DEMIS 802: GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY

Fall Semester, 1995

DOCTORAL STUDIES PROGRAM

COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND THE ARTS

DIVINITY/MISSSIONS MINOR

Professor: Vinson Synan, Ph.D.

Telephone: (804) 579-4401

Fax: (804) 579-4597

E-mail: vinssyn@regent.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course covers the history of world missions with an emphasis on modern missions. It also will deal with global resources for evangelization, the different types of missions sending agencies as well as the various para-church missions ministries. Major attention will be given to the range and growth, and proliferation of current pentecostal/charismatic agencies and phenomena.

OBJECTIVES

At the completion of the course students should be able to:

1) Understand the overall history of Christian missions with special attention given to the place of signs and wonders in spreading the Gospel.

2) Survey and explain the important turning points in the history of missions, with emphasis on the charismatic leaders and movements that have appeared over the centuries.

3) Understand and explain the most successful methods and strategies used by missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant.

4) Learn the reasons why Pentecostalism has exploded around the world in the Twentieth century.

5) Know the stories of the pentecostal "Missionaries of the One Way Ticket."

6) Learn about the missionary record and strategies of the more recent charismatic movements since 1960.

7) Understand the global resources available for world evangelization and to know the major references available .

8) Catalogue and learn about the different types of para-church missions organizations in existence and how they may help aid in the missionary enterprise.

9) Know the size and importance of the different missions agencies active in world evangelization

COURSE PROCEDURES

The course will involve several methods of learning which will be going on simultaneously.

  • Reading and Lesson Assignments

    The syllabus will list directed readings from the textbooks for the subject matter covered by each lesson. These readings will serve as the background and basis for student interactions The course will consist of 12 two page lectures accompanied by several questions on the lesson.. Students will send their replies both to the professor and fellow classmates. All assigned research papers will be also be distributed to all class members for reading and replies. Students will e-mail their assignments as they are completed. Lessons thirteen to fifteen will be designated for the completion of assignments, term papers, and the final exam

    Each student will post an e-mail review of one article from current periodical literature on some aspect of the course. The students and professor will react to the reviews as they are posted. The professor will post current news of interest to the entire class at any time.

    In addition to the required texts, each student will read four books, which may come from the reading lists or from other approved sources. They should total 800 pages. Book reports will be only one page long and will follow the format given at the end of the syllabus. They will be posted to the whole class by e-mail.

  • Term Papers

    Each student will write and submit one term paper of ten pages text not including the endnotes and bibliography. By the third week, a topic must be chosen and approved by the professor. By the fifth week, an outline and bibliography will be submitted by e-mail. The outline and bibliography will be sent to the entire class. The final copy will be sent by e-mail to the professor for grading. The style will follow the MLA style form.

  • Class Interaction

    Throughout the course, each student will interact with the professor and all the other students by e-mail. The professor will send e-mail messages to each student once a week to monitor the progress of each one.

    TESTS (Required)

  • Mid-Term Exam

    An objective short-answer test will be given midway through the course with the answers returned to the professor by e-mail.

  • Final Exam

    At the end of the course, an open-book discussion exam will be sent to the students by e-mail. They will be returned to the professor for grading by e-mail.

    Grading Policies

    Final grades will be based on the following scale:

    Response to weekly e-mail assignments, 20%; E-mail interaction with other students, 20%; Mid-Term and Final Exams, 20%; Term Papers 40%.

    RECOMMENDED READING TEXTS

    David B. Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982).

    David B. Barrett, "The 20th Century Pentecostal/Charismatic Renewal in the Holy Spirit, With its Goal of World Evangelization" (International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 1988).

    David B. Barrett, Cosmos, Chaos and Gospel:A Chronology of World Evangelization :From Creation to New Creation (Birmingham, AL: New Hope, 1987).

    Stanley Burgess,Gary McGee and Patrick Alexander, Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1989).

    Earle E. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981).

    Harvey Cox, Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Addison Wesley, 1995).

