- Go to the Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
- Go to the searchable Ancient World Mapping Center interactive map
General Information:
- Philip Harland: pharland – at – yorku – dot – ca.
- Meetings: HUMA 3421; meets Thursdays 11:30-2:20 in Ross room S127
- Zoom link for online meetings in cases of professor illness, snow-days or similar: https://yorku.zoom.us/j/92070904400
- Office hours: TBA or by appointment (Vanier 248). Zoom link option: https://yorku.zoom.us/j/92070904400
Course Description: This course explores Christian origins through the earliest surviving writings regarding followers of Jesus, placing these writings by Paul within social, cultural and ethnic contexts in the ancient Mediterannean. In the process, we will consider a range of worldviews and practices of groups devoted to Jesus, looking at transformations which took place as a Judean (Jewish) movement made its way into the broader Greco-Roman world. Students will gain some control of both the content of early texts and the environment in which the Jesus movements were born, as well as an ability to analyze primary materials from an historical perspective. We will also seek to develop students’ critical skills, including skills of argumentation, written presentation and verbal presentation.
Required Readings
- Bible in modern translation: e.g. NRSV, RSV, NEB, or Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha (not King James)
- Linked readings in the course outline below. Please print all pdfs, read and study them, and bring them to class for discussion.
Course Requirements and Evaluation (all assignments due as pdf email attachments before class)
- Attendance at meetings, participation in discussions (in meetings): 15%
- Fishbowl discussion (first 15 minutes of class meeting): 15%
- Quizzes at the beginning of class 11:30am sharp x 10: 20%
- Essay 1 (analysis of primary source: Josephos and Judean ethnicity): 25% (due week 5)
- Academic integrity tutorial and test due before or with essay 1: link. (Students must send screenshot or pdf of perfect test results)
- Essay 2 (analysis of primary source: Galatians and Romans and ethnicity): 25% (due
week 10week 11)- Total: 100%
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Important things to know:
- Readings and participation: Read and study materials BEFORE meetings.
- Penalties for lateness: Assignments are due at the beginning of class (by email attachment). Late submissions will be penalized by one full grade (e.g. from a B to a C) and a further grade for each additional day beyond the due date.
- Academic honesty and plagiarism policies: Absolutely no form of plagiarism will be tolerated. Study York’s policies here and here. Any use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) to produce or modify text for an assignment is plagiarism and will not be tolerated. All cases of using AI will be treated as plagiarism. NOTE: Each essay must be submitted with a statement by the student author clarifying that the student has not used any form of AI in preparing or producing the essay.
- Cell-phones, laptops, and other devices: All phones and devices must be completely turned off and remain unused during class. Laptops or computers are permitted for note-taking only, not for browsing or messaging.
- Password-protected files for the course, which are used under fair dealing provisions for the purpose of education, are for course use only and should not be redistributed in any form.
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Discussion outline
Week 1 (Sept 4): Academic study of the early Jesus movements and Paul’s ethnic identifications of self and others
- Readings (in class):
- Paul’s “autobiographical” passages and ethnic identifications – Philippians 3:1-16; 2 Corinthians 11:5-12:13; Galatians 1:6-2:14 (link – distributed in class for discussion)
- Special topics for discussion: How do we study early Christianity academically in the context of the discipline of Religious Studies? What importance did ethnic identifications have for Paul?
