RT4325: Money, Sex and Power in the Early Church

School	Religion
Department Code	SHARE
Module Code	RT4325
External Subject Code	100801
Number of Credits	20
Level	L6
Language of Delivery	English
Module Leader	Reverend Dr Edward Kaneen
Semester	Double Semester
Academic Year	2013/4

Outline Description of Module

Money, sex and have been powerful forces shaping church and society through history. This module will explore the economic, gendered, and social space of the early church. It will consider such issues as: the political implications of Jesus’ message in the Gospels; the implicit status hierarchies in the New Testament church; singleness, celibacy and the suspicion of sex; the conflict of wealth and poverty; the incorporation and exclusion of women in church leadership; and the construction of the Christian male. Through this matrix of core issues, the first Christians sought to define themselves both over against, and in continuity with, structures, models, and assumptions in their social context. Drawing on sociological and historical methods, the module will explore these key elements of the social history of the first Christians through their literature in the New Testament and beyond (up to c. 200CE).

On completion of the module a student should be able to

On successful completion of the module a student will be able to:

Identify key aspects of the early church’s relationship with:

(i) economic issues;

(ii) issues of gender, sexuality and relationships;

(iii) issues of power, politics, and social structure.

Demonstrate an awareness and critical understanding of some recent research on these issues.
Select, analyse and critically interpret relevant early Christian texts in the New Testament and beyond (up to c. 200CE).
Deploy select resources from the social sciences in critically analysing the early church, with particular reference to the areas previously described.
Critically acquire information through reading and research.
Devise, structure and present information in oral and written form.

How the module will be delivered

How the module will be delivered

The module will be delivered through classes which will include lecture presentations, seminar-style tutor-led discussions of texts, and student presentations. The lectures will convey information and exemplify an approach to the subject-matter, enabling students to develop a clear understanding of the subject and to improve their skills in listening and in evaluating information. The discussions will develop skills in close-reading of texts, and enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding, both through preparation and through interaction with students and staff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints and approaches. The student presentations will develop the ability to select relevant academic information and develop skills of oral communication and presentation, including the employment of relevant media.

In addition, the formative and summative essay will develop a depth of subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form. Finally, the examination will assess and enable students to gain a breadth of subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with skills in the selective and structured presentation of information under time constraints.

Skills that will be practised and developed

The ability to:

Listen to others with respect.

Actively respond to peer and teacher feedback.

Discuss and question new ideas.

Reflect on the context-dependent nature of cultural norms.

Present analyses in a clear and coherent manner, both orally and in writing.

Solve problems.

Demonstrate a willingness to seek, and accept, help and guidance.

Accept responsibility for one’s own activities and their outcomes.

Display self-reliance.

Adopt a demanding work-schedule.

Revise judgements and change behaviour in the light of new evidence.

Use computers as a research and writing aid.

How the module will be assessed

The module will be assessed by means of:

a class presentation of c. 1,500 words giving a summary and analysis of assigned reading (worth 15% of the module mark)

an essay of 2,000 words (worth 50% of the module mark)

an exam of 1.5 hours (worth 35% of the module mark)

Assessment Breakdown

Type	%	Title	Duration(hrs)
Presentation	15	Money, Sex And Power In The Early Church	N/A
Written Assessment	50	Money, Sex And Power In The Early Church	N/A
Exam - Spring Semester	35	Money, Sex And Power In The Early Church	1.5

Syllabus content

Three areas will provide both explicit foci for investigation, as well as lenses through which to view key issues in the early church. These areas are: (1) economics; (2) gender, sexuality and relationships; and (3) social structures, politics and power. They provide an interconnected matrix on which to map early Christianity through the canonical and non-canonical texts that Christians produced. Apart from a general methodological introduction to social-scientific approaches to New Testament interpretation, particular subjects to be covered may include:

· The political implications of Jesus’ message in the Gospels.

· The implicit status hierarchies in the Pauline churches.

· Singleness, celibacy and the suspicion of sex.

· Illicit sex and the cultural question of boundaries.

· The conflict of wealth and poverty in the parables.

