrman, reading #35 in ANT.
01/29/08
(4.1) The Making of the Creeds (4th century)
Thesis: Distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy are more
effectively transmitted when they are institutionalized in creeds decided by
councils backed with imperial power.
Study
Questions: What was at stake in the different theological
views of Arius and Alexander for the laity and the emperor? Why was the controversy centered in the
eastern part of the church? Why was the western part of the empire generally
anti-Arian?
Readings:
·
Richard
Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God (1999), 48-88.
·
Arius and
Alexander -- readings #20-22 in CLA.
·
Nicene and
Constantinopolitan Creeds – readings #33 & 34 in CLA.
01/31/08
(4.2) The Making of the Creeds, cont (4th century)
Study
Questions: (Young) Read through the
primary texts in chronological order (Paul & I Peter [p. 8], Ignatius of
Antioch [p. 7], the three “Rules of Faith” [pp. 10-11], and the three creeds
[p. 4]). How did the central theological
question of the fourth century differ from that of the first century? How were these shifts linked to practice and
to the formulation of the Christian path?
Begin work on the study guide for the midterm exam.
Readings:
·
Frances Young, The
Making of the Creeds (1991), 1-15 (read all as review).
·
Max Weber, On Virtuosos, From
Max Weber, pp. 287-289.
·
Duffy, 19-47.
02/05/08
(5.1) MIDTERM EXAM
02/07/08
(5.2) The Rise of the Monarchial Papacy (11th century)
Thesis: The loss of contact between the Eastern and Western
churches coupled with the rise of Islam and the Muslim conquest of North Africa
set the stage for the development of the monarchial conception of the papacy in
the West unchecked by the more collegial understanding in the East. The papacy in something like its present form
emerged through a series of confrontations between popes and kings beginning
with papal reform in the 11th century (the Investiture Controversy)
and rising to the historic height of papal power and influence in the 12th
century (the monarchial papacy).
Key Terms
Figures, Events: Papal States,
monasticism, lay investiture, Gregorian reform, Gregory VII, Henry IV, simony.
Study
Questions: Use the texts to consider
a range of views regarding (1) the relationships between ecclesial and royal
power [all] and (2) papal wrong-doing [#26].
Readings:
·
The Development of the Papacy: An Overview (instructor handout in
reader)
·
Duffy, 110-28.
·
Tierney, #3-4
(Gelasius), #26 (Dictatus Papae), #28 (Lay investiture), #36a (Letter of Gregory to
the Faithful).
02/12/08
(6.1) The Rise of the Monarchial Papacy, cont. (12th century)
Key Terms,
Figures, Events: cardinals, legates,
decretals, canon law, curia, Innocent III, the Fourth Lateran Council (1215),
transubstantiation, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Study
Questions: What role did the codification of canon law
play in the development of the church as an institution?
Readings:
·
Duffy, 128-51.
·
Coriden, “History
of Canon Law,” pp. 9-19, in Appendix of Reader.
·
The Decretists
in Tierney, 116-26.
·
Aquinas on the Eucharist in Bettenson & Maunder,
Documents of the Christian Church [DCC], 162-65.
02/24/08
(6.2) The New Preachers, Heresy, and Inquisition (13th century)
Thesis: While monastic orders (the Benedictines in the 11th
century and the Cistercians in the 12th) were deeply involved in the reforms
that led to the emergence of the monarchial papacy, the new mendicant friars of
the thirteenth century (the Franciscans and Dominicans) were deeply involved in
promoting orthodoxy (through preaching [charitas])
and extirpating heterodoxy (as agents of the inquisition [potestas]).
Key Terms: Benedictines,
Cistercians, Franciscans, Dominicans, monks, friars, regular and secular
clergy, inquisition, Cathars, Albigensian Crusade
Study
Questions: Tease out the conceptions
of holiness that informed the Dominicans and, reading between the lines, the Cathars. Ranier Sacconi was Dominican who converted
from Catharism; Carcasonne was in the heart of Cathar territory in southern
France.
Readings:
·
Jordan of Saxony:
On the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers [Dominicans] in Kirschner &
Morrison, #41.
·
Ranier Sacconi: A
Thirteenth-Century Inquisitor on Catharism, in Edward Peters, Heresy and
Authority in Medieval Europe, 125-32.
·
“A Manual for
Inquisitors at Carcasonne, 1248-49,” in Peters, 200-206.
02/19/08
(7.1) Exile, Schism, and the Rise of Conciliarism (14th-15th centuries)
Thesis: The papacy collapsed into exile and schism in the 14th
and 15th centuries, precipitating the rise of conciliarism, the
hardening of papal claims to monarchial authority, and ultimately the
Protestant reformation.
Key Terms: Avignon Papacy (1309-77), the Great Schism (1378-1417), the Council of
Constance, conciliarism, concordats
Study
Questions: What role did canon law
and lawyers play in the attempts to resolve the schisms within the church?
