The Assignment:
CREATIVE OPTION: You have been selected to write about ancient Christianity for an online magazine (Slate, Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Christianity Today, etc.), newspaper (The New York Times, The Gazette, Le Devoir, etc.), or other popular media venue (i.e. write as scholars in a twitter or facebook exchange?). You can also invent a publication of your choosing, “History for Gamers”?
Your goal is to challenge misconceptions and/or to educate, in an engaging way, a general audience about ancient Christianity on one of the topics listed below. You should position yourself as a contemporary scholar, journalist, or editorialist in your writing. Identify clearly the publication or media outlet for which you are writing. Ensure that your prose is legible and professional (i.e. if you go for the twitter option, keep it respectful in tone please). Write in a way that would be understandable for the audience who would read this publication or go to this site. Your essay should have clear thesis or main point to organize your discussion. Be sure to title to your piece as well. Your essay should reference multiple course readings and lectures, particularly any relevant ancient sources that we have read (letters of Paul, gospels, Nag Hammadi documents, etc.).
STANDARD ESSAY OPTION: You may prefer to write a standard academic essay. If so, then answer this question: Why is this topic (select from below) important or significant in the history of ancient Christianity? What does it tell us about this tradition and its development? How does a deeper historical understanding of this topic challenge popular preconceptions about ancient Christianity (or even ideas that you had about Christianity before taking this course)? Your essay should reference multiple course readings and lectures, particularly any relevant ancient sources that we have read (letters of Paul, gospels, Nag Hammadi documents, etc.). You should have a clear thesis and well-organized essay with an introduction and conclusion.
Topics:
1. The Writings of the Nag Hammadi Library.
2. The “Jewishness” of Ancient Christianity.
3. Women’s Leadership and Apostolic Authority in Ancient Christian communities.
4. The Formation of the Christian Bible.
5. Ancient Christian Representations of Jesus.
Detailed Instructions:
Ø Double-spaced, 12-point font.
Ø -3-6 pages in length (1200-1500 words total).
Ø Have a clear thesis or central argument.
Ø You must use any and all relevant assigned course readings, lectures and discussions for your topic. No outside sources without consultation with the instructor.
Ø Include all references to assigned course readings in parenthetical format, author name, pg # is fine, ie (Martin, 238), or as a footnote (if you do not want to interrupt the flow of your piece, footnotes are a better option). Please include a bibliography of sources cited.
Ø Essays will be marked based on the level of engagement with course content (i.e. not a simple surface reading of the materials), the sophistication of your analysis as well as the quality of your writing (please edit your work!). Essays must be clearly written with correct English spelling and punctuation, or legibly if you are writing in the form of a twitter exchange.
Ø Late assignments will not be accepted unless you have obtained permission from the instructor prior to the due date.
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