DSMN 860 History of Spiritual Formation

This course is an examination of the historical practices of spiritual formation throughout the life of the church. Focused on primary materials, this course will explore salient themes related to spiritual formation through the lens of discipline, theology, and practice.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

A doctoral education in ministry and spiritual formation must necessarily introduce each student to the historical practices and seminal works within the field. This course will orient the student to the spiritual formation practices, writings, and theology of stalwarts such as Augustine, Owen, and Edwards, among others.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will reflect on era-specific theologians, philosophies, and practices. In the written discussions, the student will post a thread of at least 400 words including references from at least two scholarly sources in current Turabian format. For all discussions, the student will post two replies of at least 200 words including at least one scholarly source cited in current Turabian format. (CLO: A, B, C)

Video Discussion: Student’s View of Spiritual Formation

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, in the video discussion, the student will post a video thread that is 3-4 minutes in length. The student will post two replies of at least 200 words including at least one scholarly source cited in current Turabian format. (CLO: A, B, C)

Memo Assignments (7)

Throughout the course, the student must complete seven reflective Memo assignments which are based on the assigned readings and prompts. (CLO: B, C, D).

Spiritual Formation Project Assignment (4)

Throughout the course, the student must complete three Spiritual Formation Projects and one Spiritual Formation Research Paper Assignment. The first three Projects focus on Spiritual Christian Classics and Formation concepts from three different time periods of the class.  The Final Spiritual Formation Research Paper Assignment joins that combined research and the readings from the assigned Modules: Weeks into a final product where students analyze the development of Spiritual Formation from the Early Church to the Evangelical periods. (CLO: A, B, C, D)