Reading:
·
Duffy, 151-76,
177-96.
·
Letter of Catherine of Siena
to Pope Gregory XI in Kirschner & Morrison, #67, 422-426.
·
Coriden, pp.
19-24, in Appendix to Reader.
·
“Constance,
Council of,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4
02/21/08
(7.2) The Protestant Reformation and the Refashioning of Catholicism (16th
C)
Thesis: With the break between the Eastern and Western
Church (1054) and the subsequent 16th century break between the
Catholic and Protestant churches, concurrent with the rise of nation-states,
the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches lost any effective unifying center
and gradually became national churches.
With the loss of the Eastern Orthodox and the Protestants and the defeat
of conciliarism, the Catholic Church lost any effective theological
counterbalance to its centralizing tendencies.
Refashioning itself largely over and against Protestantism at the
Council of Trent, the Church launched a period of renewal and revitalization
that radiated out from a rebuilt Roman center.
Key Terms: Renaissance, humanism, Eucharist, Erasmus, Luther,
Calvin, the Society of Jesus, Council of Trent
Study
Questions: Read Duffy for background
and focus your attention on the primary texts. Compare the way that Luther and
the Council of Trent understood the Eucharist, focusing in particular on the
Mass as sacrifice. Consider the various
Catholic claims that are interconnected in this idea (e.g. priesthood,
apostolic succession, authority to interpret scripture). In class, we will consider how disputes over
the proper understanding of the sacraments and particularly the Eucharist led
to the emergence of distinctly different Catholic and Protestant “paths.”
Reading:
·
Duffy, 196-215.
·
Lutheran texts
in DCC, 212-221.
·
Texts from the Council of Trent in DCC, 275-82.
02/26/08
(8.1): The Church and the Modern Nation-State (17th century)
Thesis: In contrast to the Church’s elaborate claims, the
rise of the modern nation-state meant that rulers increasingly took control of
religion within their own borders. The effective control of the Vatican over
national churches reached a low ebb during the 17th and 18th
centuries.
Study
Questions: As you read Duffy, analyze
the shifting balance between papal, episcopal, and secular power before and
after the Council of Trent.
Key Terms: Peace
of Augsburg (1555), Treaty of Westphalia (1648), Gallicanism, ultramontanism dissolution
of the Society of Jesus (1773)
Readings:
·
Duffy, pp. 196-46.
·
The Gallican
Articles, 1682 in DCC, 285.
02/28/08
(8.2) The Church and the Enlightenment (18th century)
Thesis: Though there were some countervailing examples in
actual practice of “enlightened” Catholic thinkers, the Catholic Church for the
most part epitomized everything that Enlightenment thinkers were against.
Terms:
religious toleration, the Enlightenment, Voltaire
Study Questions: Compare and contrast the Enlightenment “path” as
advanced by Voltaire with the Catholic path in reality and as caricatured by
Voltaire. Hint: The path could be
construed with “civil peace” as its goal and “religious toleration” as its
practice.
Readings:
·
Roy Porter, The
Enlightenment, 2nd ed. (2001), read pp. 11-21, 29-37 carefully
and skim the rest.
·
Voltaire, Philosophical
Dictionary, ed. Theodore Besterman, 98-102, 278-81, 338-43.
03/04/08
(9.1): The Papacy and the State in the Modern Era (19th century)
Thesis:
The nineteenth century was a paradoxical century for the Church. Just when the Papacy was most besieged – and
in the eyes of many Catholics most humiliated – Catholics worldwide began to
look to Rome for leadership. Or in Casanova’s words: “It was precisely at the
point when … the papacy was finally forced to renounce its claims to
territorial sovereignty, that the papacy could be reconstituted as the core of
a transnational religious regime” (121).
Key Terms and Events: Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 1790 (Duffy);
Concordat of 1801 (Duffy), Ultramontanism (Duffy & Nichols), Pius IX
(Duffy), Law of Papal Guarantee, 1871 (Duffy), The First Vatican Council
(Nichols, Casanova), Papal infallibility (Nichols, Duffy), The Code of Canon Law,
1917 (Coriden, 26-27), Lateran Treaty, 1929 (Casanova).
Readings:
·
Jose Casanova,
"Globalizing Catholicism and the Return to a 'Universal' Church" in
Rudolph and Piscatori, 121-30 (Introduction, Papal Supremacy &
Globalization, Public Role of the Papacy).
·
Duffy, 253-65,
286-305.
·
Nichols, That
All Might Be One, 221-36 (sections on Ultramontanism and Vatican I).
·
Coriden, pp. 24-28,
in Appendix to Reader.
03/06/08
(9.2): The Pope, the Church, and the State in the Wake of Vatican II (20th
century)
Thesis: The Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium) united the conciliar
understanding, which vested ultimate authority in the councils of the church,
with the papalist (ultramontane) understanding that vested ultimate authority
in the pope. The Vatican II Declaration
on Religious Freedom marked a turning point in the Church’s relationship to the
nation-state and the basis for a new role on the global stage as a protector of
human rights.
