Early Christianity (HIST 2000)

Transcription

1 Instructor: Andrew Drenas, D.Phil. Classroom: Dugan 206 Class Meetings: TuTh, 9:30-10:45 Website: Office Hours: TuTh, 11:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m., and by appointment, in Dugan 106N Texts: Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (New York: Penguin, 1993) Rand McNally s Historical Atlas of the World Course Description: This course serves as an introduction to the first 850 years of Christian history. The first centuries of Christian history have always been crucial to the Church as it has sought to define itself over the ages. The study of early Christianity still remains appealing especially in light of recent interest in Gnosticism and its texts, The Da Vinci Code, the role of women in the early Church, and the early interactions between Jews and Christians. In addition to these topics, the early Church always remains a focal point in ecclesiastical history because of the Christian martyrs, the emergence of orthodoxy with the first four ecumenical councils, the development of the papacy, and early missions, as seen with figures such as St. Patrick. Understanding the early Church results in our gaining not only a comprehension of the Christian religion s foundations but also how it became one of the most powerful forces ever seen in Western civilization. Grading: Quizzes/Participation 25% 100 points Mid-term Exam 25% 100 points Final Exam 25% 100 points Papers 25% 100 points Quizzes/Participation: This part of your grade includes two map quizzes to be given at the beginning and roughly midway through the course. Each is worth 25 points. Participation in class discussions is also a significant part of your grade, worth 50 points. Students need to be prepared for class and ready to engage in discussion. Discussions will focus mainly on the assigned primary source readings as well as questions relevant to the lecture materials posed to the students by the instructor. (See the primary source reading/discussion guide on the course website for details on how to best prepare.) Students who know that they will have to miss a class meeting should let the instructor know in advance. Exams: There will be two exams for this course. They will consist of multiple-choice and essay questions. The mid-term will deal with the material covered during the first half of the class; the final, the second half. Each exam is worth 100 points. Study guides will be provided during the scheduled reviews. 1

2 Papers: There are two writing assignments for this class. Each student must choose two primary source documents of interest to him or her and analyze them based on criteria to be provided by the instructor. One paper needs to focus on a source relevant to the first half of the course (i.e., first-century Judaism and Jesus of Nazareth through the Great Persecution); the other, the second half (i.e., Constantine the Great and toleration through the Iconoclastic Controversy). Each paper is worth 50 points. Learning Outcomes Students will come away from this course able to explain early Christian history. They will also be able to explain the diversity of early Christian beliefs as well as Christianity s dialogue with Judaism, Greco-Roman religion, and early Islam. Students will be able to read, interpret, and analyze primary source documents. Through class discussion and written work, students will gain experience communicating effectively both orally and in writing. Student progress will be assessed based on two examinations, their written work in the primary source analysis assignments, contribution to classroom discussions, and two map quizzes. Miscellaneous: Extra Credit: Extra credit options are available to students. Please be aware that the instructor will not permit those who do not attend class or who put little to no effort into their work to do extra credit. Students can earn a potential +20 in extra credit, and can do so through writing an extra primary source analysis (or two) and/or sharing an oral presentation in class. You cannot choose a document written by the same authors who wrote your initial sources. Oral presentations must expand on topics discussed in class or introduce subjects not brought up in the classroom, but relate to course material. You need to receive the instructor s approval before submitting and/or doing all extra credit work. Grade values: A = A- = B+ = B = B- = C+ = C = C- = D+ = D = F The A Policy : All students who earn A grades (90-100%) on their exams, quizzes, and paper will be exempted from having to take the final exam, leaving the course with either an A or A-. The instructor wants to reward academic excellence. Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. All work submitted by students must be their own, not anyone else s. If the instructor has any reason to believe that a student has plagiarized information from the Internet or a book, then that student will receive a 0 for the assignment. For more information on what constitutes academic dishonesty and plagiarism, please see Disabilities and Religious Observances: Students with a documented disability should let the instructor know right away so that any necessary arrangements for the classroom can be made. Also, students who may have a conflict between any religious observances and class assignments should let the instructor know well in advance so that alternate arrangements may be made. Cell phones: They must be silenced and tucked away before class begins, as they may be a source of distraction to students and the instructor. 2

