I've been doing research for an adult Sunday school class on church history. I admit that I am not an expert in the field of church history--my education on the subject includes one seminary class and a handful of books I've edited for work--but I find the subject fascinating. I am interested in the way our modern faith has been shaped by the experiences of our forebears. There are faith lessons to be learned from our spiritual mothers and fathers.
The first session will be on the early church (from Christ to Constantine). So I've been reading about persecution under Nero, the Jewish Wars with Rome, the early liturgical practices of the church, martyrdom, the fall of Jerusalem, heresy, creeds, and missionary endeavors. I get forty-five minutes to try to explain the context of the early church and to draw out application for our own experience.
I'm basing my research on a two-volume work entitled: The Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez. I highly recommend these books. They give a great account of the history of Christianity and they are very readable. I've also turned to Wikipedia for a pretty thorough description of the Jewish Wars. I'd like to say I've read Josephus's full account, but that just wouldn't be true. I'd like to read his work someday.
My five-week lesson plan includes:
The Early Church
The Institutionalized Church: the impact of Constantine
The Reformation
Vatican II
The Global Church
one question - will you share the outline of your notes when you finish? I've thought of starting the same, or teaching a basic theology one as well.
ReplyDeleteAndy Cornett
Sounds instructive and approachable as you've outlined it. I'm sure it will be well received.
ReplyDeleteAndy...I'll get you the notes when I'm done. I meet even put together a power point (first time ever!). I want to try to incorporate some sacred art from the different ages we're discussing. We'll see how much time I leave myself.
ReplyDelete