Winter/Spring 2012 Seminar -A History of Christianity in America (Part I)

Wednesdays, Jan. 11 – March 28, 6:30 PM, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Room #105

Overview

“A History of Christianity in America, Part I” is the first segment of a four-part study that highlights the major people, issues and events related to American Christianity from colonial times to the present. In addition to being an in-depth survey of Christianity in America, this series also focuses on the ongoing controversies over the proper relationship between church and state, and the challenges and opportunities of living in a society that is becoming increasingly pluralistic, secularistic, and hostile toward Christian beliefs and values.

Part I is an interactive study based on directed readings and focused discussions centered around the following topics:

The evolution of England’s constitutional monarchy and the principles of civil liberty.
The English and Scottish Reformations, and their subsequent impact on American Christianity.
The founding of America’s thirteen colonies, and the impact of Christianity in early colonial history.
The Salem witchcraft trials.
Religious diversity in colonial America.
Roger Williams, William Penn, and the early controversies over separation of church and state.
How “Christian” was colonial America?
Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and the Great Awakening.
Christianity and the American Revolution.
Was the American Revolution justifiable according to Biblical principles?

Text

Mark Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada (Eerdmans, 1992). (Available at www.Amazon.com for $28.)

Note on the Instructor

Dr. Jefrey Breshears is an historian, a former university professor, and the founder and president of The Areopagus, a Christian study center and education ministry in the Atlanta area. As a history professor, Dr. Breshears has taught specialized courses in Christian history, U. S. history, and Christian apologetics.