Course

The Church in Theory and Practice, Distance Education

The course introduces the source texts within Canon Law, Liturgical Studies as well as theories in relation to the source texts. The students choose either Canon Law or Liturgical Studies, as well as a particular linguistic tradition; Coptic, Greek, Old Slavonic, Ge’ez, Old Syriac or Arabic.

At the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to:

  • be able to analyze source texts
  • display considerable insight of how modern theories and methods relate to historical documents
  • demonstrate considerable knowledge about the historical context of the source text
  • reflect critically on the origin and development of the source text

Literature may be chosen in dialogue with the superviser. Below there are different examples of books relating to different fields. At least two of the books should be included in the course.

Abdisho Nisibis. Translated by István Perczel (2009). The Nomocanon of Abdisho of Nisibis: A Facsimile Edition of Ms 64 from the collection of the Church of the East in Trissur. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press (437 pp.).

Baum, Wilhelm & Winkler, Dietmar W. (2000). The Church of the East. A Concise History. London, UK: Routledge (202 pp.).

Voobus, A. (1976). The Synodicon in West Syrian Tradition, II. Syr. 163: T. (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalum). Leven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers (274 pp.).

Viscuso, Patrick Demetrios (2014). Guide for a Church under Islam. The Sixty-Six Canonical Questions Attributed to Theodoros Balsamon. Brookl.ine, Massachusetts: Holy Cross Orthodox Press (142 pp.).

Constitution of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. Amended and approved by the Holy Synod, September 22-26. Maarat Saidnaya, Damascus, Syria: St. Ephraim Seminary. Available http://www.soc-wus.org/ourchurch/constitutioneng.html

Bar Hebreus. Translated by Baby Verghese (2014). Book of Guides (Hudaya), Or, Nomocanon. Erayil-Kadavu, Kottayam: Malamnkar Orthodox Church Publications (163 pp.).

Davie, Grace (2014). ”Let Theology and Sociology Interact!”, in Ecclesiology, Volume 10: Issue 3, pp. 362-371. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
Jackson, Eleanor M. (1972). ”A Sociologist’s Ecclesiology: The Church as an Institution. Critical Studies in the relation between theology and sociology by Dr. P. de Haas”, in The Ecumenical Review, July 1972, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp. 379-381. Geneva: World Council of Churches.

McCann, Joseph F. (2005). Church and Organization: A Sociological and Theological Enquiry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (260 pp.).

Taft, Robert (1997). Beyond East and West. Problems in Liturgical Understanding. Rome: Edizioni Orientalia Christiana (318 pp.).

Selected papers on sources and methods, and source texts.

The schedule is available at the latest one month before the course starts. We do not recommend that you print the schedule as some changes may happen.

Open the Schedule

Michael Hjälm

Head of Department of Eastern Christian Studies, Doctor of Theology, Senior Lecturer

michael.hjalm@ehs.se

Daniel Öhrvall

Doctoral student, Adjunct

daniel.ohrvall@ehs.se

Grades

A = Excellent, B = Very good, C = Good, D = Satisfactory, E = Sufficient, Fx = Insufficient, F = Insufficient

Examination Format

  • Papers
  • Seminars
  • Take-home examination

A Bachelor's degree in Theology (equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen) from an internationally recognized university, Including at least 15 credits in Eastern Christian Studies or equivalent. Certicifed proficiency in English documented by means of an internationally recognized proficiency test, e. g. TOEFL, IELTS or equivalent.

Established by Subject Representative College at Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm on December 19, 2018.

Last revised on October 8, 2019.