Early Church: Body and Soul (CH8001P)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit explores the world of the Early Church through the study of faith practices, evolving beliefs, and compelling characters with diverse lived experience. We will read text, art and artefact from the period 100-600 CE, and consider how and why interpretation of these sources has changed over time. Using contemporary historical methods, we will explore the ancient past with a particular focus on matters of body and soul, human and divine, especially as they manifest in community, conflict, gender, authority, sacrament, suffering, incarnation, and the challenges of living as a Christian under Empire.

Unit code: CH8001P

Unit status: Approved (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Foundational

Unit discipline: Church History

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify significant people, dates, and themes in the early church's theology and practice
2.

Apply key principles of historical interpretation to a diverse range of primary sources
3.

Analyse and articulate how an aspect of theology or practice developed within the early church
4.

Explain the role of interpretation in understanding the past
5.

Discuss the implications of historical understanding for contemporary Christian practice

Pedagogy

Seminars, workshops, shared learning experiences.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Burrus, Virginia, ed. Late Ancient Christianity: A People’s History of Christianity Vol. 2. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2005.
  • Clark, Elizabeth A. Women in the Early Church. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
  • Doerfler, Maria. Church and Empire. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.
  • González, Justo L. A History of Early Christian Literature. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019.
  • Harvey, Susan Ashbrook and David G. Hunter. The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies. Oxford: OUP, 2010.
  • Jefferson, Lee M., and Robin Margaret Jensen. The Art of Empire: Christian Art in Its Imperial Context. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015.
  • Lossl, Josef. The Early Church: History and Memory. London: T&T Clark, 2010.
  • Miller, Patricia Cox, ed. Women in Early Christianity: Translations from Greek Texts. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2005.
  • Shaner, Katherine Ann. Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018.
  • Uro, Risto, Juliette J. Day, Rikard Roitto, and Richard E. DeMaris (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Source Analysis - Source analysis

Source analysis of a selected primary source (art, artefact, text) following class discussion.

 1000 20.0
Multi-media project - Multi-media presentation

Creative project (e.g., model, diorama, comic strip, map, artwork) demonstrating understanding of the development of a practice or belief. The project will be presented to the class and submitted with an explanatory transcript.

 1000 20.0
Annotated Bibliography - Annotated Bibliography

An essay that explores perspectives in a number of recent scholarly texts on a selected theme in the history of the early church.

 1500 25.0
Essay - Essay

Essay analysing how historical interpretation impacts contemporary Christian practice or belief.

 2500 35.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 25 Aug, 2023

Unit record last updated: 2023-08-25 16:15:59 +1000