Outline

Overview

This unit discusses the textual, archaeological and socio-cultural evidence for the origins of Christianity; with a particular purpose to analyse how cults centred on the charismatic figure of Jesus of Nazareth led to the construction of such a powerful religious tradition. Tensions within that emergent tradition will be considered, and especially its struggle towards self-identity with both Judaism and the Greco-Roman world.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Studies in Religion
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	12 credit points at 1000 level in Studies in Religion or 6 credit points at 1000 level in in Studies in Religion and 6 credit points at 1000 level in Ancient History
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	RLST2024
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Christopher Humphrey Hartney, christopher.hartney@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Doru Costache, doru.costache@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Presentation	Seminar presentation n/a	20%	Multiple weeks	1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Essay n/a	40%	Week 07 Due date: 14 Sep 2023 at 23:59	2000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Take-home paper n/a	40%	Week 13 Due date: 02 Nov 2023 at 23:59	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Oral presentation 20%; essay 40%; take-home paper 40%

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Weekly	See the "Additional Information" section of this outline for this semester's weekly topics.	Lecture (1 hr)
	See the "Additional Information" section of this outline for this semester's weekly topics.	Seminar (1 hr)
	See the "Additional Information" section of this outline for this semester's weekly topics.	Tutorial (1 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on Canvas. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Reading Requirements
Students are required to read the weekly set readings (detailed below) for the Tutorials. These will form the basis for discussion in tutorials, and it is essential that everyone is prepared and contributes. This is an online resource accessed via the link on the Canvas site.

NB Students are expected to read more widely around the topic, not simply for their Seminar Presentations and Essays, but to follow the development of topics from week-to-week. An introductory bibliography is appended below (after the set readings), but there is a vast amount of other material that could be consulted.

Set Readings:
Week 3: Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Ass, tr. R. Graves, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1950: 226-242.

Week 4: Gospel of Luke, tr. The Jerusalem Bible, Darton, Longman and Todd, London 1968: 70-73.
Acts of Thomas, tr. New Testament Apocrypha vol. II rev. ed., ed. W. Schneemelcher, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville 2003:339-345.

Week 5: Gospel of Mark, tr. The Jerusalem Bible, Darton, Longman and Todd, London 1968: 64-69.

Gospel of Judas, https://classics.osu.edu/sites/classics.osu.edu/files/Brakke%20Documents.pdf

Week 6: Extracts on Philosophy and Theology in The Christian Theology Reader, 2nd edition, ed. A. E. McGrath, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford 2001: 4-12.

Week 7: The Secret Book of John, in The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, (The International Edition), ed. M. Meyer, HarperOne, New York 2007: 103-132.

Week 8: Origen, On First Principles, tr. G.W. Butterworth, SPCK, London 1936: 1-17.

Week 9: Extracts on Mani and Manichaeism in Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire, ed. I. Gardner and S.N.C. Lieu, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004: 176-196.

Week 10: Athanasius, The Life of Antony, tr. R.C. Gregg, SPCK, London, 1980: 29-43.

Week 11: Creeds of Nicaea, Constantinople and Chalcedon in Creeds, Councils and Controversie, ed. J. Stevenson, SPCK, London 1966: 334-338.

Week 12: Augustine, Confessions, tr. H. Chadwick, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1992: 24-35.

Bibliography:
The following is just a sample of the vast amount of material available, other works will be referred to in class.

