RELS 190 History of Early Christianity

Early Christianity from the first to the fifth century was a complex and variegated phenomenon. We shall investigate the variety of early Christianities in this time period looking at texts primarily from North Africa Asia Minor and Rome. An investigation of the diversity of early Christianity in this time will allow us to think about early Christian struggles over authority and identity both within Christian communities and between Christian communities and their neighbors and to challenge categories such as orthodoxy and heresy.