BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIANITY

REL 316: Spring 2007

CRN 25108
12:00-1:50 MW; 112 ESL

Professor Daniel K. Falk
        814 PLC; tel. 346-4980,

dfalk (at) uoregon (dot) edu

use the online syllabus:
http://uoregon.edu/~dfalk/

Office hours: 
UH 2-3 pm or by appointment

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course we will focus on understanding the early Christian movement that developed after the crucifixion of Jesus into the second century. We will use the New Testament as well as other early Christian writings from the 1st and 2nd centuries to explore both historical and theological developments of this movement. What is said about Jesus will be examined not for what it may or may not tell about Jesus but for what it tells about the communities that revered him.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Required Reading: Quizzes will be based on readings as well as lectures. The two required textbooks will be available at the University Bookstore.

  Bart Ehrman, The New Testament. A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 2004. (Abbreviated: Introduction)

 The New Testament, NRSV or RSV translation. Recommended edition HarperCollins Study Bible available at Bookstore.

 Readings from non-canonical writings at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

  Other specified on-line readings

2. Written work:

  4 short papers. Unless otherwise specified, these should be 2-3 pages each and based on careful and detailed examination of the texts rather than surface reflections on the readings. Students must choose 4 assignments from the list at the bottom of the web page, and sign up on a sheet circulated in class (and posted on my office door) by the end of the first week. Papers must be submitted by the BEGINNING of the class on the due date. The purpose of the assignment is to have students wrestle with the texts and questions in advance of the class and come primed for discussion. Late papers will therefore not be accepted because it would defeat this purpose and be unfair to those students who completed the assignment before the class lecture on the topic. In cases of emergency, and if students notify me in advance, I may grant permission to choose another topic. 40% of final grade (4 @ 10 points each).

 

3. Examinations:  offered only at date and time specified.

  Two quizzes: 20% (2 @ 10 points each).
  Final examination, exam week: 30% of final grade. The final exam will be a combination of short answer (match, fill in blanks, multiple choice) concerning details of people, places and events, discussion of selected passages (short essays), and topical essays.

 

4. Participation:

  Attendance and active participation are essential. Students will prepare a discussion question/topic for each lecture based on the readings and submit this at the beginning of class. Each student will be called upon sometime during the course to lead a discussion on one of their questions or to summarize the lecture. 10% of the final grade.

COURSE POLICIES

1.  Participation. Students are expected to attend classes, to have read the assigned readings in advance, and be prepared to participate actively by discussing and asking questions on the readings. Preparation includes reading the question for discussion and related passages even if you are not writing that paper. If you must miss class for any reason, please notify the professor in advance (346-4980; dfalk (at) uoregon (dot) edu ).

2.  Grading. To receive credit for the course, all requirements must be met. Failure to complete all requirements will result in an F, unless student has approved a contract for an Incomplete with the professor in advance of the end of term.  The grading scale is as follows: A = excellent; B = good; C = satisfactory; D = inferior. Assignments will be graded on the basis of 1. content (coverage and accuracy), 2. technical (form, grammar, style), and 3. creativity (originality, insight). All writing must conform to the standards outlined in my Writing Guide.

3. Academic honesty. All work submitted in this course must be your own and produced exclusively for this course. The use of sources (ideas, quotations, paraphrases) must be properly acknowledged. Cases of plagiarism or cheating will be treated according to the University of Oregon's Policy on Academic Dishonesty . If you are in doubt regarding any course requirements, please consult with the instructor. 

4.  Special Needs: Students with special needs requiring academic accommodations should 1) register with and provide documentation to Services to Students with Disabilities (SSD); 2) bring a letter to the instructor from the SSD indicating that you need academic accommodations, and we will arrange to meet them.  This should be done during the first week of class. 

   

COURSE OUTLINE

1/8

From Jesus to the Church
Read Introduction: 1-59 and insert "The Material World of Jesus and the Gospels" following p. 157; New Testament: Gospel of Mark

1/10

The Early Jewish-Christian Community
Read Introduction: 274-83; New Testament: Acts of the Apostles 1-15

1/15

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Day: No Classes

1/17

Gentiles and The Apostolic Council
Read New Testament: Acts of the Apostles 6-8, 10-11, 15, 21; Letter to the Galatians 1-2 
Assignment #1 due

1/22

Paul
Read Introduction: 285-315; New Testament: Acts 9; 13-28; 1st Letter to the Thessalonians; Letter to the Galatians 1-2, 6:11-18

