Christianity - Period 4

In this course, the main dynamics of modern Christianity are studied, in particular the rise of strong religion and the rise of evangelicalism. The course therefore deals with aspects of religious identity. Christianity is a worldwide religion with its origin in Late Antiquity. Though its history is a complicated one, Christianity has constantly adapted itself to different times and places, producing thus a great variety of ?Christianities?. By ?christianities?, we not only mean the different denominations, but especially the way Christianity contributed to the different forms of political, societal and economic life (science, racism, family, capitalism, gender, geopolitics and so on).

What we will therefore study in this course, is the relationship between certain characteristics of Western culture and Christianity (Weber), as well as the relationship between characteristics of other cultures and
Christianity. Secondly, studying the relationship between culture and religion, implies the analysis of the role of power in the rise of Christianity. Finally, this analysis will shed light on the identity of modern Christianity and its dominant tendencies such as the reemergence of strong religion and the increasing influence of evangelicalism.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.