updated 5/18/20
Greystone Theological Institute
Syllabus 2020 PS774/974 – Advanced Church Polity General Information Semester: Summer Meeting times: Week of 10-14 August 2020 Format: Residential and Online/Distance; Full Credit and Audit Location: Residential: Mid-America Reformed Seminary, Dyer, IN; Online: Greystone Zoom Credit hours: 3 Instructor name: The Rev. Dr. Alan D. Strange Tel. office: 219-864-2407 Tel. home: 708-822-8357 e-mail: [email protected] | [email protected]
Course Purpose • To acquaint students with the exegetical, historical, and theological dimensions of ecclesiastical polity in the Christian faith and especially in the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions.
• To instruct students in the role and place of the doctrine of the spirituality of the church in the theology and polity of the church, particularly as that impacts the question of slavery and race in the Reformed and Presbyterian churches in the American context, both historically and in current resonance.
• To model scholarly inquiry by exploring textual and contextual phenomena at an advanced level by way of select case studies throughout church history, including contemporary ones.
• To explore the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition in ecclesiastical history and polity through the lens provided by our respective church orders and from the perspective of catholic confessional Reformed theology.
• To instruct in the proper interpretation—theologically, ecclesiastically, pastorally, and sociologically—of the spirituality of the church and its impact on the polity of the church in personal, pastoral, and ecclesiastical uses of Christian Scripture and tradition.
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updated 5/18/20 Course Description
What lies at the heart of Reformed and Presbyterian church polity is the conviction that the Bible sets forth the fundamentals foundational to the government of the church and that the church is a spiritual, not a civil or biological, institution. This course will explore these and like polity matters, drilling down deep in our church orders to ferret out the implications of the nature of the church. The church, at its heart and in its essence, is a spiritual institution, a kingdom not of this world, and as such employs spiritual means to obtain spiritual ends. The nature of church power is spiritual, the power of the keys; it is ministerial and declarative. That the church enjoys spiritual independency from all other earthly institutions, including the state, is expressed in the doctrine of the spirituality of the church (or in the affirmation of the sphere sovereignty of the church). The proper use, as well as the abuse, of the doctrine of the spirituality of the church and allied concepts, has received much attention in both the academy and the church in recent years. This course will give special attention to American slavery since the spirituality of the church has been abused to defend and excuse that institution. Though American slavery ended more than a century and a half ago, the racism that bought contributed to and developed from it remain with us, providing a continuing challenge to the church. At the same time, the contemporary politicization of all institutions threatens to compromise the church’s true spirituality. We will examine the variety of ways that the faithful have sought to relate church and state and Christianity and politics, seeking not only to assess the past but also to address the present. This course will focus then on recovering the spirituality of the church, exploring its potential contributions to the ongoing dialog of how the church is to relate to the world in which it finds itself, both in how it distinguishes itself from the world and how it gives itself to the world.
Course Objectives Objectives of this course include the following: 1. Upon completion, the student will produce a piece of original work demonstrating knowledge and application of high standards of independent research that evinces a mastery of his/her Church Order, particularly the part dealing with the nature of the church and the nature and limits of church power. (Supports SLOs ThM 1; PhD 1). 2. Upon completion, the student will demonstrate commitment to the vocation of theological education and research. (Supports SLOs ThM 1; PhD 2a; 3c).
Course Assignments 1. Attendance at and participation in all course lectures. Discussion both of readings and of lectures (and a bit of Socratic questioning/interaction) will be a vital part of this course.
2. The first course readings should be completed before the beginning of the lecture portion of the course. A reading report of 8-10 pp. (doubled-spaced) should be submitted covering these readings by the due date: This assignment is due on 7 August (12:00 PM) and must be uploaded to the correct spot in Populi. All times in this syllabus are listed as Central Standard Time.
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3. The additional course readings should be completed by 18 September 2020 and a reading report of 8-10 pp. (double-spaced) should be submitted covering these readings by the due date: This assignment is due on 18 September (12:00 PM), and must be uploaded to the correct spot in Populi.
4. The topic for a course paper of approximately 5000 words should be approved by 11 September 2020. This assignment is due on 11 September (12:00 PM) and must be uploaded to the correct spot in Populi.
5. Additional course reading of 400 pp., drawn from the recommended reading list or work(s) approved by the Professor. A reading report of 4-5 pp. should be submitted covering this additional reading. This assignment is due on 25 September, 2020 (12:00 PM), and must be uploaded to the correct spot in Populi.
