GNRS 506 Spiritual Care
Discussion Questions: Bruce Shelley’s “Church History in Plain Language”
1. Cha. 1: Away with the King: The Jesus Movement
Which of the competing views of who Jesus was (page 4) is least familiar to you?
2. Did anything surprise you in the summary of Jesus’ ministry, message and death in the chapter?
3. Cha. 2: Wineskins: Old and New: The Gospel to the Gentiles
What have you experienced (or observed in another’s life) of something “new” (for example, emotional or intellectual growth, or spiritual awakening or insight) which cannot be contained by the “old” of how things have always been?
4. Chapter 3: Only Worthless People: Catholic Christianity
Which of the reasons given for the spread of the gospel (pp. 35-36) impacts or “grabs” you most? Why?
5. Chapter 4: If the Tiber Floods: The Persecution of Christians
Have you ever had the experience of standing up for what is right, and being judged, criticized or ostracized in any way for doing so?
6. What would your reaction be if your attendance at a place of worship were to be documented by someone in authority (local, state, federal)?
7. Cha. 5: Arguing about the Event: The Rise of Orthodoxy
What is your first reaction to the mention of the word theology?
8. What sources (if any) of instruction/information about your spiritual beliefs have been most helpful to you?
9. Cha. 6: The Rule of Books
What do you think was the most important factor influencing the canon of Scripture?
10. Chapter 7: The School for Sinners
If you had been an early church leader in the era of persecution, how would you have handled the believers who had denied the faith under torture?
11. Chapter 8: Apostles to Intellectuals
What is important today about Origen’s work concerning the interpretation of Scripture in the third century?
12. Chapter 9: Laying Her Scepter Down
Would you want to live in a completely “Christian Empire?” Why, or why not?
13. Chapter 10: Splitting Important Hairs
Does it really matter that Arius taught that Jesus was not truly God? Why, or why not?
14. Chapter 11: Emmanuel Imagine that you were a student in the 5th century and had the assignment to write an essay, “Who is Jesus Christ.” What would your thesis statement (main idea) be?
15. Chapter 12: Exiles From Life
What about the monastic life might appeal to you at this point in your life?
16. Chapter 13: The Sage of the Ages
Choose one of the following teachings which Augustine opposed and state why you would agree or disagree with it today.
Manicheanism – the belief that man has a spiritual part of his nature which is good and a physical part which is evil.
Donatism – the belief that the true church is composed only of people who are pure (living a blameless life).
Pelagianism – by exercising their free will, humans can live a good (righteous) life – or can choose to do wrong (act sinfully). Humans did not inherit from Adam (the first sinner) the tendency to do wrong.
17. Chapter 14: Peter as “Pontifex Maximus”
Religion and politics: do you think the intertwining of both helped or hindered Rome in its battles with the barbarians? Explain.
18. Chapter 15: Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth
How is the Eastern Orthodox believer’s use of an icon different from that of other physical objects in spiritual traditions you are familiar with?
19. Chapter 16: Bending the Necks of Victors
Patrick, (Ireland’s patron saint), whose missionary work had such far-reaching impact, connected his Christian conversion to a time of adversity in his life. What is your personal observation (concerning yourself or others) about the role of serious life challenges in prompting a consideration, or reconsideration, of spirituality?
20. Chapter 17: God’s Consul: Gregory the Great
When you consider the life of Gregory, would you agree that “goodness is the highest kind of greatness” (Shelley, p. 164)? Why, or why not?
21. Chapter 18: The Search for Unity: Charlemagne and Christendom
Should a) the church have control over a government or should b) a government have control over the church? Identify one potential problem with each of the options.
22. Chapter 19: Lifted in a Mystic Manner: The Papacy and the Crusader
Identify one fact from the history in this chapter which gives you greater understanding of a current world issue. Describe the connection you see between past and present.
23. Chapter 20: The Nectar of Learning: Scholasticism
Are faith and reason compatible? Explain why you think they are, or are not, compatible.
24. Chapter 21: A Song to Lady Poverty: The Apostolic Life-Style
Can you think of any potential spiritual benefits if you were to choose a life of poverty?
25. Chapter 22: Sleeping Men and the Law of Necessity: The Decline of the Papacy
Could Boniface have done anything to avoid the crises that radically altered papal power?
26. Chapter 23: Judgment in the Process of Time: Wyclif and Hus
Do you agree that every person has an equal place in the eyes of God (Shelley, p. 226), regardless of his or her rank or position in the church or in society? Why, or why not?
