Early Christian Literature
A.Y. 2022/2023
Learning objectives
Early Christian Literature (a.k.a.: "Patristic") has a fourfold objective:
1) it intends to introduce students to the fundamental literary collection and history of ideas that emerged in Christian origins;
2) the course also intends to illustrate the main trajectories along which the continuing cultural relevance of these texts has been consolidated (from the New Testament collection to authors such as Origen of Alexandria, Eusebius of Cesarea, Augustine of Hippo, Girolamo di Stridone etc.) in the history of thought and the various literary cultures;
3) it aims to introduce the main methodological tools, characteristic of this Discipline and distinctive of its most recent critical developments;
4) Finally, this Discipline aims to show students the opportunities to undertake a research itinerary in this specific field of study.
This articulated methodological and knowledge heritage is aimed, ultimately, at allowing the student to interact critically with the documentary heritage studied by the Discipline and with the complex constellation of studies and researches that, around it, the different critical traditions have animated.
1) it intends to introduce students to the fundamental literary collection and history of ideas that emerged in Christian origins;
2) the course also intends to illustrate the main trajectories along which the continuing cultural relevance of these texts has been consolidated (from the New Testament collection to authors such as Origen of Alexandria, Eusebius of Cesarea, Augustine of Hippo, Girolamo di Stridone etc.) in the history of thought and the various literary cultures;
3) it aims to introduce the main methodological tools, characteristic of this Discipline and distinctive of its most recent critical developments;
4) Finally, this Discipline aims to show students the opportunities to undertake a research itinerary in this specific field of study.
This articulated methodological and knowledge heritage is aimed, ultimately, at allowing the student to interact critically with the documentary heritage studied by the Discipline and with the complex constellation of studies and researches that, around it, the different critical traditions have animated.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge
At the end of the course, the student should have acquired a basic critical knowledge of the primary literary dynamics, of the respective referring historical contexts (Sitz im Leben), of the most significant moments of this literary history and of thought. Alongside this, the course intends to provide critical skills concerning the Discipline's principal methodological resources to orientate the student within the critical analysis of this variegated and plural heritage.
Skills
This knowledge requires an initial competence with the main critical tools developed by and for research in the field of New Testament and "patristic" criticism.
At the end of the course, the student should have acquired a basic critical knowledge of the primary literary dynamics, of the respective referring historical contexts (Sitz im Leben), of the most significant moments of this literary history and of thought. Alongside this, the course intends to provide critical skills concerning the Discipline's principal methodological resources to orientate the student within the critical analysis of this variegated and plural heritage.
Skills
This knowledge requires an initial competence with the main critical tools developed by and for research in the field of New Testament and "patristic" criticism.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Title: "What the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world" (Ad Diognetum 6,1). The Christian "new discourse" between the ideal of paradoxical citizenship and the urgency of an apologetic logos.
Written between the middle of the 2nd century and that of the 3rd century, Ad Diognetum represents one of the best-known and most enigmatic documents of Christian origins. This short treatise, whose only manuscript was found in 1436 only to be destroyed on the occasion of the cannonade of the Strasbourg library in 1870, declines one of the most ancient and singular apologies of Christianity which, started as a defence of the kerygma, is fulfilled as an exhortation (protreptic ) to join the new faith.
The paradoxical condition of Christians within the world - radically declined in the binomial of full participation and non-belonging - activates a reflection that is both completely original and restless, suspended between the claim of a specificity that cannot be contaminated and the refusal to formulate a synthetic definition.
The Christian in the world operates as a principle of life and therefore cannot be summarized either in a moral code or in a theoretical manifesto: the paradoxical Christian presence in the story of the saeculum, in fact, is codified as a function of an event, the advent of salvation, which announces the next ultimate fulfilment of history and the start of eschatological times.
The development of the course will follow three Argumentative Units:
I Argumentative Unit: the peculiarities of the first Christian writing: from Paul and the proto-Christian traditions to the birth of a new "literature" (2nd century CE).