3 Texts: Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (New York: Penguin, 1993) Rand McNally s Historical Atlas of the World Tentative Class Schedule and Assignments Week of September 1 Thurs. Introduction to course Week of September 5 The Jewish and Greco-Roman Background Thurs. Jesus of Nazareth, and His Context Week of September 12 Chadwick pp. 9-23; the Gospel of Mark, Acts of the Apostles (chapters 1-12) (for first discussion); St. Paul s Epistle to the Galatians, Epistle to Philemon (for second discussion) The Apostolic Church, the Fate of the Jews; primary source discussion Thurs. St. Paul and the Gentiles; primary source discussion Week of September 19 MAP QUIZ # 1 Selection from History s The Bible (2013) Thurs. MAP QUIZ # 1; The Bible Week of September 26 Chadwick, pp , ; the Epistle of Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians and Justin s First Apology The Apostolic Fathers, the Apologists Thurs. Centers of Christianity; primary source discussion Week of October 3 Chadwick, pp , 80-83, ; the Gospel of Judas, The Persecution and Martyrdoms of Lyon in 177 AD Early Christian Heresy Thurs. Persecution and martyrdom; primary source discussion; review for exam Week of October 10 MID-TERM No class (Monday schedule) Thurs. MID-TERM Week of October 17 Edicts of Toleration by Galerius and Constantine; MAP QUIZ # 2 Review for PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSES; Constantine the Great and Toleration; primary source discussion Thurs. MAP QUIZ # 2; The Quest for the True Cross (2002) Week of October 24 Chadwick, pp , ; Augustine s Acts or Disputation against Fortunatus, Basil s On the Holy Spirit (chapters 9-12, 16-22), Leo the Great s Tome (Epistle 28); BEGIN CONSIDERING PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT CHOICE The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, begin the Christological Controversies Thurs. Conclude Christological Controversies; primary source discussion 3

4 Week of October 31 Chadwick, pp ; Emperor Julian s Letter to Arsacius, Symmachus s Memorial and Ambrose s Epistle 18, The Benedictine Rule; PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT CHOICE The Triumph of the Church in the Roman Empire, begin Asceticism and Monasticism Thurs. Conclude Asceticism and Monasticism; primary source discussion; DEADLINE FOR PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT CHOICE Week of November 7 Chadwick, pp ; Excerpts from Bede s Ecclesiastical History of England, Leo the Great s On the Petrine Doctrine, Gregory the Great s Letters showing Papal Activity, John of Damascus s Apologia against Those Who Decry Holy Images (part 1) Early Christian Missions; begin the Papacy, and the Eastern Church to the Ninth Century Thurs. Conclude the Papacy, and the Eastern Church; primary source discussion Week of November 14 The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, Life of St. Macrina Visit to St. George Greek Orthodox Church Thurs. Women in Early Christianity; primary source discussion Week of November 21 Chadwick, pp ; PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSES Early Christian Worship; DEADLINE FOR PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSES Thurs. Thanksgiving! Enjoy! Week of November 28 Chadwick, pp Early Christian Art and Architecture Thurs. Hagia Sophia documentary Week of December 5 Christmas Themes in Early Christianity Thurs. Review for exam; DEADLINE FOR EXTRA CREDIT Final Exam TBA 4

5 Map Quiz 1 MAP TERMS Kingdoms, Regions, etc. Asia Minor Crete Egypt Gaul Italy North Africa Syria Britannia Cyprus Galatia Greece Macedonia Palestine Cities and Towns Alexandria Athens Jerusalem Nag Hammadi Rome Antioch Carthage Lyon (Roman Lugdunum) Nazareth Smyrna Bodies of Water and Landmarks Adriatic Sea Dead Sea Mediterranean Sea Rhone River Tyrrhenian Sea Apennines Jordan River Nile River Tiber River *The vast majority of these terms can be found in the atlas maps found on pp. 10, 11, You can also find them through online searches.* Location of map for quiz: Scroll down to Map for Map Quizzes at You should be able to print this map off, or any other map you have found useful for preparing for the quiz, and increase its size through a xerox machine or other program. 5

6 Map Quiz 2 MAP TERMS Kingdoms, Regions, etc. Byzantine Empire Egypt Ireland Kingdom of the Franks Spain Cappadocia England Italy North Africa Syria Cities and Towns Canterbury Constantinople Ephesus Milan Nicaea Rome Chalcedon Edessa Hippo Regius Myra Ravenna York (Roman Eburacum) Bodies of Water and Landmarks Aegean Sea Black Sea English Channel North Sea Thames River Alps Bosporus (Bosphorus) Mediterranean Sea Po River *The vast majority of these terms can be found in the atlas maps found on pp , You can also find them through online searches.* Location of map for quiz: Scroll down to Map for Map Quizzes at You should be able to print this map off, or any other map you have found useful for preparing for the quiz, and increase its size through a xerox machine or other program. 6

