Christian History

Christianity Before Constantine

Church History

The first three centuries of Christianity were not unlike today, with a pluralist world beyond the church and the rise of old heresies again within. This course will survey the post-apostolic age to c.300AD. grappling first-hand with the Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Cyprian, alongside liturgical and legislative texts.

Taught by Dr. Matthew Hoskin.

Runs 9/27-12/10/21.

Description

This Church History course will be taught by Dr. Matthew Hoskin. The syllabus is available to view here.

The first three centuries of Christianity laid the earliest layers of the tradition of the faith. These centuries are not unlike the world we live in today, with a pluralist world beyond the church and the rise of old heresies again within. Besides that, the era before Constantine’s conversion in 312AD is crucial for the rest of the history of Christianity—in these years we see the rise of the episcopacy, liturgical worship, prayer practices and other spiritual disciplines, the canon of Scripture, Christian patterns of exegesis, the identity-forming experience of persecution, and a rich Trinitarian theological heritage that awaits the fourth century for clarified means of articulation. 

In this course, students will consider the historical journey of the faith from the post-apostolic age to c.300AD. Students will also be given the opportunity to grapple first-hand with some of the early church’s great thinkers, such as the Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Cyprian of Carthage, besides the liturgical and legislative texts that ordered the lives of ancient believers. This course will have a weekly two-hour session. The first hour will consist of a lecture covering the history of the church as it moves towards Constantine, and the second hour will be a discussion of an ancient text read in preparation for the class.

Dr. Matthew Hoskin received his Ph.D. in the History of Christianity from the University of Edinburgh in 2015. His expertise is in the field of ancient Christianity (Patristics) with a focus on Leo the Great, Christology, and canon law in the fifth century, and he has a background in Classics and research that extends across the Middle Ages. He lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with his wife and children where he is Coordinator of Liturgy and Education at The Urban Abbey (www.urbanabbey.ca) and blogs semi-regularly at http://thepocketscroll.wordpress.com.

Online only, runs 10 weeks, meeting 2 hr./wk. via Zoom. Students will also have the option to participate in class discussion in the Davenant Common Room Discord server. Register now to reserve your spot. The course will proceed contingent on sufficient enrollment; on rare occasions, a class has to be cancelled due to insufficient interest. Once the registration period closes, the class meeting time will be set on the basis of a poll of availability from registrants. In case of cancellation or scheduling conflicts, students will be eligible for a refund or a transfer to another course.
This is a graduate-level course. Although a BA is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.