PT 2187

This course is an opportunity for students to wrestle with the experience of spirituality within the Protestant traditions. What does it mean to think with the church and pray with the church in the context of this important feature of the spiritual life? For the purposes of this course “Protestant spirituality: is identified through three expressions: 1) Worship and sacramental life; 2) Convictions regarding salvation and piety (relationship with God); and 3) life and work in the world (faith lived out in action). Following a brief exploration of the medieval spiritual world the four foci will be: (1) Lutheran/Anglican - sacramental piety; (2) Reformed/Puritan (including Great Awakening); (3) Radical (the church as island in a corrupt world; also the focussing on the believer as disciple; and (4) Methodist (a primary expression in the redeeming of time and of neighbour in the world especially leading into the Social Gospel). By engaging primary documents students will be encouraged to encounter historical actors in their own time and understanding.