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| Unit name |
Miracles in the Christian Tradition |
| Unit code |
THRS30111 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Mr. Ferzoco |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
Department of Religion and Theology |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
The miraculous wielded a considerable influence in the premodern world. Events which were called miracula permeated life at every level and were closely woven into the texture of Christian experience. However, in the modern period the attitude to the miraculous changed with the rise of science. This unit will examine the place of miracles in a historical and religious context. It will trace the place of the miraculous in Christianity from the New Testament to the twenty-first century. Special emphasis will be placed on the late medieval period (1200-1500).
Aims:
- To provide an in-depth understanding of the meaning and significance of miracles in the Christian tradition
- To provide in-depth understanding of the role of miracles through the use of primary sources
- To develop and further improve written presentation and argumentation skills through essays and seminar presentations
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit students will be expected to have:
- acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the meaning and significance of miracles in the Christian tradition;
- acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the role of of miracles through the use of primary sources and secondary literature
- acquired skills through seminar presentations, and through assessed essays, in presenting, analyzing and evaluating complex ideas and arguments in both written and oral forms.
And additionally (specific to Level H) to:
- incorporate a consistently strong grasp of detail with respect to content
- argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively)
- display to a high level, skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control
- describe, evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking
- discriminate between different kinds of information, processes, interpretations
- take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature
- engage with relevant theoretical, philosophical or social constructs for understanding relevant works or traditions
- demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise
- situate material within relevant contexts (invoking interdisciplinary contexts where appropriate)
- apply strategies laterally (perhaps leading to innovative results).
Teaching Information
Seminars - 3 hours per week
Assessment Information
One summative coursework essay of 3000 words (50%) and one unseen examination of two hours (50%).
Reading and References
- R. M. Burns, The Great Debate on Miracles: from Joseph Glanvill to David Hume (Lewisburg [Pa.]: Bucknell University Press,1981).
- Michael Goodich, Violence and Miracle in the Fourteenth Century: Private Grief and Public Salvation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).
- Michael Goodich, Miracles and Wonders: The Development of the Concept of Miracle, 1150-1350 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007).
- David Johnson, Hume, Holism, and Miracles (Ithaca, N.Y. ; London : Cornell University Press, 1999).
- Howard Clark Kee, Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
- Benedicta Ward, Miracles and the Medieval Mind: Theory, Record and Event, 1000-1215 ( London: Scolar Press,1982).
