Modern Church (Lutheran)

Spring 2025

Course Description

This course examines the history and theology of the modern church. The central thrust of the course is to examine the story of the lasting struggle for creative faithfulness in the Lutheran Confessional tradition across the times, places, and cultures of history since the 16th century. How has the church and how have notable individuals sought to go on in the same way as the Wittenberg reform movement out of which Lutheranism arose? This course allows us to lay hold of just how rich is the reservoir of which we stand downstream and by which we can nurture our ongoing theological growth. Although we need not follow in the footsteps of every movement within church history in general or the Lutheran tradition in particular, we seek to cultivate the sensibility that there is always something for us to learn when we account for the burdens of each movement in its context. While the primary focus of the course is on the Lutheran tradition, we will also give attention to major developments in modern church history such as American church history and the globalization of Christian witness, both of which influence the North American Lutheran Church today.

Instructor: Dr. Alexander Pierce

Dr. Alexander Pierce bio.

Book List

Noll, Mark A. The Old Religion in the New World: The History of North American Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002. ISBN: 9780802849489. $27.19. 

Spener, Philip Jacob. Pia Desideria. Translated by Theodore G. Tappert. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1964. ISBN: 9780800619534. $16.55.

For all other required readings, PDFs will be provided on Canvas.

If this is your first credit class at Trinity, or you are not taking the course as part of a degree, please complete the non-matriculated application. A bachelor’s degree is required to obtain credit.

To register to audit a Master’s Level course, please complete an audit application.