THCT503 - The Early Christian World

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks.  This unit is normally offered in online mode. Students are regarded as adult learners who can work independently and be responsible for their own learning. Resources and support are provided through LEO.  As well as access to source material in LEO, students will have the opportunity to engage in peer group discussions by participating in online asynchronous forums and synchronous seminars.   

Unit rationale, description and aim

The Christian tradition is grounded in history. This unit explores the Christian world of the first six centuries. It considers the historical and cultural background that influenced the development of the thought and practice of early Christianity and introduces students to a range of different sources which shed light on the challenges and complexities of this period. The aim of the unit is to equip students with knowledge of a crucial formative time in the history of Christianity and to facilitate critical reflection on its legacies and ongoing impact on the Church today today.  

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - explain the context within which Christianity developed in the first six centuries (GA5),

LO2 - analyse key issues involved in the evolution of different ‘Christianities’ (GA8),

LO3 - evaluate the legacies of this period in Christian history (GA4)

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

Content

Topics will include:

• The historical, cultural and social background to the emergence of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
• The spread of early Christian communities and their impact on, and interaction with, the non-Christian world.
• Key elements in the life of Christian communities, such as the witness of the martyrs, the emergence of church structure and ministry, the development of liturgy and sacraments, and the rise of the ascetic movement.  
• Theological developments, including the formation of the scriptural canon and the creeds as well as Trinitarian and Christological doctrines.
• The rise of the Christian church to become a major institution in society.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. 

This unit is normally offered in online mode. Students are regarded as adult learners who can work independently and be responsible for their own learning. Resources and support are provided through LEO.  As well as access to source material in LEO, students will have the opportunity to engage in peer group discussions by participating in online asynchronous forums and synchronous seminars.   

In addition to the formally structured learning activities available through LEO, the remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the preparation of tasks for assessment.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessments tasks have been designed to ensure that students can demonstrate the learning outcomes. 

Task 1 asks students to identify and assess factors which facilitated and factors which challenged the development of Christianity in the first three centuries of its existence. This task gives students an opportunity to demonstrate that they have identified and understood the historical context (LO1, LO2), that they can locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information (GA8), and that they can demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline of history (GA5). 

Task 2 asks students to analyze the significance of legacies from the early Christian era and to evaluate (LO2, LO3), in particular, the impact of one of them on the development of Christian theology, ministry, spirituality, liturgy, art and architecture, or the relationship between church and state. This will enable students to demonstrate that they can locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information (GA8) and think reflectively and critically (GA4)

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Ashbrook, S. and D. G. Harvey. The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Bingham, D. J. ed. The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought. London: Routledge, 2010.

Casiday, Augustine and Norris, Frederick, ed. The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 2: Constantine to c. 600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Chadwick, Henry. The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great. Oxford History of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.Rousseau, P. The Early Christian Centuries. London: Longman, 2002.

Esler, P. ed. The Early Christian World. 2 vols. London & New York: Routledge, 2000.

Mitchell, Margaret M. and Frances M. Young, ed. The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 1: Origins to Constantine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Parry, Kenneth. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Patristics. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2015

Ludlow, M. The Early Church. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009.

Stevenson, J., ed. A New Eusebius. Rev. ed. W.H.C. Frend, London: SPCK, 1987

Stevenson, J. ed. Creeds, Councils and Controversies. Rev. ed. W.H.C. Frend. London: SPCK, 1989.