Assignment #2 due

1/24

The Crises of Paul's Churches
Introduction: 316-347; New Testament: 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, Letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Philippians
Assignment #3 due

1/29

Paul's Theology 
Read Introduction: 348-361, New Testament: Letter to the Romans; Letter to the Galatians 3-5, Letter to the Philippians 2:1-11
Assignment #4 due

1/31

Paul's Theology (continued)

QUIZ #1

2/5

Paul's Legacy. Introduction: 372-394; New Testament : Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Colossians, 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians

Women, children and slaves in Early Christianity (esp. Paul).
Read Introduction: 395-406; New Testament: 1st Letter to the Corinthians 11:2-16; 12:12-13; 14:33-40; Letter to the Galatians 2:10; 3:26-29; Letter to the Ephesians 5:21-6:9; 1st Letter to Timothy 2:8-3:13, 5:1-6:2; Letter to Titus 2:1-15; Letter to Philemon,

Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Acts of Paul and Thecla

Assignment #5 due

2/7

Crisis 
Read Introduction: 61-90; New Testament: Mark 1:1-15; 6:1-6; 8:31-9:13; 9:30-50; 10:32-45; 11:12-21; 12:1-17; 13:1-16:8; Revelation 1:4-11; 5:1-6:17; 11:1-3; 13:11-18; 18:1-5; 20:4
Assignment #6 due

2/12

Jewish Christianity
Read Introduction: 92-110, 408-417; New Testament: Gospel of Matthew; Letter of James; Letter to the Hebrews; Letter to the Galatians 1:11-2:14; 3:6-5:12; Letter to the Romans 9:1-10:4; 11:1-36
Assignment #7 due

2/14

The Fate of Jewish Christianity
Read Introduction: 418-25;

Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Gospel of Ebionites, Gospel of Nazareans, Gospel According to the Hebrews, Preaching of Peter;
The Letter of Barnabas  

Assignment #8 due

2/19

Christians and the World
Read Introduction: 112-131; New Testament: Gospel of Luke, Acts of the Apostles

Assignment #9 due

2/21

Johanine Circle
Read Introduction: 154-94; New Testament: Gospel of John, 1-3 John ;

online at http://www.misericordia.edu/users/davies/thomas/odes.htm: Odes of Solomon 1, 11, 17, 19, 36, 42

Assignment #10 due

2/26

Gnosticism and Diversity
Read Introduction: 176-94; Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Gospel of Thomas; Gospel of Peter; Infancy Gospel of Thomas; Secret Gospel of Mark; Unknown Gospel Papyrus Egerton 2; Paul's Third Letter to the Corinthians

Assignment #11 due; QUIZ #2

2/28

From Paul to Proto-orthodox; Apology and Heresy
Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Letters of Ignatius, Letter of Polycarp, Fragments of Papias; Didache

Assignment #12 due

3/5

 Church Order
Read Introduction: 372-94; 445-60; New Testament: 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Jude, 1-2 Peter;

Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Letter of 1 Clement, Didache, Letters of Ignatius
Assignment #13 due
Discussion passages:  On Apostles: Luke 6:13-16; 9:1-6, 10; 11:49; Acts 1:12-26; 2:42; 4:33-5; 6:1-7; 8:14-18; 13:1-3; 14:14; 15:1-29; Romans 1:1; 11: 13-14; 16:7; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 9:1-6; 12:27-31; 15:7-10; 2 Corinthians 11:5, 13; 12:11-12; Galatians 1:1, 17-19; 2:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 2:5-12; Ephesians 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; Hebrews 3:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 3:2; Jude 1:17; Revelation 2:2; 21:14

Other leaders: Acts 14:23; 18:24-28; 20:17-35; 21:17-19; Romans 16:1; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:21-23; 11:17-12:31, 14:1-40; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; James 5:14

3/7

Early Christian Worship
New Testament: Acts 2:37-47; 5:42; 8:12-13, 36; 10:40, 44-48; 11:17; 20:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3; 5:16-20, 23-28; Galatians 2:11-14; 4:8-11; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 5:4; 11:17-33; 14:1-40; 16:1-3, 19-24; Romans 6:1-11; 8:15; 16:16, 25-27; Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; Revelation 1:3-4, 10; 4:8, 11; 5:9, 12-14; 12:10-12; 19:1-2, 6; 22:18-21; Luke 11:2-4; 24:36; Matthew 6:9-13; 18:20;

Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Didache

Assignment #14 due

3/12

Persecution and Martyrdom
Read Introduction: 426-444; New Testament: Acts 4:1-7; 5:17-20, 33; 7:54-8:1; 12:1-5; Revelation 2:8-11

Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Letter of Ignatius to the Romans, Martyrdom of Polycarp; Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas

Assignment #15 due

3/14

Apocalyptic
Read Introduction: 461-78; New Testament: Revelation

 Online at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/: Shepherd of Hermas, Apocalypse of Peter
Assignment #16 due; The Text of the New Testament. Introduction: 479-89

 

 

3/19

Final Exam 10:15 am

 

ASSIGNMENTS

#1 Read carefully the readings, and compare Luke’s descriptions of the debate over the inclusion of Gentiles in Acts with Paul’s description in Galatians. Why were Peter, and then Paul, criticized for preaching to Gentiles? What was the significance of the decision to welcome Gentiles into the church without their conversion to Judaism? What tensions did this create within the church? How did this affect the early Christian movement?

#2 On the basis of the readings, what is the transforming experience that leads Paul from a fervent opponent of the early Jesus movement to one of its most ardent missionaries? What is the meaning of this experience for Paul? That is, what changes in Paul’s thinking because of this experience, and why?

#3 On the basis of "mirror reading" the assigned letters by Paul, what seems to be the nature of Paul's opponents and their accusations against Paul? Are the same opponents in view in each of the letters? 

#4 Read carefully 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, and Galatians and find the following details: What does Paul say about Jesus? What titles does Paul use for Jesus (Lord, etc.)? What is the “human problem”? What does he say about salvation and how it is gained? Write a 2-3 page paper explaining in detail what Paul means by salvation and what part Jesus plays in this.

#5 Read pp. 395-406 in A Historical Introduction and look up all the passages referred to. Read carefully Romans 16, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35; 1 Timothy (esp. 2:11-15 and chapters 4-5); Titus (esp. 2:3-5); The Gospel of Thomas; and Acts of Paul and Thecla.
Pretend that you are a teenage Christian girl living in the early second century, the daughter of a prominent bishop. Your father is diligent and pious and takes his role as leader in the church very seriously. He reads 1 Timothy daily as a sort of job description and tries his best to “manage his household” (1 Timothy 3:5). You are his only child, and he wants what he believes best for you. He has just informed you that he is arranging a marriage for you with a promising deacon in the church who he hopes will one day succeed him as bishop.

You are also very pious and know the writings of Paul and gospels very well, but unknown to your father you have obtained copies of the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Gospel of Thomas which you read secretly--you know he would NOT approve. You are inspired by the prominent women in Paul’s churches who were prophetesses, apostles, and patronesses, and above all you dream about Thecla.

Your assignment is to write excerpts of a journal this girl kept beginning with the time her father announced the intended marriage, or just before this. Display specific knowledge of the conflicting ideas that may have confronted the girl, giving references in parentheses to passages or page numbers in Ehrman that back up specific points. For example: “Why can I not be like Thecla, and renounce this marriage that father intends, and devote myself to the gospel?” (Acts of Paul and Thecla 7, 37, 41). The diary should be about 3-4 pages.

#6 Read the gospel of Mark and the textbook reading on Mark. Isolate all the allusions to the destruction of the Temple and the crisis of the Jewish war with Rome. How is the story of Jesus told to be significant to Christians in this context? (Write a 2-3 page paper)

#7 Compare Paul (the readings from Galatians and Romans), James, and Hebrews. What are their attitudes toward the Jewish law? How do they differ? 
According to Paul, what was the place of Israel and the law in relation to the people of God? Was Paul anti-Jewish?

#8 On the basis of the readings, how would you explain the development of Christianity from a Jewish reform movement to a religion that can sharply criticize and even reject Judaism?

#9 Write 5-6 page dialogue on the topic listed below. Your paper is meant to demonstrate your familiarity with and understanding of the readings and the issues involved. In your paper, draw on the assigned text book readings and Bible readings, as well as the lectures. Do not copy sections from the textbooks, but describe specific viewpoints in your own words. The essay must represent your own work and is not to be the result of collaboration.

Write an imaginary conversation between two individuals:
(1) A Jew (male or female) who was involved in the war against Rome (AD 66-74) and whose life was personally devastated by Roman soldiers (e.g., family was brutally killed), becomes a Christian after the war.
(2) A Roman soldier who also fought in the war and also became a Christian; he personally had inflicted injury on (1) and his/her family.
They meet in a church (e.g., Corinth or Ephesus) and begin to talk about how each of them came to follow Christ as Lord, what it means for them respectively to be Christian (as a Jew, as a Gentile), how they think of Jesus. In the course of the conversation, they recognize each other from the war: how do they deal with this as Christians?, what does it mean for them to be members of the same “body of Christ”?