Week 2 (Sept 11): Positioning Judeans and a Judean movement in a Greco-Roman context – Ethnicity, ancestral customs, and foreign “superstitions”
- Readings:
- Tacitus, Histories 5.1-8, on Judeans and their ancestral customs (link)
- Tacitus, Annals 15.38-44, on “Chrestians” and the fire at Rome (link)
- Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96-97, on “Christians” brought before the Roman governor (link)
- Harland, “Introduction” (on ethnicity) from Dynamics of Identity in the World of the Early Christians, pages 1-19 (link)
Week 3 (Sept 18): Contemporary Judeans on other peoples 1 – Philo
- Readings:
Week 4 (Sept 25): Contemporary Judeans on other peoples 2 – Josephos
- Readings:
Week 5 (Oct 2): Contemporary Judeans on other peoples 3 – Non-Judean “sympathizers” and “god-fearers” acculturating to Judean ways in the diaspora
- Readings:
- In class reading (following up on our discussion of the diversity of second temple Judean culture): Popular movements in Judean culture (first century CE) (link)
*Assignment 1 (analysis of primary source) due week 5 at the beginning of class*
Week 6 (Oct 9): Greeks and Macedonians join a Judean movement – First Thessalonians
- Readings:
- 1 Thessalonians (link), with a close reading of 4:13-5:11 (on the apocalyptic perspective) and attention to the social status and ethnicity of the recipients
- The Community Rule (1QS), Columns 1-4 (I-IV), from the Dead Sea Scrolls (link)
- Short blog posts for background:
- Ehrman, “Paul and His Apostolic Mission : 1 Thessalonians as a Test Case” (link)
- Fishbowl: Connell, Fazal, Pavanpreet Kaur, Dominique, Crowe
**No classes – Reading week Oct 13-17**
Week 7 (Oct 23): Paul’s Judean stereotypes regarding non-Judeans or Greeks: Sexual perversion and idolatry
- Readings:
- Fishbowl: Nyrobi, James, Michael, Kadin, Gurleen
Week 8 (Oct 30): Debates concerning Judean ancestral customs: Paul, “Judaizers” and Galatians
- Readings:
- Fishbowl: Chloe, Christopher, Makayla, Julian, Paul
- Materials for when we are in class: “The peoples” in apocalyptic scenarios (link)
Week 9 (Nov 6): The Galatian situation continued / Ethnic tensions and interactions at Rome, part 1: Judeans, Greeks and “God’s people”
- Readings:
- Fishbowl: Josiah, Eli, Nathaniel, Jayla, Crowe
Week 10 (Nov 13): Ethnic tensions and interactions at Rome, part 2: Tensions around customs about food
- Readings:
- Fishbowl: Sabrina, Edrei, Blessing, Kearsean
Week 11 (Nov 20): Greek and Roman Jesus adherents at home in Corinth
- Readings:
- Fishbowl: TBD
*Assignment due week 11 at the beginning of class*
Week 12 (Nov 27): Documentary – Peter and Paul and the Christian Revolution (Empires) (link to film; 1 hour, 49 minutes)
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ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS
Participation in seminar discussions
Participation and interaction is an important part of the process of learning, particularly in a fourth year seminar. For this reason it is essential that all students do the readings (especially the primary sources) before attending the seminar for a particular week, coming prepared for discussion.
Fishbowl discussion (first 15 minutes of meeting, students marked individually)
- For most weeks, about five students on their own will begin discussion of that weeks main readings in their group with the rest of us observing quietly and, eventually (after 15 minutes), joining the discussion. Our focus questions for the course may be a guide for some issues to explore. You will also want to show how the current week’s readings relate to other things we have been learning in the course.
- There is no need for the group to meet or discuss things in advance. This is not a coordinated presentation but rather a somewhat spontaneous discussion based on each of your own careful readings and historical analyses of the materials.
Essay 1: Analysis of primary source (6 pages double spaced) – submitted as pdf email attachment before class on due date
- Preparation: Carefully read and study the selected sections in Josephus’ Against Apion (link). Also review your other scholarly readings in the course so far, including the article by Harland on “Climbing the Ethnic Ladder” and by Esler on “Judean Ethnic Identity in Josephus’ Against Apion.” However, do not become overly dependent on either of these scholars.
- Essay assignment: Using evidence from Against Apion, write an essay (in your own words) about how Josephos constructs and expresses Judean ethnicity and how, as a member of an ethnic minority, he responds to Greek, Roman, and Egyptian stereotypes and characterizations of Judeans and of their ancestral customs.
