Week 1 (January 5-7): Introduction.  Early Christian Church

• the early organization of the Christian Church [Coakley 3-5]
• the rite of the Eucharist and early liturgical practice [Coakley 12-16]
• Christian rituals [Coakley 17-22]

Read: Genesis 2.16-18; Galatians 4.4; Romans 5:12
see a talk with John P. Meier, the author of A Marginal Jew. Rethinking the Historical Jesus (New York, 1991-2009)
for an example of Judaic religious practices of the first century A.D., see a description of the rituals prescribed for the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) in the Mishnah
see a reconstruction of the Temple of Solomon on the basis of its description in the Bible
for the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, see the account of Flavius Josephus
for the Essenes, see the Dead Sea scrolls
for the early Christian rites of baptism and Eucharist, see the Didache

Week 2 (January 10-14): Persecutions, martyrdom, and saints. St. Constantine, Nicaea, and the foundation of the imperial church

• the history of anti-Christian persecutions [Coakley 23-24, 37-43]
• changes in Christian practice and organization; the problem of martyrdom and the cult of the saints [Coakley 30-37, 44-47, 68-76, 159-163]
• St. Constantine and the imperial church [Coakley 87-97, 107-112, 122-130]

see a map showing the spread of Christianity within the Roman Empire, ca. 300 A.D.
for the account of Perpetua’s martyrdom, see the passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity
see Eusebius’ account of Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity and a modern account of the emperor’s reign
see the Edict of Milan (313)
see the Nicaean Creed (325)

Week 3 (January 17-21): Christological debates and ecumenical councils. In-class assignment #1

• the problem of heresy; Arianism and Nicaea [Coakley 58-66; 66-67, 76-82, 98-102; Geanakoplos 145-148, 327-328]
• the doctrine of papal primacy and the Chalcedonian compromise [Coakley 119-122, 165-174, 176-183, 183-187; Geanakoplos 148-150, 180-181]
• missions outside the Empire; Christian literature and art [Coakley 188-193; Geanakoplos 117, 192-197, 344]

see a short history of Arianism
see the Chalcedonian definition of faith (Fourth Ecumenical Council, 451) and an account of the Fourth Ecumenical Council
read a sermon of Pope Leo I on the doctrine of papal primacy
see James Allan Evans, Justinian and the on-line map; visit the site of Justinian’s hometown, Iustiniana Prima (Caričin Grad)
read Pope Gregory the Great’s Book on the Pastoral Rule (ca. 590)

Week 4 (January 24-28): Monasticism

• early monasticism in Egypt and varieties of ascetic experiences [Coakley 131-144, 147-158; Geanakoplos 177-178, 187-188]
• early monastic rules [Coakley 144-147]
• Mount Athos

see the Life of St. Antony   and a presentation of his life and activity
see the Life of Pachomius
see a brief presentation of the life and work of John Cassian and an excerpt from the Benedictine Rule
read the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great and compare with that of St. John Chrysostom and with the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified (a Lenten liturgy)
see a selection of the most important works of St. Basil the Great

Week 5 (January 31-February 4): The rise of Islam and the Iconoclastic Controversy. In-class assignment #2

• early Islam and Christianity [Coakley 231-242]
• Iconoclasm [Coakley 289-297; Geanakoplos 154-158]
• Christianity outside Byzantium during the Iconoclastic Controversy [Coakley 243-251]

see a brief presentation of Emperor Heraclius‘ reign and an account of his religious policies, with a particular emphasis on the Monoenergetic issue
see a couple of surahs from the Quran and the Pact of Umar, following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem
see an aniconic Muslim coin (dirhem) and several views of the Dome of the Rock (exterior, interior, and cross section)
see two coins of Emperor Justinian II before and after the introduction of Christ’s portrait
see al-Baladhuri’s account of the battle at the Yarmuk River (636)
see a map of the Byzantine Empire during the seventh and early eighth century
see a map of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Caliphate during the tenth century
see St. John of Damascus’ defense of the icons and the canons of the iconoclastic Church council of 754 and of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) that restored the cult of the icons
for quick reference, see a brief survey of the iconoclastic controversy
see a portrait  of St. Theodora, the empress who finally restored the cult of the icons (843)
see a brief presentation of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Lent

