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FACULTY OF THEOLOGY

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND

ECCLESIOLOGY

MODULE: ECCLESIOLOGY 143 (2023)

CHURCH HISTORY 1:
FROM EARLY CHRISTIANITY TO THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

Dr. Lisel Joubert

Tel: 0828504182
E-mail: [email protected]

Tutor:

1. MODULE DESCRIPTION

This module focuses on the history of the church and theology from the era of the early church to
the Late Middle Ages. We will study important figures, doctrines and thought streams of this
period, asking as to the church historical-significance for our time. The underlying assumption of
this module is that critical engagement with the past is crucial for dealing with the challenges
facing the church and society today.

2. WHAT THIS MODULE WANTS TO ACHIEVE (OUTCOMES)

Success in this module will allow students to:

 acquire the necessary knowledge of the leading historical figures and thought streams in
the early church and the Middle Ages;
 obtain a theological-historical orientation and interpretation framework with reference to
these eras;
 integrate theological-historical knowledge and skills with their own context and potential
ministries;
 realize the importance of the forgotten or muted voices that do not always figure
prominent in church-historical accounts from these eras; and
 develop reading skills that can engage creatively and critically with primary sources as
well as secondary literature.
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3. WHERE AND WHEN DO WE MEET?

When: Wednesdays 8h00 – 9h00 (Afrikaans Lecture); 9h00-10h00 (English Lecture); 10h00-
11h00 (TUTORIAL – Afrikaans and English)

Where: Room 2002

4. PRESCRIBED BOOKS AND OTHER RESOURCES

We mainly use the following book: González, J L. 1984. The Story of Christianity Vol 1:
The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. HarperSanFrancisco.
The same book is also available as: González, J L. 2007. The Story of Christianity: The
Early Church to the Present Day Peabody, MA: Prince Press.

Chapters of weekly reading of other sources will also be available on Sunlearn

The following books are suggested for further reading and/or as sources for written
assignments:

Guy, Laurie, Introducing Early Christianity: A Topical Survey of Its Life, Beliefs & Practices
(Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2004)

Joubert, L. (2013) Ontmoetings met Heiliges: Verhale van hoe mense hulle geloof geleef het.
Tygerberg: Naledi.

Lössl, J. (2010) The Early Church. History and Memory. London: T&T Clark.

MacCullough, D. (2009) Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. London: Penguin
Books.

Miles, M. (2005) The Word Made Flesh: A History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell.

Pillay, G J and Hofmeyr, J W (eds.) (1991) Perspective on Church History: An Introduction

for South African Readers. Pretoria: HAUM Tertiary.

Wilken, R. (2012) The First Thousand Years. A Global History Christianity. New Haven:
Yale University Press.

The following are compilations of primary texts:

Betteson, H B and Maunder, C M. (1999) Documents of the Early Church (New Edition)
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ehrman, B D and Jacobs, A S. (2004) Christianity in Late Antiquity 300-450 C.E.: A Reader
New York: Oxford University Press.
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Johnson, L J. (2009) Worship in the Early Church: An Anthology of Historical Sources, Vol 1.
Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press.

Van Voorst, R E. (2001) Readings in Christianity. 2nd edn. Toronto: Wadsworth.

Online resource for classical texts: Christian Classics Ethereal Library at www.ccel.org

5. METHOD
 Required reading for week each will be given, please come prepared.
 Lectures will be a combination of interacting with weekly reading material in context and
group discussions. Your class participation is thus an important part of this course.
 Tutorials will focus on writing skills and the reading of primary sources
 Short essays will be given to the students during the semester in to practice writing and
referencing.
 Each student will also hand in a longer research essay
The short essays, long essay, test and class participation will form your semester mark. Note
that both the research essay and the semester test are essential requirements of the course,
and both must be completed in order to receive predicate.

