Humanities (HUMN) 313

Overview

Early Christians was written by Dr. Lisa Micheelsen, Ph. D. (Alberta), an expert in ancient religion, philosophy, history and culture. The course helps students to explore the identity, history and thought of the early Christians  from the forces that shaped the birth of Christianity down to approximately the sixth century CE.

This is not so much a course on the development of doctrine or texts, but on who the early Christians were, what they practiced, how they lived, and how they came to formulate a religious identity.  The course begins with the historical context, and considers the development of Jewish monotheism, history, and conflict with the Romans. It then discusses Roman historical, cultural, and religious factors, and from there explores the development of the religion that these two cultures together produced. We will explore not only the development of religious identity, but acceptance and persecution of those who affiliate themselves with it, and the eventual rise of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Consideration will be given to the composition of key texts—their sources and social factors at work in their development—as well as controversial claims concerning “lost Christianities” and the idea that Christianity should be classified as a Roman mystery cult.

Outline

Unit 1: Introduction

Unit 2: The Historical Context: Jewish Origins

Unit 3: The Historical Context: The Romans

Unit 4: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

Unit 5: The Jewish/Christian Split, Early Christian Texts, and Communities

Unit 6: Attitudes Towards Early Christians on the Part of the Romans: From Indifference to Hostility to Acceptance

Unit 7: Did the Story of Jesus Spawn a New Mystery Cult in the Roman World?

Unit 8: Textual Developments

Unit 9: Christian Tolerance and Intolerance

Unit 10: Asceticism/Monasticism

Unit 11: Eschatology

Unit 12: A New Way of Viewing the World

Unit 13: The End of Early Christianity and the Spread of the Religion

Evaluation

Assignments and Grade Weighting

To receive credit for HUMN 313, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of at least “D” (50 percent) on the final examinations. The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:

Assignment 1: Short Essay– Primary Source Report	Assignment 2: Research Plan for Long Essay	Assignment 3: Long Research Essay	4 Online Quizzes	Final Examination	Total
20%	5%	30%	10%	35%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Textbooks

The balance of your course materials will be accessed online.

Challenge for Credit Course Overview

The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university level course.

Full information for the Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Policy
• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Procedures

Challenge Evaluation

To receive credit for the HUMN 313 challenge registration, a student must obtain approval from the Course Coordinator and achieve at least a “D” (50 percent) on each of the three challenge components and a composite grade of at least a “D” (50 percent).

Research Report	Exam 1 (3 hours)	Exam 2 (3 hours)	Total
40%	30%	30%	100%

Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form

• Challenge for Credit Form