Varieties of Early ChristianityDr. Denova RS 1130/CL 1432/HIS 1776412-624-5990 (office) 2617A Cathedral of Learning Office Hours:T/Th, 10-11 or by appointment412-600-9280 (home) [email protected] This course will examine the many different and often competing forms of Christianity that existed during the first five centuries of our Common Era.We will include an historical survey of Mediterranean culture and society in the historical Roman Empire to help us understand the ways in which Christianity developed in relation to the philosophical, sociological, theological, and political environment of this period.We will also focus on the contribution of the early varieties of Christianity to modern western views of the relationship between the individual body and society.Specifically, we will begin with an examination of Greco-Roman "religiousness" and attitudes toward the body as part of the natural order comprising one's duty as a "citizen." Such views will then be compared to the emerging Christian view that denied civic duty to an inferior, material world, by emphasizing individual identification with "a commonwealth in heaven." The literature of this period represents a broad variety of beliefs and practices ranging from philosophical views of God and matter (and the nature of each), to notions of life-long celibacy. Specific topics that will be examined include, but are not limited to:the "fall" of humanity; sex (and concepts of gender differentiation); women; marriage (and divorce); procreation (birth control and abortion); asceticism; celibacy (both temporary and life-long); food (and "fasting"); religious communities; the concept of "free will;" and death.While much of the extant literature represents a minority view, such "overachieving" Christian concepts continued to dominate subsequent views of the body and society throughout the Middle Ages and into our modern era. Goals of the Course: 1.Students will be able to identify issues in the study of religion from a critical and historical perspective. 2.Students will be introduced to the influential writings of the first five centuries of Christian literature that have played a formative role in the history of Christianity and the Western tradition. 3.Students will be able to trace the various ways in which religious ideas are associated with attitudes towards “the body,” as well as the evolution of ideas in relation to social roles involving gender. Required Texts: Ehrman, Bart D.After the New Testament:A Reader in Early Christianity(Oxford University Press, 1999). ISBN-10: 0195398920 Wilken, Robert, The Christians as the Romans Saw Them(Yale University Press, 2003), ISBN- 10: 0300098391
Harper, Kyle, From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity, Harvard University Press, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0674660014 Course Documents, available under “Course Documents” on Course Web.Please Note:The Course Documents contain various essays, charts, and diagrams to facilitate the lectures and to provide additional background information.Each unit will contain the assigned readings, but
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