Barnes, T.D. (1993), Athanasius and Constantius: theology and politics in the Constantinian empire. (Cambridge, Mass.).
Bauer, W., (1971), Orthodoxy and heresy in earliest Christianity. (Philadelphia).
Bockmuehl, M. (ed.) (2001), The Cambridge companion to Jesus. (Cambridge).
Boys-Stones, G. R., (2001), Post-Hellenistic philosophy: a study of its development from the Stoics to Origen. (Oxford).
Broek, R. van den., (1996), Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity. (Leiden / New York).
Brown, P. (1969), Augustine of Hippo: a biography. (London).
Chadwick, H., (1966), Early Christian thought and the classical tradition: studies in Justin, Clement, and Origen. (Oxford).
Crossan, J.D. (1992), The historical Jesus: the life of a Mediterranean Jewish peasant. (San Francisco).
Dillon, J.M., (1996), The Middle Platonists, 80 B.C. to A.D. 220. (Ithaca, NY).
Donfried, K.P. and Richardson, P., (eds.), (1998) Judaism and Christianity in first-century Rome. (Grand Rapids, Mich.).
Drake, H. A. (2000), Constantine and the bishops: the politics of intolerance (Baltimore).
Dzielska, M. (1986), Apollonius of Tyana in legend and history. (Rome).
Ehrman, B.D., (2004), The New Testament : a historical introduction to the early Christian writings. (2nd ed.; New York).
_____ ,(1999), After the New Testament : a reader in early Christianity. (New York).
_____ (2004), The New Testament and other early Christian writings: a reader. ( New York).
Ferguson, E. (1993), Backgrounds of early Christianity. (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids, Mich.).
Frend, W. H. C. (1998), Archaeology and history in the study of early Christianity. (London).
_____ , (1996), The archaeology of early Christianity: a history. (Minneapolis).
_____ , (1984), The rise of Christianity. (Philadelphia).
Goodman, M., and Price, S., (1999), Apologetics in the Roman Empire: pagans, Jews, and Christians. (Oxford).
Grant, R.M. (1997), Irenaeus of Lyons. (London).
Hanson, R. P. C., (1988), The search for the Christian doctrine of God: the Arian controversy 318-381. (Edinburgh).
Horsley, G. H. R. (1981-1989), New documents illustrating early Christianity, vols. 1-5 (North Ryde).
Judge, E. A. (1960), The social pattern of the Christian groups in the first century: some prolegomena to the study of New Testament ideas of social obligation. (London).
Klauck, H.-K. (2000), The religious context of early Christianity: a guide to Graeco-Roman religions. (Edinburgh).
Lieu, J., North, J. and Rajak, T., (eds.), (1992), The Jews among pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire. (London).
Lieu, J. (1996), Image and reality: the Jews in the world of the Christians in the second century (Edinburgh)
Lim T.H. et al. (eds.), (2000), The Dead Sea scrolls in their historical context. (Edinburgh).
Llewelyn, S.R., (1992-1998), New documents illustrating early Christianity, vols. 6-8 (North Ryde).
Luttikhuizen, G. (2012), The Diversity of earliest Christianity, (The Netherlands)
Martínez, F.G. (ed.), (1996), The Dead Sea scrolls translated: the Qumran texts in English. (2nd ed.; Leiden / New York).
Meeks, W.A. (1983), The first urban Christians: the social world of the Apostle Paul (New Haven).
Meier, J. P., (1991), A marginal Jew: rethinking the historical Jesus. (2 vols.; New York).
Origen, (1980), Contra Celsum, trans. H. Chadwick. (Cambridge).
Osborn, E.F., (1973), Justin Martyr. (Tübingen).
Pearson, B.A., (2007), Ancient Gnosticism, (Minneapolis).
Pohlsander, H.A., (1996), The Emperor Constantine. (London).
Rees, B. R. (1988), Pelagius, a reluctant heretic. (Woodbridge, Suffolk).
Rousseau, P. (2002), The early Christian centuries (London).
Runia, D.T., (1990), Exegesis and philosophy: studies on Philo of Alexandria. (Aldershot).
_____, (1995), Philo and the church fathers: a collection of papers. (Leiden / New York).
Sanders, E.P., (1980-82), Jewish and Christian self-definition. (London).
Schiffman, L.H. (1998) Texts and traditions: a source reader for the study of Second Temple and rabbinic Judaism. (Hoboken, NJ).
Schneemelcher, W. (ed.), (1991-92), New Testament Apocrypha. (Cambridge).
Smith, M., (1974), The secret Gospel: the discovery and interpretation of the secret Gospel according to Mark. (London).
Stead, C., (2000), Doctrine and philosophy in early Christianity: Arius, Athanasius, Augustine. (Aldershot).
Stegemann, H. (1998), The library of Qumran, on the Essenes, Qumran, John the Baptist, and Jesus. (Grand Rapids, Mich.).
Stevenson, J. (ed.), (1989), Creeds, councils, and controversies: documents illustrating the history of the church, AD 337-461. (London)
_____, (1987) A new Eusebius; documents illustrative of the history of the church to A.D. 337. (London).
Takács, S.A. (1995), Isis and Sarapis in the Roman world (Leiden / New York).
Thiede, C.P., (2000), The Dead Sea scrolls and the Jewish origins of Christianity. (Oxford).
Trigg, J.W., (1998), Origen. (London).
Valantasis, R. (1997), The Gospel of Thomas. (London).
Vermes, G., (1995), The Dead Sea scrolls in English. (4th ed.; Sheffield).
_____, (2012), Christian beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea. (London).
Wagner, W.H., (1994), After the apostles: Christianity in the second century. (Minneapolis).
Widdicombe, P. (1994), The fatherhood of God from Origen to Athanasius. (Oxford).

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. critically assess the primary source material and other data available for an understanding of early Christianity
LO2. identify the theoretical and doctrinal stances held by secondary writers about early Christianity
LO3. understand the principal historical trajectories taken by early Christianity to the 5th century CE
LO4. analyse the influence of various religious, philosophical and cultural contexts upon the origin and development of early Christianity.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

This Unit has been revised and updated in response to student evaluations and developments in the discipline

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

RLST2624: The Birth of Christianity

Semester 2, 2023 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect