Assessment

Essay 100%

Module Aims

This module aims to provide learners with the skills necessary to navigate early sources regarding Jesus of Nazareth, to help learners appreciate the various stages of development of the Christian Church from the first to the fourth centuries, and to introduce learners to key personalities in the history of the early Christian Church. It also aims to help learners better situate other theological disciplines within their historical context, and to appreciate the continuing relevance of some of the issues faced by the early Christian community for contemporary Christians today.

Indicative Syllabus

• Sources for the Historical Jesus
• • Christianity in the First Century – Teething Problems
• • Christianity and Judaism – a Protracted ‘Parting of the Ways’
• • Christianity and Diversity in the Second Century
• • Early Christians in the Graeco-Roman World
• • Were early Christians persecuted or prosecuted?
• • Constantine and Imperial Christianity

Learning Outcomes

• — LO1: Outline the principal events and personalities of the early Christian Church
• — LO2: Summarize and interpret early Christian texts and their historical significance
• — LO3: Appreciate the diversity of the early Christian Church and its members and identify a range of theological perspectives held in the past and apply this to contemporary Christian discourse.
• — LO4: Illustrate from the history of the early Christian tradition relevant perspectives by which to consider the legacy of such issues today, especially as they pertain to questions that may arise in the course of the pastoral and ecclesial ministry of the deacon

Bibliography

• — Barton, John, A History of the Bible: the Book and its Faiths. London: Penguin, 2020.
• — Bell, David N., A cloud of witnesses: an introduction to the development of Christian doctrine to AD 500. 2nd ed., Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2007.
• — Bokenkotter, Thomas, A Concise History of the Catholic Church. New York and London: Image, 2005.
• — Chadwick, Henry (ed.), Not angels but Anglicans: a history of Christianity in the British Isles. Norwich: The Canterbury Press, 2010.
• — Duffy, Eamon, Saints and Sinners: a History of the Popes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2nd ed., 2006.
• — Ehrman, Bart D., A brief introduction to the New Testament. New York and Oxford: OUP, 2004.
• — Esler, Philip, The Early Christian World. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.
• — Freeman, Charles, A New History of Early Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
• — Green, Bernard, Christianity in Ancient Rome: the First Three Centuries. London and New York: T&T Clark, 2010.
• — Hill, Jonathan, The history of Christian thought. Oxford: Lion, 2003.
• — Kelly, Joseph F., The ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church: a history. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009.
• — Kruger, Michael J. Christianity at the Crossroads: how the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church. London: SPCK, 2017.
• — Lane, Tony, A Concise History of Christian Thought. London: T&T Clark, 2006.
• — Lössl, Josef, The Early Church: history and memory. London: T&T Clark, 2010.
• — Lynch, Joseph H., Early Christianity: a brief history. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
• — Ludlow, Morwenna, The Early Church: the I.B. Tauris History of the Christian Church. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009.
• — MacCulloch, Diarmaid, A history of Christianity: the first three thousand years. London and New York: Allen Lane, 2009.
• — Meister, Chad and J.B. Stump, Christian thought: a historical introduction Abingdon: Routledge, 2010.
• — McGrath, Alister E., Heresy: a history of defending the truth. New York: HarperOne, 2009.
• — Miles, Margaret R., The Word made flesh: a history of Christian thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.
• — Mitchell, Margaret M., and Frances M. Young (eds.), The Cambridge History of Christianity volume 1: Origins to Constantine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
• — Mullin, Robert Bruce, A Short World History of Christianity. London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.
• — Tanner, Norman, New Short History of the Catholic Church. London: Burns and Oates, 2011.
• — Wilken, Robert W. The First Thousand Years: a Global History of Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.