HI 402 – Historic Christian Responses to Enlightenment Freethinkers – 3 cr. [last updated: May, 2008]

David B. McGrew, Assistant Professor

Contact: 570.585.9298 (office ext.) • dmcgrew@bbc.edu    

Class Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 am–12:30 pm 

This course is an exploration of historic attacks upon Christianity launched by Enlightenment freethinkers and Christian responses written in its defense. Two specific purposes are served: to acquaint students with the principal attacks on the credibility of Christianity, and to give them a deep familiarity with selected classic works of those who rose to the challenge presented by their contemporaries and offered a brilliant case in defense of the Gospel. The overarching objective of the course is to form a biblically sound and historically informed response to anti-Christian skepticism with the good conscience that Scripture commends to all believers. 

All required texts are free online. Each is in the public domain. Robert Boyle's letter to Spinoza has been uploaded on a page attached to my faculty website. On the syllabus homepage for the course, click on the titles of each book for a direct link to Google books.

Read in full prior to course commencement: 

Cooper, Thomas. The Bridge of History over the Gulf of Time: A Popular View of the Historical Evidence for the Truth of Christianity. (1871). 162 pgs. This book will be reviewed and discussed during the first class. Students ought to arrive having memorized each mnemonic bridge and noted in writing one key aspect of Cooper's defense of and commentary on each of the four Gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

 [Paley, William (Charles M. Nairne ed.). Evidences of Christianity, Part I. “Preparatory Considerations.” (25 pgs.). See below.]

 Read in full over May School: 

Paley, William (Charles M. Nairne ed). Evidences of Christianity, Part I. (1794, 1859). The “Preparatory Considerations”—with notes added by editor—must be read prior to the commencement of the course. (25 pgs.) Since this sets up Paley's work and touches on Hume's shadow, it neatly frames our whole study. Nairne's notes are very helpful. There are eleven chapters in Part 1. It breaks up roughly into one chapter per day. Some chapters are short enough to be doubled up while others will need to be digested over several days. Each student will be required to summarize a separate portion of the chapter from Paley that they read each night. Broken up among the class this way, each chapter will be summarized by the class as a whole. These summaries will be posted on the course Blog site by a given time each day. After that time has passed, each posted summary is then subject to criticism and recommended revisions by fellow classmates. Students must read each of their classmate's postings and offer constructive comments. The following day, each summary posting from the previous day must be edited and e-mailed to the instructor who will then assemble the paragraphs into an orderly chapter summary, make some minor revisions, and post the chapter summary online. These summaries will also be reviewed in class to reinforce the flow of Paley's thought.

Read in excerpts over May School: (freethinker skeptics and Christian responses written by their contemporaries or shortly after their influence had been established)

Week 1:

Spinoza, Baruch [Benedict]. Tractatus Theologico-politicus. Ch. 6.

Boyle, Robert. "Letter on Miracles in Response to Spinoza." (undated)

Hume, David. "On Miracles," from Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

Campbell, George. Dissertation on Miracles

Week 2:

Paine, Thomas. The Age of Reason, Part 2.

Watson, Richard. An Apology for the Bible.

Strauss, David. The Life of Jesus Critically Examined.

Cooper, Thomas. The Life of Thomas Cooper—Written by Himself.

                                         The Bridge of History over the Gulf of Time. (reprised)

Postings on the Blog site, as described above, will constitute daily work for the course. Active, engaging class participation is mandatory. Student questions and observations from the assigned reading must aim towards an integration of detailed arguments into a memorable form. There are two cumulative examinations: one at the end of each week. For each exam, half of the points will derive from blue-book essay responses to a select question chosen from a set of questions presented at the outset of each week. The other half will come from a selection of short-answer questions pertaining to that week’s course of study.