II Argumentative Unit: Christianity in the face of the world, between eschatology, apologetics and protreptics.
III Argumentative Unit: Ad Diognetum.
In the first Unit, the characteristic features of the most ancient Christian textual production will be presented, recalling the epistemological principles on which the disciplinary autonomy of ancient Christian literature is based, whose main methodological acquisitions will be applied exemplarily to the criticism of Diognetus. This examination will also allow us to enter into the merits of the most recent debate on the original nature of the movements of believers in Jesus, the Christ; trying to understand whether they should be considered as a-kerygmatic sapiential aggregations or whether they were actually based on the recognition, in the Passover of Jesus, of the event that was recognized as being destined to fulfil history and to inaugurate the kingdom of God.
In the second Unit, it will be observed the genesis of the first Christian apologetic tradition. The historical and historical Sitz im Leben of ideas will be presented. The ramification of the different traditions (Athenian; Antiochene; Roman and African) will be described and attention will be paid to the different arguments with which it measured itself, classifying the different theoretical approaches that matured from it.
Finally, the last Argumentative Unit will be dedicated to the reading and commentary of Ad Diognetum. The issue of the unity of the work will be discussed and its editorial history will be described. Particular attention will be paid to the singular fortune of this writing, mostly ignored in ancient times and which has become an authentic "classic" in the contemporary world.
Written between the middle of the 2nd century and that of the 3rd century, Ad Diognetum represents one of the best-known and most enigmatic documents of Christian origins. This short treatise, whose only manuscript was found in 1436 only to be destroyed on the occasion of the cannonade of the Strasbourg library in 1870, declines one of the most ancient and singular apologies of Christianity which, started as a defence of the kerygma, is fulfilled as an exhortation (protreptic ) to join the new faith.
The paradoxical condition of Christians within the world - radically declined in the binomial of full participation and non-belonging - activates a reflection that is both completely original and restless, suspended between the claim of a specificity that cannot be contaminated and the refusal to formulate a synthetic definition.
The Christian in the world operates as a principle of life and therefore cannot be summarized either in a moral code or in a theoretical manifesto: the paradoxical Christian presence in the story of the saeculum, in fact, is codified as a function of an event, the advent of salvation, which announces the next ultimate fulfilment of history and the start of eschatological times.
The development of the course will follow three Argumentative Units:
I Argumentative Unit: the peculiarities of the first Christian writing: from Paul and the proto-Christian traditions to the birth of a new "literature" (2nd century CE).
II Argumentative Unit: Christianity in the face of the world, between eschatology, apologetics and protreptics.
III Argumentative Unit: Ad Diognetum.
In the first Unit, the characteristic features of the most ancient Christian textual production will be presented, recalling the epistemological principles on which the disciplinary autonomy of ancient Christian literature is based, whose main methodological acquisitions will be applied exemplarily to the criticism of Diognetus. This examination will also allow us to enter into the merits of the most recent debate on the original nature of the movements of believers in Jesus, the Christ; trying to understand whether they should be considered as a-kerygmatic sapiential aggregations or whether they were actually based on the recognition, in the Passover of Jesus, of the event that was recognized as being destined to fulfil history and to inaugurate the kingdom of God.
In the second Unit, it will be observed the genesis of the first Christian apologetic tradition. The historical and historical Sitz im Leben of ideas will be presented. The ramification of the different traditions (Athenian; Antiochene; Roman and African) will be described and attention will be paid to the different arguments with which it measured itself, classifying the different theoretical approaches that matured from it.
Finally, the last Argumentative Unit will be dedicated to the reading and commentary of Ad Diognetum. The issue of the unity of the work will be discussed and its editorial history will be described. Particular attention will be paid to the singular fortune of this writing, mostly ignored in ancient times and which has become an authentic "classic" in the contemporary world.
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisites for admission.
Teaching methods
The course will be offered in a lecture format (although the possibility of exercises and group work is not excluded). Class attendance is highly recommended.
