Write a “thesis-based” persuasive esay of at least 1000 to 1200 words, related to some aspect or theme from the first half of our course regarding: 1) The Early Church, or 2) The Medieval Church.
Some possible topics
- The Greek context for early Christianity
- The Jewish influence on early Christianity
- The early spread of Christianity
- Women in early Christianity
- Justin Martyr’s idea of Logos Spermatikos
- Gnosticism
- Constantine and the rise of Imperial Roman Christianity
- The Monastic movement
- The cult of Thecla
- Early theology: Irenaeus, Origin, Clement or Augustine
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Hesychasm
- The development of the New Testament Canon
- the Arian debate
- The origins of the Creeds
- Celtic Christianity
- The Great (East vs. West) Schism
- The Crusades and Spain
- The Mendicants: Franciscans and Dominicans
- Mysticism
- Scholastic theology
- Medieval attempts to rationally prove the existence of God
- The Great Western Schism (Avignon Papacy)
- The Renaissance
- Humanism