Week 6 (February 7-11): Orthodoxy in the ninth and tenth centuries

• The victory of the iconodules and the reform of monasticism [Geanakoplos 168-172]
• Christianity spreads to the Slavs: Moravia, Bulgaria, and Rus’ [Coakley 302-310, 310-315; Geanakoplos 347-350, 351-353]
• the Photian Schism and the first confrontation with the Western church [Coakley 297-302; Geanakoplos 203-204, 205]

see the Rule of the Monastery of St. John Stoudios in Constantinople, the most important monastic rule following the Iconoclastic Controversy
see a brief presentation and facsimile (sample copy) of the Freising Lists
see an introduction to the Glagolitic script
see a biography of Patriarch Photius
see a brief biography of Prince Boris of Bulgaria
see an icon of St. Clement of Ohrid (now in the St. Mary Most Glorious Church in Ohrid)
visit St. Clement’s monastery “St. Panteleimon” and the monastery of St. Naum in Ohrid  

Week 7 (February 14-18): The papal policies and state and increasing tension between the West and the East. In-class assignment #3

• the rise of the papal states [Geanakoplos 202-203]
• the history of the filioque and the azyme issue
• East Christian art and architecture [Geanakoplos 189-190]

watch portions of the Orthros (in English), the Great Litany (in English), the Small Entrance (in Greek), the epistle reading (in English), the Gospel passage (on Easter, in English), the Great Entrance (in English), the Communion (in Romanian); listen to the Cherubic Hymn (in Greek), the Nicaean Creed (in Georgian), the Thrice Holy Hymn (in English), “We Praise Thee” (in Slavonic), the Lord’s Prayer (in Ethiopian Ge’ez)
visit the basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna
visit Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
see a picture of the Church of Saint Elias (now Atik Mustafa Camii in Istanbul)
visit the Church of Christ Pantocrator (now  Zeyrek Camii in Istanbul)
see a picture of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Athens
visit the Monastery of St. Luke in Phokis
visit the Daphni Monastery near Athens
see pictures of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and of Santa Maria dell’Amiraglio (“La Martorana”) in Palermo
see the Creed of the Council of Toledo (675)
read the Donation of Constantine
see a brief description of the “cadaver synod” that condemned Pope Formosus posthumously (897)

Week 8 (February 21-25): The Great Schism: causes, developments, consequences [Angold 3-78]

• the road to 1054 and to the sack of Constantinople in 1204 [Geanakoplos 140-141, 206-216, 362]
• the Bogomil heresy and State-Church relations [Geanakoplos 139-140, 141-142, 143-144, 150, 158-161]
• the problem of church unity between 1204 and 1439 [Geanakoplos 215, 216-221, 368, 369-371]

see a brief presentation of the Great Schism (together with a presentation  of the Great Schism in the Catholic church, for which see below)
read the decisions of the Councils of Lyons (1274) and Florence (1438/9)        

Week 9 (February 28-March 4) : Western Scholasticism and Orthodoxy [Angold 79-100].

• western scholasticism [Coakley 339-354]
• St. Symeon the New Theologian and Byzantine mysticism [Geanakoplos 182, 184-186]

see a brief presentation of the seven liberal arts
see a brief presentation of the life and theology of Anselm of Canterbury
see a presentation of Roscelinus‘ tritheist dogma
see excerpts from Peter Abelard’s Sic et non
see Guibert of Nogent’s autobiography
see Roger Bacon on experimental science
see  Heloise’s letter to Abelard            

Week 10 (March 7-11) : Spring break. No classes

Week 11 (March 14-18): Armenian, Nestorian, and Ethiopian Christianity in the Middle Ages [Angold 373-403, 404-429, 457-487]

• Armenians
• Nestorians and Jacobites [Coakley 243-247]
• Ethiopians [Coakley 384-395]

see landscape and political maps of Transcaucasia in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages
see the Church in Mren and visit Echmiadzin, and Akhtamar, Lviv and the Armenian cemetery in Julfa
see a map of the Kingdom of Cilicia
see the All-Savior Church in Julfa (exterior and interior views) and the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Erevan
see a map of the Armenian genocide
see a map of the Kingdom of Aksum
see the rock-hewn Church of St. George in Lalibela (above-ground and close views) and the ruins of the Dabra Sahay in Qusquam
see the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Aksum, the Church of the Savior of the World in Gondar and the Trinity Cathedral in Addis Abeba                 

