REL 370-003: Spec Tops: Rel & Culture: World Christianity & Empire (Spring 2011)

Semester Details: From its inception Christianity has had a strange and complex relationship with violence, the institutions of power, and empire. This course explores the intricate web of interconnected relationships that emerged in Christian history and culture in the context of European forays and expansion in the 15^th century; and how European encounters with new cultures and societies came to define World Christianity. The course begins with the maiden voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492 and ends with the varieties of Christianity in Latin America, Asia, and Africa in the 20^th century. We will consider how Christianity came to be understood and appropriated as an instrument of conquest, subjugation, and profit, while at the same time serving as the embodiment of a religious tradition focused on non-material, eternal ends. We will try to come to terms with the idea and reality of World Christianity as a religion contending with problems of colonization and the paradoxes of empire and what the new Christians of these new worlds contribute to the story of Christianity.