Key Terms: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the
Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)
Study
Questions: What effects have these
two Vatican II documents had on the life of the church and the role of the
church in the world in theory and in practice?
Readings:
·
Nichols, That
All Might Be One, 236-250.
·
Casanova,
130-138.
·
Declaration on
Religious Freedom (Dignitatis humanae),
Dec. 7, 1965 (excerpts).
·
John Courtney
Murray, “The Declaration on Religious Freedom: It’s Deeper Significance.”
03/10/08 (Extra
credit): Catholic Studies Conference on “Church, Sex and the Public Sphere:
Italy and the United States," 6020 HSSB
03/11/08
(10.1): New ecclesial movements & the global church
Thesis: Though there was a dramatic decline in the
membership of religious orders in the wake of Vatican II, new movements (officially
designated as ‘new ecclesial movements’) are gaining an enthusiastic
following. The Vatican Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed under
the previous pope (John Paul II), is now scrutinizing these movements, as it
has in the past, in order to incorporate their vitality while at the same time
maintaining their orthodoxy.
Study
Questions: What is the problem
Ratzinger is trying to solve? What
method does he use to propose a solution?
What is his solution/thesis?
Compare the approach advocated by Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) with that
of Innocent III? What is new or
innovative in his solution?
Readings: Joseph Ratzinger, “The Theological Locus of
Ecclesial Movements,” Communio 25 (Fall 1998):480-500. (Focus on article pp. 480-81, 487-97).
03/13/08
(10.2): Review
FINAL EXAM
KEY TERMS,
FIGURES, AND EVENTS (for the midterm)
apostles – twelve closest
male followers of Jesus, regarded by Catholic teaching as the precursors of
bishops.
Peter (reader, Duffy)
Paul (reader, Duffy)
bishops – the chief priest of a diocese; the word
derives from the Greek episcopus –
hence the adjective ‘episcopal’ and the collective noun ‘the episcopate’.
diocese – an administrative
unit of the church, presided over by a bishop.
apostolic succession – the
theory according to which the authority of the apostles is handed down to
bishops.
councils – a gathering of
bishops to decide matters of importance to the church
ecumenical councils -- a
gathering of bishops that is (ostensibly) representative of the whole church
and whose decrees are viewed as binding on the whole church, e.g. the Council
of Nicaea (325), the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), the Council of Constance
(1414-1418), the Council of Trent (1543-63), the First Vatican Council
(1869-70), and the Second Vatican Council (1963-65).
Council of Jerusalem
(reader, Acts)
Council of Nicaea
(Rubenstein)
Catholic, catholic – from a
Greek term meaning ‘universal’ or ‘worldwide.’
It also refers to a specific form of Christianity, the (Roman) Catholic
Church, which originated in the western part of the Roman Empire. When non-Catholic Christians recite the
Nicene Creed, they understand “catholic” in the phrase “one holy catholic and
apostolic church” as universal not Roman Catholic.
Orthodox, orthodox – from a
Greek word meaning ‘right belief.’ It
also refers to a specific form of Christianity, the Orthodox Churches that
originated in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
heresy, sect, hairesius (Greek) (class lecture, Henderson)
creed – a formal statement
of faith; the best known are the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed
rule
of faith (Young, 112) – late 2nd-3rd century summaries of
the faith that probably derived from the three questions at baptism and formed
the basis for more the more formal creeds of the 4th century
eucharist – the term used
for both the worship service (liturgy) in which Catholics believe that the
bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ; also known as the Mass.
priest – derived from the Greek
presbyter meaning ‘elder’; the idea of priesthood within Christianity developed
slowly as the idea of the eucharist as a sacrifice evolved.
pope, pappas (Greek) – the bishop
of Rome, from the Greek pappas meaning ‘father’; though originally applied to
any bishop, indeed to priests as well, from the 8th century in the
west it was largely, and from the 11th century entirely, restricted
to the bishop of Rome. Cf. Rubenstein,
51.
Supercessionism (class
lecture)
Scriptures
§ Hebrew (what Jews call
Tanakh [Torah, Prophets, & Writings] and Christians call the Old Testament)
§ Septuagint (Greek
translation of Hebrew scriptures, 2nd-3rd centuries BCE)
§ New Testament (Greek)
§ Vulgate (4th
century Latin translation of entire Christian Bible based mostly on original
Hebrew [OT] and Greek [NT] texts)
Justin Martyr (reader)
Irenaeus (reader)
Constantine
(Rubenstein, Duffy)
Arius (Rubenstein, reader)
homoousios (Greek) (Rubenstein, reader)
Anicetus (Duffy)
Stephen (Duffy)
Damasus (Duffy)
Leo the Great (Duffy, 43-46)