DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to the early Church (2nd through 6th century) as it confronted the pagan world and classical culture, defined many of its most fundamental teachings, and cultivated distinctive patterns of biblical interpretation, worship, and practice which have stamped Christianity up to the present.

The gradual process of self-definition, punctuated as it is by crises and conflict, which occurred in the first five centuries of the Church have formed a matrix--whether acknowledged or not--for the continued thought and practice of Christians worldwide. A critical appropriation of this heritage is crucial to situate ourselves in the wider catholic and apostolic church, and to understand our faith in the fuller, more judicious--even chastened--perspective given in the historical experience of the Church. The student will thereby come to appreciate the historic conflicts and options behind Christian practice and doctrine, and by such critical engagement better attend to the needed articulation of faith in one's own ministry and witness.

Intensive two-week course, with one four-hour block of lecture/discussion each weekday (with breaks!). Readings to be completed before class.

Brown, Peter. The World of Late Antiquity. Norton, 1971. (pp. 1-112.)

Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church. Penguin Books, 1967.

Norris, Richard, ed. The Christological Controversy. Fortress, 1980.

Richardson, Cyril C., ed. Early Christian Fathers. Macmillan, 1970.

Wiles, M. and Santer, M., eds. Documents in Early Christian Thought. Cambridge, 1975.

Syllabus and selected primary readings.

Ferguson, Everett, ed. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Hamden, CT: Garland, 1989.

Fox, Robin Lane. Pagans and Christians. Knoff, 1989.

Hazlett, Ian, ed. Early Christianity. Abingdon, 1991.

Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines, 5th rev. ed. Harper and Row, 1975.

Norris, R. A. The Apostolic Faith. Protestants and Roman Catholics. The Liturgical Press, 1992

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago, 1971.

Quasten, Johannes. Patrology. Vols. 1-4. Christian Classics.

Young, Frances. From Nicaea to Chalcedon. Fortress, 1983.

1. Completion of assigned readings in preparation for lectures and discussions. It is seriously in the student's time interest to read the book by H. Chadwick and the selection from P. Brown before the first day of class, providing more time to concentrate on primary sources during the two weeks of class.

2. Four short responses (1-2 pp.) to primary sources in preparation for class discussions.

3. Book review, due a week after the final exam.

4. Final exam.

None.

Meets M. Div. core requirement in Church History "A" (CHA).

Yes.