Week 12 (March 21-25): Renaissance and Orthodoxy [Angold 101-186 and 253-301]. In-class assignment #4

• religious thought and piety in the West and in the East [Geanakoplos 186-187]
• Hesychasm [Geanakoplos 183-186]
• Russian monasticism and spirituality (Sergei of Radonezh and Nil Sorskii)

Week 13 (March 28-April 1): Reformation and Orthodoxy [Angold 187-209 and 302-372]

• Refromation and Counter-Reformation
• Orthodox-Protestant dialogue
• Cyril Loukaris and Peter Mohyla

see a brief biography of Gerolamo Savonarola
browse Sebastian Brant’s Ship of Fools (1494; with illustrations) and read an excerpt from Ulrich von Hutten’s Letters of Obscure Men (1515)
see an excerpt from Thomas More’s Utopia
read Luther’s 95 Theses (1517) and about his famous “tower experience”
browse through two of Luther’s major works of 1520: An Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation; and the Liberty of the Christian Man
see ashort presentation of Ulrich Zwingli‘s life and activity
read an excerpt from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) (with another excerpt on predestination)
browse through the canons of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and read an excerpt from Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises
see a brief history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate under Ottoman rule
see a historical comment on the contemporary press coverage of the murder of Patriarch Gregory V (1821) and a picture of the closed Phanar gate of the Patriarchal compound in Istanbul
see a portrait of Cyril Loukaris and another of Peter Mohyla
see the Ostrih Slavonic Bible (1581) and the Confession of Dositheus (1672)         

Week 14 (April 4-8): Orthodoxy during the modern period (17th-20th cc.) [Angold 210-252, 488-538, and 558-599]. In-class assignment #5

• Vasyl Bars’kyi and Orthodoxy in the Balkans
• Copts and the Syriac Church
• Orthodoxy and Communism

see an article on  Patriarch Nikon of Moscow
see portraits of Peter the Great and Catherine II
see an aerial view of the Optina monastery and portraits of Paisii Velychkovski and of Amvrosii (Grenkov) of Optina
see portraits of Sts. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Seraphim of Sarov, Theophan the Recluse, and John of Kronstadt
see portraits of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, and of Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna
see a history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and visit the sites of the Serbian, Romanian, and Greek autocephalous churches
see the cover of the Way of the Pilgrim (and read a section dedicated to uncessant prayer)
see a short documentary on the physical and psychological torture of Romanian Orthodox Christians in the Pitești prison and an interview with Father Dumitru Stăniloae, the most prominent  theologian of Romanian Orthodoxy

Week 15 (April 11-15): Orthodoxy in America in the 20th and early 21st century [Angold 539-557 and 580-599]

• origins of Orthodoxy in America
• the Greek-Orthodox Archdiocese and the Orthodox Church of America

see the Life of St. Herman of Alaska and a biography of Father John Veniaminov (St. Innocent of Irkutsk)
visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Orleans, on the site of the first Greek Orthdox church built in the United States
see pictures of Archbishop Alexander of Rodostolou, Patriarch Athenagoras (with President Truman), Archbishop Michael (also with President Truman), Archbishop Iakovos (marching with Martin Luther King, Jr.), Archbishop Spyridon, Archbishop Demetrios at the celebration of Epiphany in Tarpon Springs, and Archbishop Elpidophoros in the Oval Office, with President Trump
visit the Holy Cross Greek-Orthodox Seminary in Brookline and the St. Photius Shrine in St. Augustine (with a view of the chapel)
see pictures of the bishops in the Karlovci synod of 1935 and of the reconciliation in Moscow (2006)
see a picture of Metropolitan Evlogy and Mother (St.) Maria Skobtsova (1930s), another of Rue Daru (with the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky), and visit the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris
see pictures of Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York, the Cleveland synod of 1946, and of the reception of the “Tomos of Autocephaly” for the Orthodox Church of America (1970)
see pictures of Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard), Archbishop Peter (l’Huillier) and Father Thomas Hopko
visit St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, the Monastery of St. Tikhon in South Canaan, and the Orthodox Christian Mission Center in St. Augustine

Week 16 (April 18-222): Conclusion. Why study the history of Orthodox Christianity?