7 Primary Source Analysis Papers For this course, you have had a lot of exposure to primary sources germane to early Christianity. Your task now is to compose two primary source analyses based on the instructions provided below. Instructions for Analyses 1. Choose two primary sources of interest to you that pertain to the material covered in this course. The first one needs to treat a subject relevant to the first half of the course, that is, from first-century Judaism and Jesus of Nazareth through persecution and martyrdom. The second should focus on a theme germane to the second half of the course, that is, from Constantine the Great and toleration through the Iconoclastic Controversy. Your sources must be documents that we have not already read in class. You can choose from a biblical source or something available at the following websites: Please choose the sources you want to work on by Thursday, November 3. Once you know what you want to read and analyze, please me to let me know, providing me with the documents links. 2. Write the papers, and be prepared to address all of the following in each: a. What is the primary source you have chosen, and why have you chosen it? (5 points) Tell me what you read and be sure to explain why you decided to read it. Maybe you were interested in the source s subject matter or just realized that it had a big impact on church history. You can let me know. b. Who is the author of the document, and what potential preconceptions and goals did he or she have while composing it? (10 points) Here you need to tell me who was the actual writer of the text. DO NOT tell me who the recent editor and translator were. (Hint: if you find yourself about to write that your author was writing in 1995 or something, then this is INCORRECT!) You need to identify the original author. In the event that your source does not have a known author, then please just state that. Regarding preconceptions and goals, this is where you identify things like the author s specific religious, philosophical, and maybe even political beliefs, that influenced what he or she said or did. For example, was the person a Gnostic? A Neoplatonist? Nicene? A staunch supporter of the Roman Empire? As far as goals are concerned, address what the author was trying to accomplish by writing the text. c. When was the document written and what is the historical context surrounding its composition? (10 points) While answering when, all you need to do is provide me with a date or an approximate date. If you see more recent dates connected to the text, it is probably the date the document was edited or translated. You don t want that. Concerning the historical context, explain here what was going on in history at the time your primary source was written. You can go straight back to the Power Points to find that information, or my Western Civilization 1 lectures at adrenas/teaching/westcivi.aspx. (Should you decide to go there, the Power Point presentations on Rome, Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages will be the ones of interest to you.) d. Summarize and analyze the content of the document, providing quotations from the text (10 points) Explain to me what you read about. Make sure you include enough direct quotations from the text in your summary. 7

8 e. What impact did this document have on Christians and/or society during the time it was written, and has it impacted modern Christianity and modern society today? (10 points) I think this is self-explanatory, but do remember that you need to address the impact of the documents themselves and not necessarily the themes being addressed in them. Do answer both aspects of this question. While thinking about a document s present impact, something to consider is how it provides us with historical insight into a particular aspect of the past. f. Make sure your paper is written in the proper format! (5 points). See some guidelines below. Potential: 100 points (50 per paper) 3. The papers are due in hard copy in class on Tuesday, November 23. Feel free to submit your papers early. If they are tardy, 10 points will be deducted from your grade for each paper every day they are late. Tardiness includes handing in a paper after class activities on the due date. Please contact me if you have any questions or need any help. Please also consult the sample primary source analysis on the course website. Scroll down to Primary Source Analysis Sample at It will offer you a clear model as to what I am looking for. 4. Please answer the questions in the order in which I ask them, with each question having a paragraph of its own. Proper block quotes must be used for direct quotations exceeding four lines. Make sure they are properly indented with ten spaces and are single-spaced. Block quotes do not require quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quotation. For more details, see p. 3 here: 5. No citations and/or works cited page are required if you are relying only on your primary source documents and our class lectures. If you are making use of outside books and legitimate academic online sources (i.e. no Wikipedia, personal websites, etc.), they must be cited in your paper and included in a works cited page. Failure to cite your sources and include a works cited page will result in an automatic loss of 5 points. You may use either footnotes (preferable for historical prose) or parenthetical notes. For the proper format for footnotes and works cited pages, see tools_citationguide.html. Regarding the proper format for MLA parenthetical notes, see 6. Writing Guidelines a. Papers must be a minimum of 4 full pages, or 5 pages, in length. The works cited page does not count toward the page limit. b. All that you need on the first page of the papers is your name and the date. DO NOT include the course title and the instructor s name: they are not necessary, and occupy space that should be filled by the actual analysis c. Papers must be written in ESSAY format. Papers with bullet points and incomplete sentences will be rejected! d. Prose related to historical documents should be written in the past tense, not the present tense. (E.g., Origen taught in Alexandria, and not Origen teaches in Alexandria. ) e. Font: Times New Roman (size 12) f. Format: one-inch margins all around, and double-spaced (with the exception of block quotations, which should be single-spaced) g. Pages must be numbered, stapled, and have your full name on at least the first page h. Absolutely no slang or text-speak i. Make sure that you spell check! 8

9 Primary Source Analyses Checklist If you are able to check off all of the following, you increase your chances of scoring very well on your primary source analyses. I ed the instructor to alert him of the primary source documents I wanted to analyze I have taken a look at, and understand, the sample primary source analysis posted on the course website I have answered the analysis questions in essay format, and in the order in which they were asked My prose is written in the past tense, not the present My papers are each at least a full 4 pages, or 5 pages, in length In my papers, I have provided parenthetical notes or footnotes, and works cited pages, for all sources I consulted and quoted outside my primary source documents and the course s lecture materials I have abided by the font, font size, and margin guidelines described in the syllabus My pages are stapled and numbered, with my name being on at least the first page I have proofread and spellchecked my work 9