Early Christianity

The course provides the broad outlines of the history of ancient Christianity and the tools necessary to understand the main aspects (historical, theological, ecclesiological and regarding heresy) of Christianity from the age of origin to late antiquity.

By the end of the course the student will have acquired the epistemological foundations of the discipline and the coordination essential for the critical knowledge of Christian origins, the main historiographic traditions that concern them and the historical-critical instrumentation that, in this tradition of research, has been refined by the most significant methodological schools; historical and geographical. The student will be able to use language tools (language properties, correct specific lexicon) to express, in a clear and effective form, concepts of a political, institutional, economic, and religious nature; they will be able to read critically historiographical works and use the main tools, including digital tools, for the research and analysis of sources. These skills will be acquired through a direct and continuous meeting with the instructor in the classroom. The discussion around the proposed sources will be an essential moment of critical reflection and methodological learning, through which the foundations for the critical exegesis of the ancient Christian document will be made available to the student, both in terms of the content and that of the different "specific languages" adopted by the authors.
Participation in meetings and seminars organized within the Department of Historical Studies will also be of great importance. Students opting not to attend the lessons will be able to make use of the educational tools provided by the instructor on Ariel, deepen their knowledge of main topics through special readings with the agreement with the instructor, and of course contact the instructor either by e-mail and during office hours.