Assessment

Continuous Assessment 20% + Essays 80%

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, both globally and in an Irish context. 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 Diversity in the Second Century
• Early Christians in the Graeco-Roman World
• Were early Christians persecuted or prosecuted?
• Constantine and Imperial Christianity
• The Evolution of the Doctrine of the Trinity
• The Donatist Schism
• The Birth of Monasticism in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria
• Augustine and Pelagius on the issue of Grace
• Patrick and Early Christianity in Ireland
• The Development of a Canon of Scripture

Learning Outcomes

• — identify current scholarship concerning early Christianity
• — appraise the relationship between “Church and State” in the first four hundred years of Christian history
• — extrapolate from the history of the early Christian tradition relevant perspectives by which to consider the legacy of such issues today.
• — employ the resources of the early Christian tradition in a coherent manner to better understand historical developments over time and the relevance of this for other theological disciplines
• — demonstrate an appreciation of the diversity of theological views and religious practices within the early Christian tradition and how this translates to religious dialogue today
• — demonstrate a good historical sense of the period and display a willingness to “attentively listen to” the diverse arguments of a range of individuals / groups in key historical debates, and consider these judiciously in written work

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.
• — Bradshaw, Brendan and Daire Keogh (eds), Christianity in Ireland: revisiting the story. Dublin: The Columba Press, 2002.
• — Chadwick, Henry, The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great. Oxford: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• — Chadwick, Henry (ed.), Not angels but Anglicans: a history of Christianity in the British Isles. Norwich: The Canterbury Press, 2010.
• — Downham, Clare, Medieval Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
• — 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.
• — O’Loughlin, Thomas, St Patrick: the man and his works. London: Triangle, 1999.
• — Stark, Rodney, The triumph of Christianity: how the Jesus movement became the world’s largest religion. New York: HarperOne, 2011.
• — Staunton, Michael, The illustrated story of Christian Ireland from St Patrick to the Peace Process. Dublin: Emerald Press, 2001.
• — Stout, Matthew, Early Medieval Ireland, 431-1169. Dublin: Wordwell Press, 2017.
• — 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.