Teaching Resources
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES:
To support class attendance and exam preparation, all students are requested to have a Bible edition of their choice between:
a) La Bibbia di Gerusalemme, Bologna (EDB) 2009;
b) E Dio disse La Bibbia. Nuovissima versione dai testi originali, Cinisello Balsamo (San Paolo) 2007.
Students with a Classics Curriculum are also requested to have:
* Nestle - Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, Stuttgart (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft) 2012 (28th edition).
The texts listed above will be used during the final examination.
Bibliographic indications and examination programme for ATTENDING STUDENTS.
I Part
* W. Weren, Finestre su Gesù, Torino (Claudiana) 2001;
* C. Moreschini - E. Norelli, Manuale di letteratura cristiana antica greca e latina, Brescia (Morcelliana) 2006 (2ed.).
* Lectures notes and materials of the course.
II Part
* E. Norelli (cur.), A Diogneto, Milano (Paoline) 1991 (Letture cristiane del primo millennio 11). [Pay attention, please: also the Introduction to the text and the Commentary are an integral part of the program!].
For the students with a Classics Curriculum: the greek text of Ad Diognetum should be read in F. Ruggiero (cur.), A Diogneto, Roma (Città Nuova) 2020 (Nuovi Testi Patristici 1).
* Lecture notes and materials of the course.
III Part
* Lecture notes and materials of the course.
For the achievement of the 6 c.f.u., both the attendance and the study of the materials indicated for the first two Units are mandatory;
For the achievement of the 9 c.f.u., both the attendance and the study of the materials indicated for all the three Units are mandatory.
Bibliographic references and examination programme for NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS.
I Part
* W. Weren, Finestre su Gesù, Torino (Claudiana) 2001;
* C. Moreschini - E. Norelli, Manuale di letteratura cristiana antica greca e latina, Brescia (Morcelliana) 2006 (2ed.).
II Part
* E. Norelli (cur.), A Diogneto, Milano (Paoline) 1991 (Letture cristiane del primo millennio 11). [Pay attention, please: also the Introduction to the text and the Commentary are an integral part of the program!].
For the students with a Classics Curriculum: the greek text of Ad Diognetum should be read in F. Ruggiero (cur.), A Diogneto, Roma (Città Nuova) 2020 (Nuovi Testi Patristici 1).
* M. Rizzi, La questione dell'unità dell'"Ad Dognetum", Milano (Vita e Pensiero) 1989 (Studia Patristica Mediolanensia 16).
III Part
* R. Cacitti, Christianoi katechontai: il rapporto tra identità e alterità nell'A Diogneto, in G.G. Merlo - L. Fois (curr.), Identité et appartenance dans l'histoire du christianisme. Identità e appartenenza nella storia del cristianesimo, Milano (Edizioni Biblioteca Francescana) 2005 (Studi di storia del cristianesimo e delle chiese cristiane), 9-39.
For the achievement of the 6 c.f.u., the study of the materials indicated for the first two Units is mandatory;
For the achievement of the 9 c.f.u., the study of the materials indicated for all the three Units is mandatory.
Non-Italian mother-tongue students are requested to contact the teacher to set an alternative bibliography.
To support class attendance and exam preparation, all students are requested to have a Bible edition of their choice between:
a) La Bibbia di Gerusalemme, Bologna (EDB) 2009;
b) E Dio disse La Bibbia. Nuovissima versione dai testi originali, Cinisello Balsamo (San Paolo) 2007.
Students with a Classics Curriculum are also requested to have:
* Nestle - Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, Stuttgart (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft) 2012 (28th edition).
The texts listed above will be used during the final examination.
Bibliographic indications and examination programme for ATTENDING STUDENTS.
I Part
* W. Weren, Finestre su Gesù, Torino (Claudiana) 2001;
* C. Moreschini - E. Norelli, Manuale di letteratura cristiana antica greca e latina, Brescia (Morcelliana) 2006 (2ed.).
* Lectures notes and materials of the course.
