Course Descriptions

MECR 5/340 History of the Church in the East - Credit Hours: 3

Semester normally offered: Fall

Course Description

An introduction to the history of the Christian Churches in the Middle East from the first to the seventh centuries A.D. Major Christian authors from the Second Temple to Emperor Constantine will show the common Christian basis of the churches in the Middle East, while representative Church writers from the three developing ecclesial families (Assyrian, Oriental, Chalcedonian) will reflect each Church’s significant role in the Christian mosaic in the Middle East.

Course Equivalencies

This course fills equivalencies in the following areas:  

• Church History
• Religious Studies
• Eary Christianity

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• outline the characteristics of the various Eastern churches;
• describe the histories and theologies of the main eastern churches (Assyrian, Autocephalus, and Chalcedonian);
• describe the processes that led to the formation of the Christian canon; and
• compare, contrast, and assess the major Church councils.

Field Study

A one-day interactive field study to Christian communities and monasteries from both Eastern and Western Churches surrounding Jerusalem.