98975 - Christian Institutions, Doctrines, and Texts (LM)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, students understand historical-critical methods and socio-anthropological contributions to analyze texts of the various Christian traditions and possess the linguistic tools necessary to understand written sources in the languages in which they are expressed. They are able to research and critically examine materials, bibliographic and documentary sources of different types, in order to conduct historical-religious investigations. They can communicate the acquired knowledge in written and oral form, documenting accurately the information on which they base their conclusions and giving an account of the methodologies of investigation used and are able to give form to the results of their own research in the field of History of Christianity. They know how to collect, also thanks to the use of specific databases, a relevant bibliography to document and adequately deepen their own competences both in the field of research and in the working environment.

Course contents

The class's program is concerned with Christianity as a "tissue": a tissue of Scriptures and hermeneutics, of cults and aesthetics, of norms and institutions, of doctrines and conceptions, of experiences and entanglements; a tissue that presents itself to historical-critical knowledge and method through and within the lives of people, communities, cultures, theological and philosophical constructs, and political systems.

The following themes will be addressed:

(A) DISCIPLINARY STATUS (FROM THEODICY TO HISTORY "IN ME").
I. From controversy to the turning point of theodicy
II. The 19th century: from Möhler to Loisy and history versus liberal theology
III. The 20th century: the discussion on object and periodization

(B) SCRIPTURE AND HERMENEUTICS: CANONS, CORPORA, TRADITIONS
IV. The discussion of the New Testament canon
V. The history of extra ecclesiam nulla salus

(C) CULTS AND AESTHETICS: BORROWINGS, BORROWINGS, MIGRATIONS
VI. Marriage and its ends
VII. Benedict XVI's Oremus for the Jews

(D) NORMS AND INSTITUTIONS: MODELS, IDEOLOGIES, CONSTRUCTIONS
VIII. The forms of decision and the authority of councils
IX. Forgotten origins of rights and turning points
X. The regime of Christendom

(E) DOCTRINES AND CONCEPTIONS: FORMS, LANGUAGES, DEVELOPMENT
XI. Le Saulchoir and the history of a condemnation
XII. The sacramentality of the episcopate
XIII. The righteous norm or the righteous conscience?

(F) EXPERIENCES AND ENTANGLEMENTS: PRAXIS, LITERATURES, ANTAGONISMS
XIV. Jossua and the theology of literary experience
XV. The historiography of ecumenism

(G) CRITICAL DIMENSIONS
XVI. Critique of mystical reason, dialogical reason, mannerism, extrinsicism

Readings/Bibliography

Both attending and non-attending students:

- A. Melloni, Premesse a una storia del desiderio cristiano di unità delle chiese, in L'unità dei cristiani. Storia di un desiderio, XIX-XXI secolo, diretta da Alberto Melloni, cur. L. Ferracci, Vol I, Aurora di unità, il Mulino, Bologna 2021, pp. 1-20;

Moreover, attending students must study: 

1. One book chosen among the following handbooks:

Storia della chiesa, 4 voll., EDB, Bologna 2019-2020
- Giovanni Filoramo, 1. L’età antica, 392 pp.
- Letizia Pellegrini, 2. - L’età medievale, 368 pp.
- Vincenzo Lavenia, 3. L’età moderna, 335 pp.
- Daniele Menozzi, 4. L’età contemporanea, 336 pp.

Storia del cristianesimo, a cura di G. Filoramo-D. Menozzi, Laterza, Roma-Bari 22017
- I. L’antichità, 475 pp.
- II. Il medioevo, 329 pp.
- III. L'età moderna, 346 pp.
- IV. L'età contemporanea, 346 pp.

2. two books, chosen among two different series among the three following ones: 

A)
- M.-D. Chenu, Le Saulchoir: una scuola di teologia, a cura di G. Alberigo, Marietti, Genova 1992, in biblioteca- R. Koselleck, Storia. La formazione del concetto moderno, CLUEB, Bologna 2009, 200 pp.
- A. Melloni - O. Marquard, La storia che giudica la storia che assolve, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2008
- G. Miccoli, Il mito della cristianità, SNS Press, Pisa, 2018, 223 pp.

B)
- C. Calì, Una Chiesa senza vescovi? La sacramentalità dell'episcopato tra storia, teologia e liturgia, EDB, Bologna, 2019, 280 pp.
- A. Melloni, Pacem in terris. Storia dell’ultima enciclica di papa Giovanni, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2010
- R. Penna, La formazione del Nuovo Testamento nelle sue tre dimensioni, San Paolo Edizioni, Cinisello B. 2011
-B. Sesboüé, "Fuori dalla Chiesa nessuna salvezza ". Storia di una formula e problemi di interpretazione, tr.it, Edizioni San Paolo, Cinisello B. 2009
- B. Tierney, L’idea dei diritti naturali. Diritti naturali, legge naturale e diritto canonico, tr.it . cur. A. Melloni, Bologna 2001

C)
- J.-P. Jossua, La letteratura e l'inquietudine dell'assoluto, Diabasis, Reggio E. 2005, 152 pp.
- A. Melloni, Amore senza fine, amore senza fini. Appunti di storia su chiese, matrimonio e famiglie, il Mulino, Bologna 2015
- K. Schatz, Storia dei Concili. La Chiesa nei suoi punti focali, EDB Bologna 2012, 352 pp.
- S. Scatena, La fatica della libertà. L’elaborazione delle dichiarazione «Dignitatis humanae» sulla libertà religiosa del Vaticano II, il Mulino, Bologna 2003, 601 pp.

 

Non-attending students will be required to study:
- two volumes of the chosen textbooks in one of the two groups
- one volume from each of the three series mentioned above

Teaching methods

Lecture; historical-critical analysis of primary sources. Class attendance is not essential, but helps to better assimilate the content that will later be examined

Assessment methods

Please note that, a student who attends at least 75% of the lectures is considered to be attending (classes will be starting on 9/19). That being said, class attendance does not affect the exam except for differences in the syllabus (see Texts/Bibliography section).

The examination will be an oral test, based on reading/commenting on the sources and critical literature, and cannot be divided into two different parts. Both the ability to read primary sources and specific knowledge of topics in the history of Christianity will be assessed. Students will be asked to prove their mastery of specific vocabulary and knowledge of diachronic data (dates and historical events).

Below is an example of possible questions (should be understood as a MERE general allusion to a much broader spectrum of questions): "Read and comment on the following passage," "Who was Alfred Loisy?", "The importance of Leibniz for historical knowledge."
No books or notes are allowed during the test.

The examinations will take place following the order of registration in the Almaesami application lists.

Assessment.
Excellence (grades 30 and 30L): achievement of organic view of the topics proposed during the lectures and critical use demonstrating mastery of content and technical vocabulary.

Average assessment (grades 25 to 29): mnemonic knowledge and not entirely accurate use of technical vocabulary.

Sufficient assessment (grades 18 to 24): minimal knowledge of topics covered (dates and names), without serious errors.

Insufficient: lack of minimum requirements (i.e., sufficient rating).

Teaching tools

Slideshow and text projection

Office hours

See the website of Alberto Melloni