6. Course paper (of approximately 5000 words) on previously approved topic: This assignment is due on 23 October 2020 (12:00 PM), and must be uploaded to the correct spot in Populi.
Weighting of Course Assignments and Time Expectations
Expected Hours Expected Hours Percentage
for ThM student for PhD student Weight
Lectures: 27 hours 27 hours 0%
Required Reading 165 hours 200 hours 30%
Research Paper 35 hours 60 hours 35%
Reading Reports 5 hours 5 hours 25%
Discussion participation 27 hours 27 hours 10%
Total: 205 hours 265 hours 100%
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updated 5/18/20 Course Required Reading (3846 pp. for Th.M; 4974 pp. for Ph.D.) Legend: A single asterisk (*) denotes course material to be read and reported on first (before the class meets). A double asterisk (**) denotes additional reading material for Ph.D. students, to be read and reported on second (at the time of the last reading report). Primary Sources: *Respective Reformed and Presbyterian Church Orders (sections on government and discipline), varying pages. *Beza, Theodore. Right of Magistrates. Geneva, 1574. 18pp. Online (widely available) *George Buchanan, De Jure Regni Apud Scotos; A Dialogue Concerning the Rights of the Crown in Scotland (English translation), (1579; rpb., Colorado Springs, Colorado: Portage Publications, 2016), 85 pp., online at http://www.portagepub.com/dl/caa/buchanan.pdf?. . *The Magdeburg Confession: 13th of April 1550 AD, Matthew Colvin, translator. (North Charleston, SC.: CreateSpace, 2012), 126 pp. Alexander McLeod, Negro Slavery Unjustifiable: A Discourse. New York: T & J. Swords, 1802. 42 pp. Robinson, Stuart. The Church of God as an Essential Element of the Gospel. Philadelphia: Joseph M. Wilson, 1858. Reprinted, Willow Grove, PA: Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 2009. 232 pp. **George Gillespie, Aaron's Rod Blossoming, Or, The Divine Ordinance of Church Government Vindicated (1646; Edinburgh: Robert Ogle, and Oliver and Boyd, 1844), 276 pp., online at https://archive.org/details/aaronsrodblosso01gillgoog/page/n7/mode/2up **Charles Hodge, Discussions in Church Polity (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1878), 532 pp., online at https://archive.org/details/discussionsinchu00hodg/page/14/mode/2up.
Secondary Sources: *John Fea, Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? Revised edition (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016). 328 pp. *Katharine Gerbner, Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018), 296 pp. Philip Hamburger, Separation of Church and State (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002). 528 pp.
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James Davidson Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010). 368 pp. *Abraham Kuyper, “State and Church,” in On the Church from the Collected Works in Public Theology, v. 4 (Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2015- ), pp. 373-437. *Joseph S. Moore, Founding Sins: How a Group of Antislavery Radicals Fought to Put Christ into the Constitution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 232 pp. *Alan D. Strange, The Doctrine of the Spirituality of the Church in the Ecclesiology of Charles Hodge (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017), 432 pp. *Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 256 pp. Matthew Tuininga, Calvin's Political Theology and the Public Engagement of the Church: Christ's Two Kingdoms (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018). 402 pp. David Van Drunen, Politics after Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 400 pp. Willborn, C.N. “Southern Presbyterianism: The Character of a Tradition.” Confessing Our Hope: Essays Celebrating the Life and Ministry of Morton H. Smith, edited by Joseph Pipa and C.N. Wilborn. Greenville, SC: Presbyterian Press, 2004: 293-328. **Oliver O’Donovan, The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political Theology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 320 pp.
