General
The course is offered as a freestanding course. It is an elective course in the one-year Master’s program in Eastern Christian Studies.
Course Description
The course provides a general understanding and knowledge of the first one thousand years of Christianity. Theological trends and individual church fathers are considered, as well as their philosophical background. Particular emphasis is put on methods and sources. The course explores the most important textual sources of early Christian doctrine, where they can be found, and how to read them. Historical-critical methods employed in Patristic Studies are also presented.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:
Knowledge and understanding
- relate theological trends to individual church fathers
- describe general theological topics in current research connected to the first millenia in considerable depth
- describe the range of methodological approaches to the study of the first millennium of Church history utilized by scholars today
Competence and skills
- independently sketch a timeline for the first millenia of Eastern Christianity, from various perspectives, identifying general patterns, even with limited material, and discuss this in the context of a seminar
- demonstrate competence in making use of patristic resources and historical critical methods in formulating and solving scholarly problems, within a given time frame
Judgement and approach
- select and argue for appropriate methods for the study of specific patristic sources and the limitations such methods impose on the object of study, from both a disciplinary, social and ethical perspective
- assess and argue for the limitations of research, and the need for ongoing research in the field as well as for individual responsibility for how it is used.
See Course Plan for more details.