When Orthodox Christians recite the Creed during the Divine Liturgy, they cross themselves at the words "Believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church." The gesture is more than just a matter of ritual, for the significance of these words has to do with identity and with membership in the Kingdom of God. The Church is not just an institution, but a mode of life and a way of being in the world. As such, it has a history, which is often understood as the history of Christianity as a whole. Indeed, the foundation of the Church was laid by Jesus Christ Himself. Following His death and Resurrection, the Church evolved and grew into what we now call Orthodoxy. However, although Jesus founded only One Church, we now see a multitude of churches, all of which define themselves as Christian and successors of the Church established by Christ. Understanding the history of Christianity is therefore a critical element in understanding the role of Orthodoxy and the historical significance of the Holy Orthodox Church in both past and present times. In an era of constantly blurring distinctions between false and true teachings, an examination of the historical background of our Orthodox heritage may also strengthen our belief in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
This course is designed as a chronological and topical introduction to the history of the Orthodox Church, from the beginning to the present. Since this is a three-week survey, it is impossible to cover everything. Instead, the course will offer a selection of representative topics from a much larger possible list. We will examine some of the key concepts of theology that had historical significance, the political circumstances leading to the separation of various churches, and the main aspects of Orthodox Christian life throughout history. Our focus will be on Orthodoxy, but we will also take quick glimpses at some other churches, especially at the Roman-Catholic church. Anyone with enough curiosity and desire to learn is welcome. There are no pre-requisites and no special recommendations for this course.
This course is offered for three (3) semester hours of coursework. The credit for these hours is to be applied entirely to History (EUH-3931). The course is offered in cooperation with the Institute for Byzantine and Eastern Christian Studies and will take place in Olomouc (Czech Republic). Classes will be taught , using lectures and class discussions, supplemented by three field trips. For more details, see the course handout.
There are numerous books about the history of Christianity, and even more literature on the history of the Church. Not all of them are available and even fewer can be used successfully in a survey course like this. There is a tendency in the literature published in English to shift the focus to the Roman-Catholic church after ca. 800 A.D., thus leaving out some of the most important developments in the history of Orthodoxy, which we will discuss in this course. Such books are therefore of little use to us, no matter how detailed or accurate their coverage of Western developments may be. During the last few years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the history of Byzantine Christianity and of the Eastern churches, in general. The choice of volume 5 of the Cambridge History of Christianity for this course is based on the concision of the presentation, most appropriate for the brevity of this study-abroad course. However, should you desire to broaden your knowledge of Christian Orthodoxy, you may find the list of recommended books useful. Irrespective of your choice, the teaching approach in this course will be broad enough to accommodate all learning skills and strategies. The format will be a combination of lectures and discussion and much of what we will read as "primary sources" will be available online, from the links indicated below. Textbooks
RequiredRecommended
- The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 5: Eastern Christianity. Edited by Michael Angold. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006 [hereafter Angold]
- John Binns. Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Victoria Clark. Why Angels Fall: A Portrait of Orthodox Europe. London: Macmillan, 2000.
- John Meyendorff. The Orthodox Church. Its Past and Its Role in the World Today. 4th edition. Crestwood, N.J.: St. Vladimir's Seminar Press, 1996.
- Brian Moynahan. The Faith. A History of Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 2002.
- George Nicozisin. The Orthodox Church. A Well Kept Secret, 2nd edition. Minneapolis: Light and Life Publishing, 1997.
- Kallistos Ware. The Orthodox Church . Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1972.
- The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Edited by Ken Parry. Malden: Blackwell, 2007.
May 25:
Christianity spreads to the Jews.
Early Christian Church.
for an example
of Judaic religious practices of the first century A.D.,
see a description of the rituals prescribed for the sacrifices on the
Day of
Atonement (Yom Kippur) in
the Mishnah
see a
reconstruction of the Temple
of Solomon on the basis of its description in the Bible
for the
destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, see the account of Flavius
Josephus
for the
Essenes, see the Dead
Sea scrolls
for the early
Christian rites of baptism and Eucharist, see the Didache
