CLAS/PHIL 2610. Paganism to Christianity

Spring 2002 TR 12:30-1:45 CLRE 207

Instructor: Noel Lenski

Office Eaton Humanities 386

Hours: Tues/Thurs 2:00-3:00; Fri 11:00-12:00

Telphone: 303-492-8184 (Of.)

303-492-6257 (Dept.)

e-mail: lenski@stripe.colorado.edu

Assistant: Marion Brew

I. Purpose

In “Paganism to Christianity” we will examine the religions of the ancient Mediterranean from the period between c. 500 BC and c. AD 500. We will begin with an overview of the fascinating variety of religious experience available across this remarkably multicultural world. We will then examine how Christian religion arose out of this environment and eventually came to dominate it. The course will look at religion as a cultural and societal artifact in an effort to teach us how religions grew from the societies they served. It will treat paganism primarily as it was manifested in the civic cults of Athens and Rome and the mystery cults spawned and spread by the growth of Rome’s empire. It will then examine Christian religion in its original context and will thus provide insight into the foundations of this central western religion.

II. Readings

Readings should be completed in advance of the class day on which they are listed in the syllabus. Students should pay particular attention to the questions posed on the reading assignment sheets; these will be distributed the week preceding each assignment for Thursday only.

To encourage you to read carefully, you will be asked to respond to questions during the lecture. Each of you will be called on twice during the course of the term. You will be able to choose the date for one of these occasions in advance: there will be a sign-up sheet circulated in class and posted outside of my door on which you can choose a date. The second day will be scheduled at random: because you will not know in advance when your second question may fall, you should complete the reading for every class and be prepared to answer a question.

Required Texts (Available in the UMC or Colorado Bookstores)

M. Beard, J. North and S. Price Religions of Rome Volume I: A History (Cambridge, CUP: 1998)

H. Chadwick A History of the Church (London, Penguin: 1993)

E.N. Lane and R. MacMullen Paganism and Christianity, 100-425 CE. A Sourcebook (Minneapolis, Fortress Press: 1992)

S. Price Religions of the Ancient Greeks (Cambridge, CUP: 1999)

There will be a number of assignments from reading materials at the reserve desk in Norlin. These are listed on the syllabus as “Norlin Reserve.”

III. Assignments:

You will be expected to read about 40-50 pages each week. You should read carefully, paying attention both to detail (names, dates) and to the broader picture (trends, developments). Tests include identifications, multiple choice and essays.

IV. Grading:

Attendance at lecture is required: you will be expected to sign in on attendance rosters which will be tallied at the close of term. Three unexcused absences are allowed; further absences will erode your attendance grade quickly. Your response to the two questions posed to you during class discussion will be factored. In addition, there will be one in-class map quiz, one in-class midterm, two short papers (5 pp) and a final examination. Grades will be determined as follows:

Attendance 10%

In class response 10%

Quiz 5%

Midterm 20%

Papers 30%

Final 25%

Be aware that the Final Examination falls on:

Saturday May 4, 2002: 7:30am-10:00am in CLRE 207

V. Schedule

Week I. Paganism to Christianity

Tu. Jan. 15 Lect. 1: The Sociology of Religion in the Ancient World

Tr. Jan. 17 Lect. 2: The Greek Pantheon I: The Olympians

Price p. 1-19

Norlin Reserve: Hesiod Theogony lines 1-867 or at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0020,001

Week II. Pagan Greece

Tu. Jan. 22 Lect. 3: Greek Pantheon II: The Lesser Deities

Price p. 19-25

Lane and MacMullen 2.1-2.4; 3.2 (pp. 29-43); 7.1-7.5 (p. 79-82)

Tr. Jan. 24 Lect. 4: Greek Ritual I: Polis and Polytheism

Price p. 25-58; 97-100

Lane and MacMullen 4.3-4.10 (pp. 54-63)

Norlin Reserve: Homeric Hymn to Demeter or at

http://users.erols.com/nbeach/demeter.html

Week III. Pagan Greece and Rome

Tu. Jan. 29 Lect. 5: Greek Ritual II: Beyond the Polis

MAP QUIZ (10 min.)

Price p. 67-76; 102-7; 108-25

Tr. Jan. 31 Lect. 6: Roman Pantheon I: Agricultural Deities and Animism

Beard, North and Price pp. 30-41; 171-81

Norlin Reserve: Ovid Fasti Bk. 4

Week IV. Pagan Rome

Tu. Feb. 5 Lect. 7: Roman Pantheon II: Roman State Cult

Beard, North and Price pp. 18-30; 125-40; 186-96

Tr. Feb. 7 Lect. 8: Roman Ritual: Religious Formalism and Adaptability

Beard, North and Price pp. 61-72

Norlin Reserve: Cicero De Divinatione Selections

Week V. Mysteries and the Arcane

Tu. Feb. 12 Lect. 9: Cybele and Dionysus

Beard, North and Price pp. 87-98; 156-66

Lane and MacMullen 5.1-5.4 (pp. 64-72)

Norlin Reserve: Livy Histories 39.8-22

Tr. Feb. 14 Lupercalia Festival

First Paper Due: Tolerance and Persecution

Week VI. Philosophy and Religion

Tu. Feb. 19 Lect. 10: Philosophy and Astrology: Platonists, Stoics, Pythagoreans

Price p. 126-42

Lane and MacMullen 1.2-1.6 (p. 9-21); 8.1 (p. 106-8); 16.1 (p. 202-204)

