RLB43 Early Christianity between Judaism and Hellenism

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Dalibor Papoušek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Thu 8:20–9:55 L31
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Annotation
The course is focused on two main trends in religious life of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean - Judaism and Hellenism. It follows the transformations of Judaism under the penetration of the Greek culture after the impact of Alexander the Great, under the control of the Egyptian Ptolemies, the Syrian Seleucides, and the Romans. A due attention is paid to the detailed differentiation of the earliest Christianity in the very context of the Judaizing and Hellenizing lines.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- demonstrate the basic factual knowledge of the Hellenistic context of early Judaism and early Christianity;
- analyze relevant written sources of different religious and cultural origin;
- analyze broader cultural context of early Christianity on the basis of relevant archaeological sources;
- differentiate particular streams of early Christianity regarding their cultural plurality;
- revise the dichotomy of Judaism and Hellenism as a disputable interpretative scheme.
Syllabus
  • (0) Introduction to the course. (1) Dichotomy of Judaism and Hellenism. (2) The Hellenization of Palestine during the 3rd - 1st century B.C. (3) The attempt of the Hellenistic reform and the Maccabean wars. (4) The Hellenistic diaspora in Egypt. (5) Messianism and the Hellenistic conception of ideal ruler. (6) Gnosis and esoterism. (7) The Hellenization of Jerusalem. (8) Jesus movements. (9) Christ movements. (10) Paul of Tarsus between Hellenism and Judaism. (11) Antisemitism in early Christianity. (12) Early Jewish and early Christian fine arts in the context of Hellenistic culture.
Literature
  • POKORNÝ, Petr. Řecké dědictví v Orientu :Helénismus v Egyptě a Sýrii. 1. vyd. Praha: ISE, 1993, 377 s., 10. ISBN 80-85241-50-1. info
  • MARTIN, Luther H. Helénistická náboženství : Hellenistic religions: an introduction (Orig.). Translated by Iva Doležalová - Dalibor Papoušek. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1997, xx, 161. ISBN 80-210-1702-3. info
  • LEVINE, Lee I. Judaism and Hellenism in antiquity : conflict or confluence? 1st print. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999, xiii, 227. ISBN 1565634888. info
  • Paul beyond the Judaism/Hellenism divide. Edited by Troels Engberg-Pedersen. 1st ed. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2001, x, 355. ISBN 0664224067. info
  • Hengel, Martin. Judaism and Hellenism: studies in their encounter in Palestine during the early Hellenistic Period. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1974.
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussions based on home readings and individual written commentaries, presentation and defence of individual seminar papers.
Assessment methods
Requirements for the colloquium:
(a) active participation in class discussions;
(b) written commentaries in given sources;
(c) seminar paper defenced in a class discussion.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2006, Spring 2009, Spring 2012, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2010, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2010/RLB43