The Early Church

The course addresses the main issues in the development of Christianity in the first three centuries, starting as a small movement within Judaism in Palestine and developing over the centuries into the dominant religion of the Mediterranean. The course describes the religious and social history of Christianity in its various competing forms addressing several problems from doctrinal to institutional history.By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:- critically assess the earliest witnesses of Christianity- contextualize Judaism and early Christianity and their respective - -- developments and identify Jewish traits in early Christianity- describe the emerging structures of the Early Church in Eastern Christianity- demonstrate an understanding of the connection between Eucharist and Church in its various eastern sources