A medical certificate is needed if any assessment opportunity were missed

6. ASSESSMENT

The class grade will be compiled as follow:

Shorter class assignments 30%
Research essay 35%
Semester test 35%

TEST: 26 September 2023 (17h30 – room 2031)

Exam: First Opportunity: 20 November 2023, 14h00

Second Opportunity: 6 December 2023, 9h00

RESEARCH ESSAY: DUE 14 OCTOBER 2023

Write a research essay (2000 words) on any one of the following themes:
 The Desert Fathers and Mothers and what we can learn from them in the 21st century
 Benedict of Nursia and the legacy of the Benedictine Tradition
 The influence of the Cappadocian Fathers
 The life and legacy of Hildegard von Bingen or Mechthild of Magdeburg
 A critical evaluation of the role of icons in light of the Iconoclastic controversy
 Francis of Assisi and what we can learn from him amidst the ecological crisis of the
21st century
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 A Critical evaluation of the Crusades with reference to historical context in which it

originated.
 The life and work of Thomas Aquinas

Three or more academic sources to be used. Please follow guidelines regarding referencing.

All essays should be submitted on SunLearn. Late submissions will be penalised by 5% per
day. After one week no marks will be awarded.

VERY IMPORTANT
All assessments have to contain a Turnitin declaration by each student, clearly stating
that it constitutes her/his own work, and with the Similarity Index clearly visible. You
are NOT allowed to use the AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and others
alike. Take note that AI data is incorporated into the Turnitin database. Plagiarism will
be reported to the US disciplinary committee and may seriously jeopardise your
academic career.

7. MODULE OUTLINE

Week 1 (26 July) Introduction

Introduction to module outline and content.

Introduction to the world of the early church.

Week 2 (2 Aug) The world into which the Church was born; Christians and the Roman
Empire (Persecutions)

Prepare: Gonzalez Chapter 2 “The Fullness of Time” and Wilken p 17-27; Gonzalez
Chapters 5-6, “First Conflicts with the State; Persecution in the Second Century”

Short Essay: Read extract (p 1-24) from “The Early Church. History and Memory” (J Lössl)
(available on Sunlearn). Write a summary of 500 words.

Due: 11 August

Week 3 (9 August): NO CLASS: PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Week 4 (16 August): Christians and the Roman Empire (Persecutions); Christians and
the Roman Empire (The Apologists, Early Teachers of the Church)
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Prepare: Gonzalez chapters 10, 12 “Persecution in the Third Century, The Great
Persecution”; Gonzalez, chapter 7 “The Defense of faith”

Short Essay: Read Chapter 9 of Gonzalez “The Teachers of the Church” as well as ONE
other source.
Choose ONE of the following teachers of the church (Irenaeus, Clements, Tertullian or
Origen) and write a short biography on him. (500 words)

Due: 25 August

Week 5 (23 August): The Church and heresy (Montanism and Gnosticism)

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapter 8 “The Deposit of Faith”; Wilken p 37-46

Week 6 (30 August): The Christian Life (Social Context, Worship, Mission, and Art)

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapter 11 “Christian Life”; Guy p 193-247, Lössl p 119- 154

Short essay: Critically discuss the role of EITHER baptism OR the eucharist OR art in the
Early Church (up to the 5th century) (500 words)

Due: 22 September

Week 7 (6 September): Constantine and a changing world; Reactions to Constantine’s

world (Monasticism, Donatism)

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapter 13 “Constantine”, Wilken p 75-87, Gonzalez, chapters 15 and 16

“The Monastic Reaction; The Schismatic Reaction: Donatism”

RECESS: 9 September - 18 September

Week 8: (20 September) Reactions to Constantine’s world (Monasticism, Donatism);

Issues of Belief (Council of Nicea)

Prepare: Wilken p 99 -108; Wilken p 88-98

Week 9 (27 September) Issues of Belief (Council of Nicea), Athanasius

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapter 17 “The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicea”,
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Week 10 (4 October) Important personalities of the Fourth century (Chrysostom,

Ambrose, Jerome, the Cappadocians)

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapters 20, 21, 22, 23 “The Great Capadocians, Ambrose of Milan, John
Chrysostom, Jerome”

Week 11 (11 October); Life and work of Augustine

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapter 24 “Augustine of Hippo”, Wilken p 183-194

Week 12 (18 October) Crusades; Mendicant orders

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapters 30 and 31 “The Offensive against Islam, The Golden Age of
Medieval Christianity” (part on Mendicant orders)

Week 13 (25 October) Scholasticism, Exam Preparation.

Prepare: Gonzalez, chapter 31 “The Golden Age of Medieval Christianity” (part on

Scholasticism)