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Overview

Course Prescription

Examines the history of Christianity from its origins in Palestinian and diaspora Judaism through to its official endorsement by the Roman Empire at the end of the fourth century. Explores how various traditions about Jesus evolved, how Christians both accommodated and resisted the wider culture, and how norms for “orthodoxy” (correct teaching) gradually took shape.

Course Overview

Today about 2.3 billion people belong to communities that recognise Jesus of Nazareth, a first century Jew from Roman Palestine, as the anointed one of God or "Christ". Despite this common point of reference in Jesus, his modern followers are astonishingly diverse in language, culture, practice, theology and even politics. Separate Christian traditions or "denominations" number in the tens of thousands. Aotearoa is home to at least fifty of these.
Despite their diversity, most Christian traditions look back to the first three or four centuries of Christian history as somehow normative for their life and belief. In this course we'll look at how some of those norms took shape. For example, we'll look at how early Christians developed the statements of faith and the versions of the Bible that shape most Christian traditions today. But we'll also look at the way in which early Christianity was shaped by its interaction with the worlds of the Ancient Near East, and the Mediterranean coasts of Africa and Europe.
Because of Christianity's diversity, there has never been one agreed story about who Jesus was, what his life and teachings meant, or exactly what happened in the early years of his movement. So in this course, we'll spend a lot of time looking at the challenges posed by the historical evidence for early Christianity: how did it get to us? how trustworthy is it? how sure can we be that we understand it? what should we do about the gaps in the evidence? We'll also look at some of the debates among modern experts and start to think about how to evaluate them and form our own well-informed opinions.
For each week of the course you'll be provided with readings and sometimes video clips to look at before class. Lectures will give you a broad overview of each week's theme. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and discuss ideas in lectures, but you will also have a chance to develop your own ideas in a smaller tutorial each week. Tutorial discussions will always focus on the challenges of historical evidence and interpretation, and will usually be related to an early Christian text in English translation.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 2 hours of lectures, a 1 hour tutorial, 3 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 4 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Course Prerequisites, Corequisites and Restrictions

Restriction

Additional Advice on Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 30 points at Stage II in the BA Schedule

Locations and Semesters Offered

LocationSemester
City

Teaching and Learning

Campus Experience

Attendance is expected at scheduled activities including tutorials to complete components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including tutorials will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events including tutorials.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable

Learning Resources

Taught courses use a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas to provide students with learning materials including reading lists and lecture recordings (where available). Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Additional Information on Learning Resources

All required and suggested course readings will be available online via the Talis reading list for this course.
However, if you want to do some preparatory background reading, I would recommend one or more of the following:

  • Diarmaid McCulloch, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2009). This is available at a reasonable price in paperback or as an ebook. Read only chapters 1-6 for this course, and/or
  • Bart Ehrman, The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2018). Likewise available in print or as an ebook and/or
  • Paula Fredriksen, Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years (Princeton, NJ; Oxford: Princeton and Oxford University Presses, 2024). Currently available in hardback or as an ebook.

Copyright

The content and delivery of content in this course are protected by copyright. Material belonging to others may have been used in this course and copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under license.


You may copy the course content for the purposes of private study or research, but you may not upload onto any third-party site, make a further copy or sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of the course content to another person.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Similarly, research students must meet the University’s expectations of good research practice. This requires:

  • Honesty - in all aspects of research work
  • Accountability - in the conduct of research
  • Professional courtesy and fairness – in working with others
  • Good stewardship – on behalf of others
  • Transparency – of research process and presentation of results
  • Clarity - communication to be understandable, explainable and accessible

For more information on the University’s expectations of academic integrity, please see the Academic Conduct section of the University policy hub.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about taught courses is made available to enrolled students in Canvas.

Students may be asked to submit assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.


Assessment and Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

CLO #OutcomeProgramme Capability Link
1
2
3
4
5

Assessments

Assessment TypeAssessment PercentageAssessment Classification

Assessment to CLO Mapping

Assessment Type12345

Student Feedback, Support and Charter

Student Feedback

Feedback on taught courses is gathered from students at the end of each semester through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions. Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students. In addition, class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Class representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Tuākana

Tuākana is a multi-faceted programme for Māori and Pacific students providing topic specific tutorials, one-on-one sessions, test and exam preparation and more. Explore your options at Tuakana Learning Communities.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website.

Wellbeing

We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - please see the Support Services page for information on support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed work is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due. If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page. This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter.

Student Academic Complaints and Disputes

Students with concerns about teaching including how a course is delivered, the resources provided, or supervision arrangements, have the right to express their concerns and seek resolution. The university encourages informal resolution where possible, as this is quicker and less stressful. For information on the informal and formal complaints processes, please refer to the Student Academic Complaints Statute in the Student Policies and Guidelines section of the Policy Hub.