27. Chapter 24: A Wild Boar in the Vineyard: Martin Luther and Protestantism
Which of the four questions Protestantism answered in a new way seems most important to you? Explain.
28. Chapter 25: Radical Discipleship: The Anabaptists
Can you think of an example of someone whose life fits the statement that “those who live most devoutly for the world to come are often in the best position to change the world”? (p. 248). The person you identify may or may not be currently alive.
29. Chapter 26: Thrust Into the Game: John Calvin
What does the phrase “the sovereignty of God” mean to you?
30. Chapter 27: The Curse Upon the Crown: The Church of England
The formation of the Church of England had a number of significant personal, political, and spiritual influences. List at least four of them. Which one of those you identified do you consider the most significant?
31. Chapter 28: “Another Man at Manresa”: The Catholic Reformation
For Ignatius Loyola, surrender to the will of God meant a certain course of action (p. 275). Does surrender to the will of God have meaning for you personally? (Or has it had meaning in the past, or might it have meaning in the future?)
32. Chapter 29: Opening the Rock: America and Asia
Identify a significant contrast between missionary activity in the Americas and missionary activity in Asia.
33. Chapter 30: The Rule of the Saints: Puritanism
Was it inevitable that the Puritans would leave England and settle in another land? Why, or why not?
34. Chapter 31: Unwilling to Die for an Old Idea: Denominations
What factors would make it possible for more than one religion to exist in one region?
35. Chapter 32: Aiming at the Foundations: The Cult of Reason
Can faith have any influence in a modern society, with its preference for reason? If so, how?
36. Chapter 33: The Heart and its Reasons: Pascal and the Pietists
“Even in the Age of Reason, the thirst of the soul could not be ignored” (p. 320). Think of one thirst (need, longing, desire) of the soul and describe how reason might fall short in its ability to satisfy that thirst.
37. Chapter 34: A Brand from the Burning: Wesley and Methodism
What aspect of John Wesley’s life and ministry do you find particularly significant? Explain.
38. Chapter 35: A New Order of the Ages: The Great Awakening
Discuss one implication of the seismic shift for Christianity from state support and state protection to essentially being “on its own.”
39. Chapter 36: The Restoration of Fortresses: Catholicism in the Age of Progress
The Christian faith has always insisted that the flaw in human nature is more basic than any fault in man’s political or social institutions (p. 354). Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
40. Chapter 37: A New Social Frontier: Nineteenth-Century England
What do you find most remarkable about the ending of the slave trade and the passage of the Emancipation Act?
41. Chapter 38: Earth’s Remotest People: Protestant Missions
Identify one objection to sending missionaries which arose from outside the church, and one objection from inside Protestant churches of the nineteenth century.
42. Chapter 39: The Destiny of a Nation: A Christian America
Was the higher criticism assertion that “Jesus himself was a somewhat deluded visionary and not the Son of God in the flesh” (p. 392) a new concept in the history of Christianity?
43. Chapter 40: A Bridge for Intelligent Moderns: Protestant Liberalism Is liberal theology essential for an intelligent modern person to be a serious Christian? Why, or why not?
44. Chapter 41: Nothing to Lose but Chains: The Social Crisis
Were the early socialists naïve in thinking that people “naturally loved one another and that they could live happily together” (p. 407)?
45. Chapter 42: Graffiti on a Wall of Shame: Twentieth Century Ideologies
Arnold Toynbee asserted that the great world religions were replaced in the
Twentieth century by three post-Christian ideologies: nationalism, communism and individualism (p. 419). If that is so, what is the replacement “gospel” message of each?
46. Chapter 43: Rootless Immigrants in a Sick Society: American Evangelicals
Identify one of the reasons from the early years of the twentieth century that the
Evangelical movement has had little impact on politics, education and the media.
47. Chapter 44: New Creeds for Breakfast: The Ecumenical Movement
What makes the goal of Christian unity so elusive? What would facilitate greater cohesion among the various Christian denominations and groups?
48. Chapter 45: The Medicine of Mercy: Roman Catholicism: Vatican II
What would a church member from the Middle Ages find most challenging in the changes in the Roman Catholic church following Vatican II?
49. Chapter 46: Time for a Reverse Flow: Christianity in the Third World
If you were a Christian missionary to a particular country, how would you approach the culture of the people who lived there?
50. Chapter 47: Politics as Noble Calling: Christianity in America’s Me Generation
What are the key beliefs of the new “religion” of individualism?
51. Chapter 48: The Global Village: Christianity on the World Scene
Define religious pluralism and identify one implication for personal spiritual life and one implication for corporate (church) spiritual life.