- You will be explaining Josephos (and citing passage numbers to support your explanations: e.g. Against Apion 1.2-3; 2.111-115) but you will not be quoting Josephos in the essay. Essays will be considered inadequate if they do not consistently provide specific citations from Josephos (which can be checked for accuracy by the reader) to support the essay-writer’s points.
- AI (Artificial Intelligence online) is not to be used at any stage of working on this or any other assignment in the course. Each essay must be submitted with a statement by the student author clarifying that the student has not used any form of AI in preparing and producing the essay. Students may be asked to meet with the professor to discuss their preparatory work for the essay and their arguments in the essay.
Essay 2: Analysis of primary sources: Constructions of ethnicity in Paul’s letters to the Galatians and to the Romans (10 pages double spaced)
- Preparation: Throughly read and study Paul’s letters to Jesus adherents at Galatia and Rome. Also study the scholarly articles by Fredriksen, Walters, and Esler. However, do not become overly dependent on these scholars. Review your notes from class discussions and from your study of all of the scholarly and ancient materials we have read in the course so far.
- Essay assignment: Write an essay in which you explain (in your own words) how the situations at Galatia and Rome differed (alongside some similarities) and how Paul’s responses on issues of ethnicity and inclusion of “the peoples” (i.e. non-Judeans, especially Greeks) also differed depending on the situation. Among the more important criteria for marking the essay will be the degree to which the student reflects knowledge gained from all of the readings and discussions regarding ancient ethnicity from the course as a whole (that is, this essay simultaneously serves as an exam).
- You will be explaining the situations at Galatia and Rome (and citing passages to support your explanations: e.g. Rom 2:1-5; Gal 4:15-16) but you will not be quoting Paul in the essay. Essays will be considered inadequate if they do not consistently provide specific citations from Paul’s letters (which can be checked for accuracy by the reader, in this case me) to support the essay-writer’s points.
- AI (Artificial Intelligence online) is not to be used at any stage of working on this or any other assignment in the course. Each essay must be submitted with a statement by the student author clarifying that the student has not used any form of AI in preparing and producing the essay. Students may be asked to meet with the professor to discuss their preparatory work for the essay and their arguments in the essay.
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Situation and Response: Some questions to ask when reading each of Paul’s letters (A guide for class discussion and participation)
1) The Situation(s) (within the Jesus groups at a particular locality):
What difficulties are there in determining the situation? Is Paul presenting an objective picture of what is happening or does his direct involvement in the situation complicate matters? That is, what is the nature of our evidence? What evidence is there in a particular letter of the social-economic status or ethnic composition of the groups Paul addresses at a specific city? What is going on within these groups? Are there divisions and if so between who? Has Paul’s authority been questioned? Are there other leaders of the Jesus movements who disagree with Paul? That is, what is involved in the situation Paul addresses? How does the situation relate to the specific social-cultural context of the city in which the groups are living? What does Paul object to or agree with concerning the situation? Are the issues or perceived problems primarily ideological (“theological”), practical or social-historical, or a bit of each? How would you characterize the relation between the Jesus groups at a particular city and facets of surrounding society (open/involvement, closed/separation or somewhere in between)?
2) Paul’s response:
What is Paul’s overall tone in addressing Jesus-followers in a particular place? What does this tell us about his relationship with these groups? What are Paul’s main concerns? What does Paul want his addressees to do or not do? What rhetorical and other methods does he use to convince them of what they should do? What economic, social or cultural factors influence the way in which Paul both understands and addresses the situation? What is Paul’s underlying world view or ideological framework and how and when does it emerge?
3) Comparison:
How do the answers to the above questions compare with Paul’s relations with groups devoted to Jesus at other localities? What does this tell us about the nature of early groups of Jesus devotees and broader issues regarding Christian origins? What does this overall profile reveal about the person of Paul and his purposes?