Tues.,
9/3:
Introductions
No readings
I. Christians in the Roman Empire
Thurs.,
9/5:
The Jesus Movement in its Imperial Context
Readings:
Gospel
of Mark; 1
Thessalonians (links take you to bare text; feel free to
use any version of the New Testament you have at hand!)
For more information on the apostle Paul and his letters, click here
Tues.,
9/10:
Roman Views of the First Christians
Readings:
Earliest Roman Sources on
Christianity; Ignatius
of Antioch, To the Romans;
*Robert
Wilken, “Pliny: A Roman Gentleman”
Discussion post #1 due by 9pm on Wednesday, 9/11: VIOLENCE
Thurs.,
9/12:
Martyrs and Martyr-Tales
Readings:
* “Passion
of Perpetua and Felicitas”; * “Letter
of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne”
Tues.,
9/17:
Defending Christianity
Readings:
Athenagoras, Plea for Christians;
Justin Martyr, 1 Apology, chs. 1–11
For more information on the Roman emperors to whom these "apologies" were addressed, you can find basic info and short biographies here (look for Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius)
Thurs.,
9/19:
Christian Conversion
Readings:
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,
chs. 1-9; *Robert
Wilken, “Christians as a Burial Society”
II. Ways of Being Christian
Tues.,
9/24:
Christians as New Israel
Readings:
Epistle of Barnabas;
Melito of Sardis, On the Passover
For more information on the complicated history of Jewish-Christian Relations, you'll find lots of resources here
Readings:
Secret
Book of John;
*David
Brakke, The Gnostics, ch. 3
For
more information
on Nag Hammadi and gnosticism (past and present) check
out this site
Response #1 due by 5pm on Friday, 9/27
Tues.,
10/1:
Christian Virtues
Readings:
*Acts
of Paul and Thecla; *Susan
Hylen, A Modest Apostle, ch. 3
For more information on the Acts of Paul and Thecla, including links to translations and further secondary sources, check out NASSCAL
Thurs., 10/3: No class (Rosh Hashana)
Tues.,
10/8:
Christian Institutions
Readings:
Didache; Apostolic
Tradition,
ch. 1–4, 7–21
For more information what may be the oldest church structure discovered, at Dura Europos, click here and read an open-access scholarly book on the subject here
Thurs.,
10/10:
Christian Beliefs
Readings:
Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics;
Tertullian,
Against Praxeas
For
more information
check out this map
showing the "founders" of various Christian heresies
Tues.,
10/15:
No class (Monday schedule)
Discussion
post
#2 due by 9pm on Wednesday, 10/16: CANON
Thus.,
10/17:
Christian Texts
Readings:
Muratorian fragment;
Origen, On First
Principles, 4.8–23
For more information here is a clickable timeline on the development of the New Testament
Tues.,
10/22:
Christian Triumph (?)
Readings:
*Lactantius,
On the Deaths of Persecutors; *Eusebius,
Life of Constantine
For
more information
on a recent reconstruction of the 11 meter colossal
statue of Constantine in Rome, check out the article and video
here
III. Debating Christianity
Thurs.,
10/24:
God as Father and Son
Readings:
*Introduction
to “Trinitarian Controversies” and texts (Arius and Alexander);
*Council
of Nicaea
For more information see this map of the locations of the first four ecumenical councils
Response #2 due by 5pm on Friday, 10/25
Tues.,
10/29:
God as Father/Son/Spirit
Readings:
*Gregory
of Nazianzus, “Third Theological Oration”; *Council
of Constantinople"
For
more information
check out these
25 top quotes from Gregory of Nazianzus
Thurs.,
10/31:
Julian and the End (?) of Paganism
Readings:
*Julian’s
Letters on Religion; *Wilken,
“Julian the Apostate: Jewish Law and Christian Truth”
For
more information
read this fun novel
about Julian by American man of letters Gore Vidal
Discussion post #3 due by 9pm on Monday, 11/4: POWER
Tues.,
11/5:
Bishops and Urban Violence
Readings:
*John
Chrysostom, “First Speech Against the Judaizers”; Ambrose
of Milan, “Letter to Theodosius”
For
more information
check out this report
from the Middlebury Center on Terror, Extremism, and
Counterterrorism on John Chrysostom and modern antisemitism
Thurs.,11/7:
Christ
as Human and Divine
Readings:
*Correspondence
of Nestorius and Cyril; *Council
of Ephesus and Council of Chalcedon
For
more information
check out the movie Agora
set earlier in Cyril's turbulent career in Alexandria
IV. Better Ways of Being Christian
Tues.,11/12:
Founding
Monastic Myths
Readings:
*Life
of Antony (excerpts); *“Pachomian
Rules”
For
more information
read all about this site's
background image, which is St. Antony encountering a
centaur (from the Life of Paul of Thebes)
Thurs.,11/14:
Ascetic
Transformations
Readings:
*Jerome,
“Letter to Eustochium”; *Antony,
Letters 1 and 5
For
more information
read this fun illustrated piece
on "rebel virgins and desert mothers" from Atlas Obscura
Response paper #3 due by 5pm on Friday, 11/15
Tues.,
11/19:
Pilgrims and Relics
Readings:
*Egeria,
“Travel Journal”; The
Piacenza Pilgrim
For
more information
read about scholar Sarah Bond's attempts
to use modern spatial mapping software to visual early
Christian pilgrimage
11/21-11/28: No class (Professor at conference & Thanksgiving)
Discussion post #4 due by 9pm on Monday, 12/2: SEXUALITY
Tues.,
12/3:
Reading/Living Holy Lives
Readings:
*Life
of Pelagia; Roland
Betancourt, “Fragment: Toward a Critical Trans History of
Byzantium”
For
more information
about the veneration of "Pelagia the Penitent" in
modern Greek Orthodox churches, see this site
on her saint's day
Thurs.,
12/5:
Human Nature and Salvation
Readings:
*Jerome,
“Letter to Ctesiphon”; *Augustine,
Confessions (excerpt)
For
more information
check out this novel
written from the standpoint of Augustine's "concubine"
Tues.,
12/10:
Conclusions
No
readings
Response
paper
#4 due by 5pm on Friday, 12/13
Final
exercise
due by 12noon on Friday, 12/20