Exam 1 Study Guide

Christianity from Its Beginnings through the Seventh Century

Be familiar with the material in these sections of the textbook or documents from the class website:

• Introducing Christianity, chapters 1-8
• Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, Introduction and chapters 1-3
• Important Dates in the History of Christianity (Unit One)
• Important Terms related to the History of Christianity (Unit One)
• maps under the Other Links section of the class website
• Nicene Creed (both versions)
• The Divine and the Human in Christ - differing views

Other than the dates listed in "Important Dates," you will not be asked about any specific dates. However, you should be able to put important people and/or events in chronological order. For example, you should know that Paul, Marcion, and Tertullian all lived before the empire-wide persecution of Christians started, and that Christianity became a legal religion in the Roman Empire before the careers of Augustine, Jerome, and the Great Cappadocians.

Review the multiple choice questions contained in the four practice quizzes available on Blackboard.

Sample discussion/short answer questions:

• Did early Christians see Christianity as primarily a Jewish or a Greco-Roman religion?
• How did the version of Christianity practiced in Rome come to set the standard for orthodoxy throughout most of the church? (remember the prequisites that the Roman church had: an ancient pedigree, a sizeable following, persuasive communication tools, and (eventually) an effective enforcement mechanism)
• Discuss the three persuasive communication tools that the church of Rome possessed. (creed, canon, and apostolic succssion, but you'll need to elaborate on each of these)
• Discuss the issues and the results of the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople, including a discussion of terms such as homoousios and homoiousios. (you might also want to discuss heteroousios and homoios)
• Discuss the issues and the results of the Council of Ephesus and the Council of Chalcedon, including a discussion of those groups who rejected the findings of these councils.
• Discuss different forms of monasticism as practiced between the third and the sixth centuries. (eremitic, semi-eremitic, cenobitic—you might also discuss the stylites and important leaders in the movement such as Anthony the Great, Pachomius, Benedict, and Basil the Great)
• Discuss the contributions of Augustine to the development of Christianity.
• How did the teachings of Marcion and Montanus affect the church's understanding of the nature of revelation and the development of the canon?
• Discuss the beliefs and works of any three of the following apologists from the first three centuries of Christianity: Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Origen.
• In what ways did political considerations play a role in the development of Christian doctrine during the first five centuries of Christianity? (consider the roles played by Constantine at Nicaea, the struggle for recognition of authority by the different Eastern sees [Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople] and their alliances with Rome, the authority of the emperor to dismiss bishops of Constantinople that they didn't like [e.g., Chrysostom, Nestorius—no one in the West had this power])