II Part
* E. Norelli (cur.), A Diogneto, Milano (Paoline) 1991 (Letture cristiane del primo millennio 11). [Pay attention, please: also the Introduction to the text and the Commentary are an integral part of the program!].
For the students with a Classics Curriculum: the greek text of Ad Diognetum should be read in F. Ruggiero (cur.), A Diogneto, Roma (Città Nuova) 2020 (Nuovi Testi Patristici 1).
* Lecture notes and materials of the course.
III Part
* Lecture notes and materials of the course.
For the achievement of the 6 c.f.u., both the attendance and the study of the materials indicated for the first two Units are mandatory;
For the achievement of the 9 c.f.u., both the attendance and the study of the materials indicated for all the three Units are mandatory.
Bibliographic references and examination programme for NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS.
I Part
* W. Weren, Finestre su Gesù, Torino (Claudiana) 2001;
* C. Moreschini - E. Norelli, Manuale di letteratura cristiana antica greca e latina, Brescia (Morcelliana) 2006 (2ed.).
II Part
* E. Norelli (cur.), A Diogneto, Milano (Paoline) 1991 (Letture cristiane del primo millennio 11). [Pay attention, please: also the Introduction to the text and the Commentary are an integral part of the program!].
For the students with a Classics Curriculum: the greek text of Ad Diognetum should be read in F. Ruggiero (cur.), A Diogneto, Roma (Città Nuova) 2020 (Nuovi Testi Patristici 1).
* M. Rizzi, La questione dell'unità dell'"Ad Dognetum", Milano (Vita e Pensiero) 1989 (Studia Patristica Mediolanensia 16).
III Part
* R. Cacitti, Christianoi katechontai: il rapporto tra identità e alterità nell'A Diogneto, in G.G. Merlo - L. Fois (curr.), Identité et appartenance dans l'histoire du christianisme. Identità e appartenenza nella storia del cristianesimo, Milano (Edizioni Biblioteca Francescana) 2005 (Studi di storia del cristianesimo e delle chiese cristiane), 9-39.
For the achievement of the 6 c.f.u., the study of the materials indicated for the first two Units is mandatory;
For the achievement of the 9 c.f.u., the study of the materials indicated for all the three Units is mandatory.
Non-Italian mother-tongue students are requested to contact the teacher to set an alternative bibliography.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Through exemplary case studies, the course aims to effectively present the specificities, from a critical and historical point of view, of the early Christian literary traditions, emphasizing above all their paradigmatic value and their influence on the subsequent literary history and history of thought.
With particular reference to the use of the methodological and critical instruments elaborated by this Discipline, the course objective is to enable students to analyse a literary document of Early Christianity critically.
The evaluation, expressed in thirtieths and communicated at the end of each exam, takes into account the following criteria:
1) critical reasoning skills (critical evaluation of the document; critical evaluation of the scientific literature; formulation of critical opinions; analytical ability; deductive capacity);
2) methodological rigour (knowledge of the methodological foundations of the discipline; ability to use this methodology);
3) knowledge of the fundamental notions (notional cognition; organization of notions in an ordered framework of knowledge);
4) expressive effectiveness (timely and non-allusive exposition; discursively organization of knowledge; acquisition of a specialized vocabulary).
With particular reference to the use of the methodological and critical instruments elaborated by this Discipline, the course objective is to enable students to analyse a literary document of Early Christianity critically.
The evaluation, expressed in thirtieths and communicated at the end of each exam, takes into account the following criteria:
1) critical reasoning skills (critical evaluation of the document; critical evaluation of the scientific literature; formulation of critical opinions; analytical ability; deductive capacity);
2) methodological rigour (knowledge of the methodological foundations of the discipline; ability to use this methodology);
3) knowledge of the fundamental notions (notional cognition; organization of notions in an ordered framework of knowledge);
4) expressive effectiveness (timely and non-allusive exposition; discursively organization of knowledge; acquisition of a specialized vocabulary).
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/06 - ANCIENT CHRISTIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/06 - ANCIENT CHRISTIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/06 - ANCIENT CHRISTIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)