History of Christianity

History of Christianity

Welcome to the History of Christianity Discipline at Pacific Theological College, where we offer a distinctive and comprehensive study of the history of Global Christianity, with a particular focus on the Pasifika region. Through our specialized curriculum, students are introduced to the historical development of diverse Christian traditions from the first century to the present, encompassing a wide range of study, from well-known figures and movements to lesser-known diaspora, subaltern, and exile communities. In all our courses, our dedicated faculty demonstrates expertise in historical methodology and critical historiography, facilitating students’ exploration of the complex processes of contact, transfer, entanglement, conflict, and cooperation between Christianity, Indigenous peoples, and other religious traditions.

PTC’s History of Christianity courses equip students to:

Analyze significant historiographical shifts in the History of Christianity, relocating Eurocentric narratives of ‘Church’ and ‘Mission History’ within a more global understanding of ‘World Christianity’ from the first century to the present.
Critically assess Christian involvement with empire and colonial enterprise while, at the same time, reprioritizing indigenous and contextualized Christian traditions that, until recently, have been more marginalized in the History of Christianity.
Utilize methodological tools that challenge persistent colonial, orientalist, and denominationally bound historiographies in Pasifika, equipping students to actively contribute to the reStorying of Christianity in the region with narratives and perspectives that emerge from Pasifika communities themselves.
Explore the history of global ecumenical movements, traditions, and principles, fostering respectful engagement with both difference and commonality, facilitating understanding and alliance with a wide range of denominational and interreligious dialogue partners to address real-world problems in the 21st century.

Graduate-level study of the History of Christianity at PTC aims to:

Equip students in advanced-level studies of the history of Christianity in Pasifika
Encourage the writing and reStorying of Pasifika Church history, with special reference to: (a) the importance of wide background reading; (b) the development of self-guided research skills and critical analysis of documentary materials, both oral and textual.
Provide Pasifika churches and schools with scholars of history, equipped to teach Christian history at an advanced level and to contribute to the awareness by Pasifika peoples of their own historical narratives.

History Department Faculty: