CH301 - Christianity in History to 1550

  • 0 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 4
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 5
    AQF level
  • church historyUnit Discipline

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

  1. Those major phases and developments in the history of Christianity identified in the unit content
  2. The life and thought of selected key figures in the history of Christianity

B. Be able to

  1. Discuss the impact of the social, political and cultural context on Christian beliefs, practices and movements.
  2. Evaluate historical evidence using  primary and secondary sources
  3. Present an Analytical evidence-based argument or narrative

C. Be in a position to

  1. Inform their theological studies with perspectives from this period of Christian history
  2. Apply perspectives from this period to current issues in ministry and the contemporary world

Content

Section A: The Church in Imperial Rome:

  1. Christians in society: the spread of Christianity to 312
    Justin Martyr OR Tertullian
  2. The challenge of other religions and ideologies, especially Judaism and Gnosticism.
    Irenaeus OR Athenagoras.
  3. Caesar: enemy or friend? Decius, Diocletian, Constantine.
    Pliny & Trajan OR Cyprian.
  4. Wrestling with the faith: Origen, Arianism, Chalcedon.
    Origen OR Athanasius.
  5. Worship and popular religion in a collapsing society: 4th and 5th century trends: asceticism, pilgrimage, liturgy, icons.
    Augustine of Hippo.

Section B: The Church as Christendom

  1. The conversion of Europe 600–900. The Holy  Roman Empire.
    Boniface of Crediton OR Alcuin of York
  2. Christendom triumphant: the Western church in the 13th and 14th centuries. The development of scholasticism.
    Innocent III OR Thomas Aquinas.
  3. Byzantium, Islam and the Crusades.
  4. Christendom challenged; protest and spiritual renewal mysticism. The conciliar movement.
    Francis of Assisi OR Thomas a Kempis.

Section C: The Continental Churches and Reform

  1. Reform precursors; renaissance and new learning.
    John Hus OR Erasmus
  2. Reformation as massive change:
  1. in Germany (1517–1530)
  2. in Geneva (1536–1564)
    Martin Luther & John Calvin
  3. Anabaptist groups
    Menno Simons
  1. The Counter Reformation: Trent; the Jesuits; the papacy reformed.
    Ignatius Loyola OR Teresa of Avila

Notes:

  1. Colleges are required to teach at least 10 out of the 12 topics above.
  2. Lecturers should feel free to substitute a major figure in the place of those named, and, since history at this level requires the use of primary sources, major figures should be studied wherever possible through their own writings.
  3. Lecturers should feel free to exchange with lecturers from other colleges advice on documents which have worked well for them. The ACT Church History Moderator has made available for all colleges an 8-page guide on how to study a document.
  4. Assessment may include a written examination.
  5. If an examination is set, it is recommended that students be required to answer only 3 questions in a two-hour examination, one question from each of the three sections of the paper.
  6. Examiners should feel free to set selections from documents for comment in examinations if they consider it appropriate.
  7. Lecturers may choose to assess parts of the syllabus by instruments other than examination.
  8. Lecturers may assess reports on documents separately from examinations or essays. For example, three assessment instruments may be used: examination (50%), essay (40%), document report (10%).

Set Readings

As well as the works listed in General Recommended Readings, the following provide more detailed treatments of sections of this unit.

The Church in Imperial Rome

Behr, J., The Nicene Faith (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004).

Behr, J., The Way to Nicaea (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001).

Bryan, C., Render to Caesar: Jesus, the Early Church, and the Roman Superpower (Oxford: OUP., 2005).

Davidson, I. J., The Birth of the Church: From Jesus to Constantine AD 30-312 (Baker History of the Church, Vol 1; Grand Rapids/ Oxford: Baker/Monarch, 2004).

Evans, G. R. (ed.), The First Christian Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Church (Mulden: Blackwell, 2004).

Frend, W. H. C., The Early Church (London: SCM, 2003).

Grant, R. M., Augustus to Constantine: the Rise and Triumph of Christianity in the Roman World (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004).

Horsley, R. A. (ed.), Christian Origins (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005).

McKechnie, P., The First Christian Centuries. Perspectives on the Early Church (Leicester: Apollos, 2001).

 

The Church as Christendom

Bassett, P., The Medieval Church (Baker History of the Church, Vol 3; Grand Rapids/ Oxford: Baker/Monarch, 2006).

Brown, P., The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, AD200-1000 (2nd ed.; Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Cusack, C. M., Conversion Among Germanic Peoples (London: Cassell, 1998).

Davidson, I. J., A Public Faith: From Constantine to the Medieval World: AD 312-600 (Baker History of the Church, Vol 2; Grand Rapids/ Oxford: Baker/Monarch, 2005).

Hylson-Smith, K., Christianity in England from Roman Times to the Reformation (Vol. I; London: SCM, 1999).

Hylson-Smith, K., Christianity in England from Roman Times to the Reformation (Vol. II; London: SCM, 2000).

Hylson-Smith, K., Christianity in England from Roman Times to the Reformation (Vol. III; London: SCM, 2001).

Riley-Smith, J., The Crusades – A History (2nd ed.; London: Continuum, 2005).

Wood, I. N., The Missionary Life: Saints and the Evangelisation of Europe, 400-1050 (New York: Longman, 2001).

 

The Continental Churches and Reform

Cottret, B., Calvin: A Biography (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000).

Heinze, R. W., Reform and Conflict: From the Medieval World to the Wars of Religion AD 1350-1648 (Baker History of the Church, Vol 4; Grand Rapids/ Oxford: Baker/Monarch, 2005).

Mullett, M., The Catholic Reformation (New York: Routledge, 1999).