11:15A-12:05P     TR      BH003

Above section open to freshmen and sophomores only

This lecture course, which includes discussion sections, will explore
the often-uneasy relationship between pagan or classical culture and
Christianity in the Renaissance.  While focusing on the Renaissance,
we will begin with early Christian society and the Middle Ages.  From
the few explicit references of Paul of Tarsus to pagan philosophy in
his own day, we will move to the early Christian theologians or Church
Fathers, who very often pointed to the dangers of classical learning.
After a survey of Medieval teachings, we will explore in depth Francis
Petrarch's efforts, in the fourteenth century, to balance classical
and Christian ideals.  Humanist thinking of the fifteenth century will
be examined around several themes: (1) the critique of monastic
culture, (2) attitudes toward papal and sacramental claims of the
Catholic Church, (3) Biblical scholarship, and (4) theories of
education.  Sources will range from rather serious treatises to
Renaissance joke books.  Finally we will turn to the so-called
Paganism of the Neoplatonic culture, the "Christian humanism" of
Erasmus and Thomas More, and the implications of the work of
Machiavelli for traditional Christian morality.  Finally we will
examine the Protestant Reformers and their attitudes toward classical
antiquity.  The course will require weekly readings in primary
sources, a few quizzes, a midterm and final, and a research paper
exploring in depth a subject of the student's choosing.