TH 311 - Church History I: Early and Medieval Catholicism

Interactivity: Discussion Board

Final Assessment: None

Course Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to do the following:

• Explore the way Church structures, especially the papacy and the episcopacy, evolved in the first millennium as well as more of the Churchs history. 
• Identify some of the ways (political, social, and educational) in which the Church responded to the declining Roman Empire in the West. 
• Appreciate the role of monasticism, beginning with the desert fathers and culminating in the new mendicant orders of the Middle Ages, including its missionary activities. 
• Understand the cultural and theological background to the East-West Schism. 
• Recognize the difference between a patristic/monastic style of theology and the scholastic style that emerged in the twelfth century. 
• Use historical examples to illustrate the social and embodied nature of the Spirit-led Church as it extends the Incarnation of Christ in the world. 
• Evaluate and consult online reference and primary source materials that provide details of topics in Church history that go beyond the introductory level.