    James Goff, Fields White Unto Harvest: Charles Fox Parham and the Missionary Origins of Pentecostalism (Fayettville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press, 19??).

    Charles E. Hummel, Fire in the Fireplace:Charismatic Renewal in the Nineties. (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 1993).

    Todd M. Johnson, Countdown to 1900: A History of World Evangelism (Birmingham, AL: New Hope Press, 1988).

    J. Herbert Kane, A Concise History of the Christian World Mission (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1982).

    David Martin, Tongues of Fire:The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America (Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwood, Ltd., 1990).

    Grant McClung, Azusa Street and Beyond: Pentecostal Missions and Church Growth in the Twentieth Century (South Plainfield, N.J.: Bridge 1986).

    Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions (New York: Penguin Books, 1986).

    Karla Poewe, ed., Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1994).

    Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the United States (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1971).

    Vinson Synan, The Spirit Said Grow' The Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal & and Charismatic Churches (Monrovia, CA: Marc, 1992).

    John Wimber, Power Evangelism: Signs and Wonders Today (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1985).

    COURSE SCHEDULE / TOPICS / PRESENTATIONS

    Week One

    Topic:

  • A Global View Of Christianity

    Reading:

    Barrett, Cosmos, Chaos, and Gospel, pp. 1-100.

    Cairns, pp. 13-31.

    Become familiar with the Chronologies.

    Week Two

    Topic:

  • Christianity and the Roman Empire (AD 30-500)

    Reading:

    Kane, pp. 3-35.

    Neill, pp.13-52

    Week Three

    Topic:

  • The Christianization of Europe (AD 500-1200)

    Reading:

    Cairns, pp. 165-259.

    Kane, pp. 37-48.

    Week Four

    Topic:

  • Protestant and Catholic Missions in Europe and America (AD 1500-1800)

    Reading:

    Cairns, pp. 273-373.

    Kane, pp. 57-89.

    Week Five

    Topic:

  • Ninteenth Century World Missions

    Reading:

    Neill, pp.273-334.

    Kane, 93-100.

    Week Six

    Topic:

  • The Christian World in 1900

    Reading:

    Todd M. Johnson, Countdown to 1900: A History of World Evangelization.

    John R. Mott, The Evangelization of the World in This Generation (if available).

    Week Seven

    Topic:

  • Christian Missions in the Twentieth Century

    Reading:

    Kane, pp. 101-112.

    Week Eight

    Topic:

  • The Pentecostal Movement as a Missionary Force

    Reading:

    Goff, Fields White Unto Harvest, pp. 17-106.

    McClung, Azusa Street and Beyond, pp.3-172.

    Week Nine

    Topic:

  • Pentecostal Missionaries of the One Way Ticket

    Reading:

    Synan, Holiness-Pentecostal Movement, pp. 95-139.

    Synan, The Spirit Said Grow," pp. 5-57.

    Synan, In the Latter Days, pp. 43-69.

    Week Ten

    Topic:

  • Signs and Wonders in World Evangelization

    Reading:

    John Wimber, Power Evangelism.

    David Barrett, The 20th Century Pentecostal/Charismatic Renewal in the Holy Spirit, with its Goal of World Evangelization. (Also available in Burgess, et. al., Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements,pp. 810-829.

    Week Eleven

    Topic:

  • Charismatic Missions Since 1960

    Reading:

    David Shibley, A Force in the Earth.

    Karla Poewe, Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture

    Week Twelve

    Topic:

  • Global Resources for Evangelization

    Reading:

    Barrett, Our Globe and How to Reach It.

    Week Thirteen

    Topic:

  • Agencies for Evangelization

    Reading:

    TBA

    Week Fourteen

    Topic:

  • Para-Church Missions Organizations

    Reading:

    John Siewart, et al.,. eds. Mission Handbook (Monrovia, CA.: Marc, 1992-1996).

    Week Fifteen

    Topic:

  • Exams, term papers, assignments and interaction with students and professor

    This syllabus is subject to change without notice. August 9, 1995 update.