Christian History A: The first 1500 years (CH8080Z)

Content

This unit introduces students to the study of the history of the Christian Church with particular focus on Christian mission to 1500CE. This will include consideration of the impact of that mission on Australia, both in history and as it relates to contemporary issues. It will address the development of Christianity in the Roman Empire to the middle of the Fifth Century and the expansion of Christianity beyond the Roman Empire to Britain, northern and eastern Europe, North Africa and Asia. It considers key movements within Christianity before the Reformation.

Learning outcomes

Pedagogy

This unit uses primary and secondary sources considered through different lenses to identify and explore the challenges of the unit material for the contemporary world. Students are engaged in a range of comparative, analytical and reflective practices.

Indicative Bibliography

• Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom : Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000. 10th anniversary rev. ed. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
• Cohick, Lynn H. Women in the World of the Earliest Christians : Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2009.
• Evans, G.R. The Church in the Early Middle Ages. The I.B. Taurus History of the Christian Church. London, UK: I.B.Taurus, 2007.
• González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2nd ed. New York: HarperOne, 2010.
• Green, Bernard. Christianity in Ancient Rome: The First Three Centuries. London, UK: T&T Clark, 2010.
• Johnson, Marshall D. The Evolution of Christianity: Twelve Crises that Shaped the Church. New York: Continuum, 2005.
• Madigan, Kevin. Medieval Christianity: A New History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.
• McGrath, Alister E. Christian History: An Introduction Oxford, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2013.
• Rhee, Helen. Loving the Poor, Saving the Rich : Wealth, Poverty, and Early Christian Formation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012.
• Sanneh, Lamin, and McClymond, Michael, eds. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity. Newark: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2016.
• Taylor, Joan E., and Ilaria Ramelli, eds. Patterns of Women’s Leadership in Early Christianity. First edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Assessment