#10 Your assignment is to write a 3 page paper: how could a Christian community’s experiences affect how they talk about Jesus?

Read the Gospel of John (in the New Testament) and the textbook on John--pp. 163-173 are especially important, read them carefully. The textbook in these pages shows different ways that Jesus is portrayed in the gospel of John--esp. as a sacrifice, as Messiah, and as divine--and attempts to relate these to developments in the community--from a close relation to the synagogue, to exclusion from the synagogue, to opposed to the synagogue. This way of looking at the text is of course fascinating for our purposes. I want you to look carefully at the evidence as discussed in pp. 163-173 in the textbook and the gospel of John and evaluate it.

As you read John, pay close attention to the different things said about Jesus and by Jesus. You will very easily notice that Jesus appears remarkably different than in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. What is different? Describe this as specifically as you can. What may account for that difference?

WARNING: be very specific and succinct. Use the textbook to help you get an initial starting point, but gather evidence yourself. Write two pages describing what you see, i.e., the evidence. Then in just one page, evaluate it and the argument presented in the textbook on pp. 163-73. You will not have the background to do a thorough evaluation--just give a carefully reasoned answer to the evidence as you see it. If you are unclear, please ask for clarification.

#11 Read the Gospel of Thomas carefully. Describe the type of Christianity reflected in this writing (to the degree that is possible), in terms of beliefs, practice, and structure. E.g., does it reflect a church that is hierarchical? What is the view of Jesus? What is the “human problem”? What is salvation and how it is gained? What role doe Jesus play in salvation? What is the attitude toward women? How does it compare with other expressions of Christianity seen in the New Testament?

#12 On the basis of the readings, describe the nature of “proto-orthodox” Christianity that begins to emerge in the second century. Does it owe more to Jesus or Paul? Was the attack on “heresy” necessary for the survival of Christianity? Were any elements of Jesus’ teaching lost or distorted in this debate?

#13 Read the discussion passages on apostles and leaders. Describe the nature of leadership in the early church. What leaders were there? Did the forms of leadership change? Describe specifically the role of apostles in the early church. What were the apostles? How many apostles were there, and who were they? How does one become an apostle? On what did Paul base his apostleship? Could women be apostles? What is the relationship between apostles and other leaders?  

#14 Read the passages carefully. Describe the main elements of early Christian worship. What theology is expressed in Christian baptism and the eucharist? 

#15 Read the assigned passages carefully. What is the view of suffering presented in these writings? What is the basis for it? How do such views relate to the sufferings of Jesus as presented in the gospels and the letters of Paul?

#16 What images are used of Jesus in Christian apocalyptic literature? How does this relate to the teachings of Jesus? How does it relate to the experience of the early Christians? What is the message of this apocalyptic literature?

 

 

RESOURCES

Early Christian Writings chart

The Bible Gateway. Search and read the Bible online in various translations.

Early Church Fathers online. Searchable text of the Early Church Fathers.

Early Christian Writings. All the writings of Early Christianity: the New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, and Church Fathers. 

Video: From Jesus to Christ . An excellent PBS special on the development of early Christianity on 4 videotapes on reserve at the library media center. VIDEOTAPE 05113 pt.1, 2, 3, 4. 

PBS special: From Jesus to Christ . A very useful web site to accompany the excellent video series From Jesus to Christ produced by Frontline for PBS. The program covers the development of Christianity in the first four centuries, and includes interviews with scholars, maps, charts, and texts.

New Testament Gateway . A fabulous resource for maps, translations, links related to the New Testament (by Mark Goodacre of University of Birmingham)

All-in-one biblical resources search. A useful site by Mark Goodacre of University of Birmingham allowing searches of the Bible and various study tools

Resource Pages for Biblical Studies. A vast collection of links to texts and resources for the study of the Bible and related literature.

Oxford Internet Resources for the Study and Teaching of Theology . Links and resources for the study of religion.

Jesus of Nazareth in Early Christian Gospels. Translations and introductions to canonical and non-canonical gospels, with links.

The Ecole Initiative . A hypertext encyclopedia of early church history.

How To Write Essays in Religion . A helpful guide to writing essays in religion.
 

Starting Bibliography

  • For computer search for journal articles and book reviews on your topic, check the ATLA Religion Database . (click Religion, then ATLA) This is a bibliographical database for Periodicals in Religion.
  • The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, 6 volumes. (REFERENCE SECTION BS440.A54 1992)