Tr. Feb. 21 Lect. 11: Isis and Mithras

Beard, North and Price pp. 260-312

Lane and MacMullen 5.5 (pp. 72-3); 7.8 (pp. 84-103)

Week VII. Monotheism and its Discontents

Tu. Feb. 26 Lect. 12: The Imperial Cult

Beard, North and Price pp. 140-9; 206-10; 348-63

Lane and MacMullen 6.1-6.4 (pp. 74-78)

Th. Feb. 28 Lect. 13: Judaism

Lane and MacMullen 12.3-13.6 (p. 150-63)

Norlin Reserve: 1 Maccabees 1-5 (p. 570-81) 2 Maccabees 1-10 (p. 604-19)

Week VIII. Early Christian Communities and the Pagan Reaction

Tu. Mar. 5 Midterm Examination

Tr. Mar. 7 Lect. 14: Jesus of Nazareth and the Gospel Tradition

Chadwick pp. 9-23

Norlin Reserve: Gospel of Mark

Week IX.

Tu. Mar. 12 Lect. 15: The New Testament Tradition

(Hands-on presentation in Norlin Library)

Norlin Reserve: Gospel of Thomas

Tr. Mar. 14 Lect. 16: Paul and the First Christians

Norlin Reserve: Acts of the Apostles 1-9; 13-22 (p. 122-33; 137-50)

Week X. The Clash of Religions I: Apology and Persecution

Tu. Mar. 19 Lect. 17: Special Presentation

Tr. Mar. 21 Lect. 18: Persecution and Martyrdom

Chadwick pp. 23-31; 116-24

Lane and MacMullen 18.1-14 (pp. 218-239)

Norlin Reserve: Passion of Perpetua or at

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/perpetua.html

March 23 – 31 Spring Break

Week XI. Church Meets State

Tu. Apr. 2 Lect. 19: Constantine’s Conversion and the Rise of the Christian State

Beard, North and Price pp. 364-80

Chadwick pp. 125-9

Lane and MacMullen 20.1 (pp. 261-265)

Tr. Apr. 4 Lect. 20: Apologists

Chadwick pp. 54-79

Lane and MacMullen 14.1-15.2 (pp. 164-201)

Second Paper Due: Defending Your Religion

Week XII. The Varieties of Christianity

Tu. Apr. 9 Lect. 21: Heresy: Gnosticism, Montanism, Manicheism

Chadwick pp. 33-41

Lane and MacMullen 16.2 (pp. 204-206)

Tr. Apr. 11 Lect. 22: Emperors and Heresy: Nicaea and Chalcedon

Chadwick pp. 129-151; 192-212

Norlin Reserve: Socrates Ecclesiastical History 1.5-9 (pp. 3-17) or at http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-02/Npnf2-02-06.htm#P173_39581

Week XIII. Christian Ritual and Practice

Tu. Apr. 16 Lect. 23: The Cult of the Saints

Lane and MacMullen 17.1 (pp. 207-15)

Tr. Apr. 18 Lect. 24: The Origins of Asceticism and Monasticism

Chadwick pp. 174-183

Norlin Reserve: Athanasius Life of Antony 1-16; 45-62; 67-82; 89-94 (p. 8-20; 36-48; 51-62; 65-9) or at

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-04/Npnf2-04-38.htm#P3636_1501897

Week XIV. The Clash of Religions II: The Last Pagans

Tu. Apr. 23 Lect. 25: Temple Bashing and Pagan Bashing

Beard, North and Price pp. 381-8

Chadwick pp. 160-173

Lane and MacMullen 22.5-9 (pp. 283-9)

Tr. Apr. 25 Lect. 26: The Pagan Holy Man

Lane and MacMullen 11.1-2 (pp. 138-47)

Norlin Reserve: Eunapius Lives of the Sophists pp. 363-467 (Wright trans.)

Week XV. Clash of Religions III. Experience of Conversion

Tu. Apr. 30 Lect. 27: The Experience of Julian

Chadwick pp. 152-59

Lane and MacMullen 21.1-21.3 (pp. 266-278)

Tr. May 2 Lect. 28: The Experience of Augustine

Lane and MacMullen 22.1-22.4 (pp. 279-83)

Norlin Reserve: Augustine Confessions VIII-IX.18 (pp.133-67) or at http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-01/npnf1-01-16.htm#P1137_471801

Final Examination:

Saturday May 4, 2002: 7:30am-10:00am in CLRE 207

Geography

I will distribute maps of the Mediterranean in class. To help ensure that you diligently apply yourselves to the joys of geography, there will be one map quiz; this will cover only the names of places listed on the "Map Quiz Preparation Sheet" which you can get in the first week of class.

Funky Names, Places and Things

Any time you wish to know more about a name, place or institution in your reading which you cannot find in this glossary, consult:

The Oxford Classical Dictionary 3rd Ed. (Oxford, 1996)

Norlin Reference Dept. Stacks DE 5.O9 1996

Encyclopedia of the Early Church 2 vols. (Oxford, 1992) Norlin Reference BR66.5 .D5813 1992