CH201 - Christianity in History to 1550

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

Exclusions

CH205

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

  1. The 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. Describe the impact of the social, political and cultural context on Christian beliefs, practices and movements.
  2. Use primary and secondary sources
  3. Present an evidence-based perspective or narrative

C. Be in a position to

  1. Apply historical perspectives from this period to their theological studies and in ministry contexts

Content

Section A: The Church in Imperial Rome:

  • Christians in society: the spread of Christianity to 312

Justin Martyr OR Tertullian

  • The challenge of other religions and ideologies, especially Judaism and Gnosticism.

Irenaeus OR Athenagoras.

  • Caesar: enemy or friend? Decius, Diocletian, Constantine.

Pliny & Trajan OR Cyprian.

  • Wrestling with the faith: Origen, Arianism, Chalcedon.

Origen OR Athanasius.

  • 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

  • The conversion of Europe 600–900. The Holy Roman Empire.

Boniface of Crediton OR Alcuin of York

  • Christendom triumphant: the Western church in the 13th and 14th centuries. The development of scholasticism.

Innocent III OR Thomas Aquinas.

  • Byzantium, Islam and the Crusades.
  • Christendom challenged; protest and spiritual renewal mysticism. The conciliar movement.

Francis of Assisi OR Thomas a Kempis.

 

Section C: The Continental Churches and Reform

Reform precursors; renaissance and new learning.

John Hus OR Erasmus

  • Reformation as massive change:

(a) in Germany (1517–1530)

(b) in Geneva (1536–1564)

Martin Luther & John Calvin

(c) Anabaptist groups

Menno Simons

  • The Counter Reformation: Trent; the Jesuits; the papacy reformed.

Ignatius Loyola OR Teresa of Avila

Set Readings

The Church in Imperial Rome

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).

Frend, W. H. C., From Dogma to History: How our Understanding of the Early Church Developed (London: SCM, 2003).

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

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).

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).

Milne, K., A Short History of the Church of Ireland (Dublin: Columbia, 2003).

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).

Scribner, R. W. and C. S. Dixon, The German Reformation (2nd ed.; Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2003).

 

Candidates are advised to have access to a good Atlas of Christianity (e.g. MacMillan’s).