HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH

 
Unit Weighting          

9 credit points

Type of Unit              

Foundational

Prerequisites              

None

Academic Staff          
 
Rev. Anastasios Bozikis, BCom (UQ 1990), BTh (SCD 1995), MTh (Sydney 1997)

Curriculum Objectives

This course unit is designed to provide students with an overview and general understanding of the early centuries of Christian history.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit students will be able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge of significant events in the early Church in light of their social, cultural and religious context
2. account for contributions of leading figures in the early Church.
3. illustrate the capacity to interpret primary sources from this historical period.
4. exhibit the capacity to utilise the secondary sources relating to this period.
5. demonstrate the importance to the Church’s present mission of key events and personalities in the early Church from the available literary sources

Content

1.  Studying the early Church in context; methodology and historiography.
2.  Religious, cultural and social backgrounds of the early Church.
3.  The relationship between the early Church and the Roman state; Jewish, pagan and Christian perceptions.
4.  Persecution and the phenomenon of martyrdom.
5.  Internal tensions within the early Church; orthodoxy and heresy.
6.  Aspects of an emerging Christian worldview.
7.  The ‘triumph' of the Church: Constantine, Fathers, councils.
8.  The Church in a declining Empire.

Assessment Profile
Face to face

1. Tutorial presentation (12 mins) + one page write-up (650 words). Value: 30%
2. Essay (1,600 words). Value: 40%
3. Exam (45 mins). Value: 30%

Distance

1. Tutorial analysis (800 words). Value: 20%
2. Article or chapter review (1,200 words). Value: 30%
3. Essay (2,000 words). Value: 50%

Prescribed Text

Eusebius of Caesarea. The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine. Translated by G. A. Williamson. London: Penguin Classics, 1990.

Schedule

3hr lecture per week on campus, or via distance education