November 4 - 10, 2018
The course presents a critical history of the interaction between Christianity and secular power, examining how economics, politics, war, and theology all contributed to the place of Christianity in the world today. As Christianity, for so long associated with the secular state of the west, begins to understand its role in the whole, post-colonial, world today, what can we learn from the traditions of prophetic witness and accommodation in Christian teaching? Studying in Rome and Ravenna, students will explore:
The course is led by the Revd Dr Justin Lewis-Anthony, deputy director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, and graduate of the LSE and Oxford University. His experience of politics, history and theology, and their expression in the ancient, medieval and modern worlds, will allow students to understand the relationship between Church and State from the earliest period of Christianity to the twenty first-century, and to recognise the continuation of those dynamics in the twenty first-century situation, particularly in the relationship of the church of the First- and the Two-Thirds World
The course is a combination of visits to historical sites, lectures at the Anglican Centre, and discussions by the group. Last year the group heard from Professor Christopher Smith, the Director of the British School at Rome, on the emergence of Christianity from its Roman, pagan, context; from the Very Revd Dr John Hall, the Dean of Westminster, on the relationship between the Church and the State in Modern Britain; and from Dom Angelo Romano, a priest with Sant' Egidio, on their successful peacekeeping mission in Mozambique. You can read Dean John Hall's article about last year's course here.
I highly recommend courses offered by the Centre. My husband and I have just completed our time here following a course on Power and Politics and the Church, and it is a truly enriching experience. The Centre staff are wonderful, and the courses are rich in content.