Tentative Schedule Monday 8:30—Morning Prayers 9:10-10:00—Brief comparative polity overview 10:10-11:00—Tough polity questions: Animus imponentis/confessional subscription 11:10-12:00—Offices in the church 12:00-1:30—Lunch 1:30-2:20—Judicatories/Assemblies/Discipline 2:30-3:20—Discipline (continued) 3:30-4:20—Church power: Differences between our polities; Introduction to Spirituality 4:30—Evening Prayers
Tuesday 8:30—Morning Prayers 9:10-10:00—Church/state relations in the Bible and history 10:10-11:00—Church/state relations (cont.); Resistance theory 11:10-12:00—Covenanting in Scotland and America
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12:00-1:30—Lunch 1:30-2:20— Is America a Christian nation? 2:30-3:20-- Slavery in the Biblical and Ancient World 3:30-4:20—African chattel slavery and the irony of America 4:30—Evening prayers
Wednesday 8:30—Morning Prayers 9:10-10:00—The churches, race, and slavery 10:10-11:00—The Presbyterian church, spirituality and slavery 11:10-12:00—Charles Hodge v. James Henley Thornwell 12:00-1:30—Lunch 1:30-2:20—The War and the politicization of the church 2:30-3:20—Further politicization at and after the reunion of the Presbyterian church; rise of social gospel 3:30-4:20—Liberalization, ecumenism, and Machen 4:30—Evening prayers
Thursday 8:30—Morning prayers 9:10-10:00—A better way: Warfield, Kuyper, Keller, etc. 10:10-11:00—The African Experience in America: Cone/Tisby 11:00-12:00—The “real” past and present of America: who owns it? Who says? 12:00-1:30—Lunch 1:30-2:20—How ought church to relate to state? Worldwide survey 2:30-3:20—A right spirituality and how faith impacts all of life 3:30-4:20—Is a modern two-kingdoms approach the answer? 4:30—Evening prayers
Friday 8:30—Morning prayers 9:10-10:00—Course summary: developing a proper SOTC that neither marginalizes nor politicizes the institutional church. 10:10-11:00—Discussion/tough polity questions 11:10-12:00—Tough polity questions, conclusion Noon—Lunch and farewells
Course Policies and Writing Assistance Grading Scale Grades have been assigned the following numerical values for the purpose of computing the student’s grade point average (GPA):
• 95-100 A 4.0 • 91-94 A- 3.7
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• 88-90 B+ 3.3 • 84-87 B 3.0 • 81-83 B- 2.7 • 78-80 C+ 2.3 • 74-77 C 2.0 • 71-73 C- 1.7 • 68-70 D+ 1.3 • 64-67 D 1.0 • 61-63 D- 0.7 • 0-60 F 0.0
Grade points per subject are determined by multiplying the grade points assigned to the letter grade earned, times the number of credit hours assigned to the course. A student’s semester and cumulative grade-point average are computed by dividing the total grade points earned by the number of attempted hours.
Extensions and Late Submissions In very rare instances an extension will be granted. A written request must be made to the professor…
Plagiarism Policy COPYRIGHT VIOLATION and PLAGIARISM are serious offenses, both legally and ethically. Plagiarizing another’s words or ideas can result in loss of grade, failure of the course, or expulsion from the seminary.
Attendance Policy Each student is expected, barring lawful reasons, to attend every class for which he or she is registered. Absences caused by illness or other justifiable causes will be permitted to a limited extent. Students should not accrue more unexcused absences than the number of course credit hours. Should absences endanger the student’s performance in class, the instructor will counsel the student. Further absences will normally result in either the reduction of course grades or expulsion from the course. Unexcused absences may also result in the student being placed on academic probation.
Recommended / Further Reading or Resources Primary Sources: George Bourne. Man-Stealing and Slavery Denounced by the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, Together with an Address to All the Churches. Boston: Garrison & Knapp, 1834. John W Christie and Dwight L. Dumond, George Bourne and The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable, (Wilmington and Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Delaware and the Presbyterian Historical Society, 1969), 206 pp.
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Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex, or The Law and the Prince; a Dispute for the Just Prerogative of King and People (1644; rpt., Colorado Springs, Colorado: Portage Publications, 2014), 463 pp., online at http://www.portagepub.com/dl/caa/sr-lexrex17.pdf?. Secondary Sources: D.A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 256 pp. Craig A. Carter, Rethinking Christ and Culture: A Post-Christendom Perspective (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2007), 220 pp. James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013), 224 pp. John Fea, Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018). Kyle Harper, From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2013). Kyle Harper, Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011). Darryl G. Hart, A Secular Faith: Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2006. Ernst H. Kantorwitz, The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Medieval Political Theology (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), 584 pp. W. Bradford Littlejohn, The Two Kingdoms: A Guide for the Perplexed (Leesburg, VA: The Davenant Press, 2017). Joel McDurmon, The Problem of Slavery in Christian America: An Ethical-Judicial History of American Slavery and Racism (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision Press, 2017). Russell Moore, Onword: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2015). David Van Drunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010). 512 pp. Sean Wilentz, No Property in Man : Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation's Founding (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2018). John D. Wilsey, American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015).
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