· The incorporation and exclusion of women in church leadership.

· The construction of the Christian male.

· The problem of slaves in the church.

· The power of the meal table.

· The family structure as social constraint.

· Wealth as the opponent of faith.

· Militaristic metaphors and the power of empire.

· Circumcision and gendered Christianity.

Essential Reading and Resource List

Key texts:

K.C. Hanson and D.E. Oakman, Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts (2nd ed.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008).

W. Meeks, The First Urban Christians (2nd ed.; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), BR166.M3.

T.D. Still and D.G. Horrell, eds., After the First Urban Christian: The Social-Scientific Study of Pauline Christianity Twenty-Five Years Later (London: T & T Clark, 2009).

Other works:

A.J. Blasi, J. Duhaime and P-A Turcotte, eds., Handbook of Early Christianity: Social Science Approaches (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 2002), BR166.H2.

R. Bauckham, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), BS2445.B2.

R.A. Bauman, Women and Politics in Ancient Rome (London: Routledge, 1992), 343.49075.

K. Ehrensperger, Paul and the Dynamics of Power (London: T & T Clark, 2007).

P.F. Esler, The First Christians in their Social Worlds (London: Routledge, 1994), BS2545.S55.E8.

J.A. Glancy, Slavery in Early Christianity (Oxford: OUP, 2002), HT913.G5.

M. Harding, Early Christian Life and Thought in Social Context: A Reader (London: T & T Clark, 2002), BR165.E2.

P.A. Harland, Associations, Synagogues and Congregations (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003).

P. Harland, Dynamics of Identity in the World of the Early Christians: Associations, Judeans and Cultural Minorities (London: T & T Clark, 2009).

S.R. Holman, ed., Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008).

D.G. Horrell, Social-Scientific Approaches to New Testament Interpretation (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999), BS2545.S55.S6.

R.A. Horsley and J.S. Hanson, Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), BM177.H6.

R.A. Horsley, Paul and the Roman Imperial Order (Harrisburg: Trinity, 2004).

R.A. Horsley, Jesus in Context: Power, People and Performance (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008).

H.J. Klauck, The Religious Context of Early Christianity: A Guide to Graeco-Roman Religions (London: T & T Clark, 2000).

D.J. Kyrtatas, The Social Structure of the Early Christian Communities (London: Verso, 1987).

B. Longenecker, ed., Narrative Dynamics in Paul (Louisville: Westminster John Know, 2002), BS2650.52.N2.

B. Longenecker, Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009)

B.J. Malina, The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology (3rd ed.; Louisville: John Knox, 2001), BS2410.M2.

D.B. Martin, Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation (London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006).

S. Moore and J.C. Anderson, eds., New Testament Masculinities, (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003).

J. Neyrey, The Social World of Luke-Acts (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991).

D.E. Oakman, Jesus and the Economic Questions of his Day (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1986).

D.E. Oakman, Jesus and the Peasants (Eugene, Or: Cascade Books, 2008).

D.E. Oakman, The Political Aims of Jesus (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2012).

J. Ǿkland, Women in their Place: Paul and the Discourse of Gender (London: T & T Clark, 2004).

C. Osiek and D.L. Balch, eds., Families in the New Testament World, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), BS2545.F33.O8.

C. Osiek and M. Macdonald, A Woman’s Place: House Churches in earliest Christianity, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006), BV639.W7.O8.

S.H. Polaski, Paul and the Discourse of Power (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1999), BS2655.A8.P6.

S.H. Polaski, A Feminist Introduction to Paul (St Louis, Mo: Chalice, 2005).

P. Oakes, Reading Romans in Pompei (London: SPCK, 2009).

E. Schüssler-Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, (2nd ed.; London: SCM, 1995), BR129.S2.

W. Stegemann, The Gospel and the Poor (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984).

E.W. Stegemann and W. Stegemann, The Jesus Movement: A Social History of Its First Century (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999).

H. Taussig, In the Beginning was the Meal: Social Experimentation and Early Christian Identity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2009)

Additional journal articles and chapters will be assigned on a per class basis.

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