Course outline

1. Persecution & Triumph: Christianity in the 4th
Century
A series of Powerpoint presentations focused
on readings from the original sources.

2. • Part I Persecutions of the Early 300s
• Part II Constantine
• Part III 1st Council of Nicaea & 1st Council of Constantinople
• Part IV Christian Charity
• Part V Early Christian Art & Architecture
• Part VI Christian Saints

3. Lactantius on Christianity and learning:
Divine Institutes Book IV Chapter 3
Since, therefore, as I have said, philosophy and the religious system of the gods
are separated, and far removed from each other; seeing that some are
professors of wisdom, through whom it is manifest that there is no approach to
the gods, and that others are priests of religion, through whom wisdom is not
learned; it is manifest that the one is not true wisdom, and that the other is not
true religion. Therefore philosophy was not able to conceive the truth, nor was
the religious system of the gods able to give an account of itself, since it is
without it. But where wisdom is joined by an inseparable connection with
religion, both must necessarily be true; because in our worship we ought to be
wise, that is, to know the proper object and mode of worship, and in our
wisdom to worship, that is, to complete our knowledge by deed and action.

4. Topics for a 10 page paper:
• Life of a 4th century saint.
• Debate between Athanasius and Arius including relevant scriptural
passages
• Constantine: good and bad aspects
• Was the early Church pacifist?
• How did Lactantius help develop the ideal of religious freedom?
• How did the early Church help children, slaves, and the poor?
Te Deum Plain chant

5. Additional sources:
• Paul Hartog and The Modern Legacy of Tertullian and Lactantius on
‘Religious Liberty’
• Liberty in the Things of God The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom
• In Defense of Constantine
• Bible Commentary John 14
• Chronology of the Persecution of Christians from 299-324
• A Harmony of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret
• Slavery and Early Christianity

6. • Seven Books Against the Heathens by Arnobius
• Ammianus Marcellinus
• Jerome’s Translation of Genesis 3 and Proba’s Vergilianus Cento: A
Comparison
• Ambrose Letter to Theodosius I after the massacre at Thessalonica
• Ambrose: Dispute with Symmachus Christians called for defunding
paganism. Later Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the
Roman Empire.
• Leading Scholar & Skeptic Bart Ehrman Concedes that the Synoptic Gospels
Present a Divine Jesus
• Academic Review of Moss’ Myth of Persecution