https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/G_BATRSCC106After finishing this course, the student:Has an awareness of the long-term processes and assorted phases that have produced contemporary (religious) issues, debates, and controversies: the story has a history;Is aware of the convergences and divergences in the historical interactions between Christianity and Judaism;Has grasped the development of important currents of Judaism and Protestant Christianity that emerge from socio-cultural and religious entanglements;Has become familiar with the close reading and interpretation of academic literature;Has the ability to trace back, understand, and analyze the historical backgrounds of modern developments;Understands the reliability of different kinds of source material and the difference between primary and secondary sources;Understands what history as an academic discipline is and where and how it intersects and diverts from theology and religious studies;Has a grasp of different schools of historical research.This course aims to introduce students to the history of religion and church history. To this end, it explores the historical backgrounds of several contemporary religious issues. The starting point is that many social issues that supposedly 'suddenly' emerge in our society are less sudden than one might think. In reality, contemporary issues have a historical background and are rooted in historical processes. Their historical roots often go far back in the past and are, without exception, layered and complex. By way of a case study, this course focuses on two separate but closely intertwined subjects: anti-Semitism on the one hand and (church and) capitalism on the other. Students are taken through the centuries-long history of these social problems and are introduced to basic questions and skills of historical research. Although religious and church history have always been influenced by theological ideas, this course is not primarily theological (doctrinal) in nature. The focus lies on the question of how religion and society have related to each other in the past. Students are expected to learn to think like historians. This way, they will learn to read attentively, to analyze critically from different perspectives, and to gain insight into the use of primary sources. This course consists of lectures, group discussions, self-study and a final exam.Seminars (6 contact hours per week) Be aware: Attendance is mandatory. Three or more unexcused absences will result in a 1.0 for the attendance portion of the final grade.Attendance (20%) Final Exam (80%)