Main Trends in the Christianity

The goal of the course is to retrace the history of Christianity in time, to reveal its main characteristics, to emphasize its construction and diffusion. Yet, from its birth and childhood to the present day -almost twice a millennium- Christianity has been only exceptionally unified, offering various faces according to places and times. One could even say that it has been a long series of fractures. While it is appropriate to speak of Christianity by relating it to the historical, human and divine figure of Jesus Christ, it is inappropriate to use the term Christianity without adding a plural to it. Just as the scholarly understanding of the Bible, this sacred book common to all Christian denominations have evolved significantly since the beginning of the Christian era, thanks to the progress of exegetical studies. The path you will follow is: to report on the
initial definitions and the challenges proposed by the diffusion and expansion to other worlds and cultures; describe the theatre of controversies and doctrinal, ecclesial and practical differences; finally, observe the efforts made by the various churches and/or their faithful to rediscover the supposed original unity. The same applies to working towards rapprochement, for example through unionism or ecumenism. The course will consider these themes one by one, in five chronological sequences.

• Define the different Christianisms
• Know the main chronological evolutions
• Know the main elements of doctrine and history
• Know the texts and the founding sources of Christianity
• Avoid amalgams and be able to compare Christianity and other great monotheisms along with the history

Online

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At the end of each term of the course, the student must take a written exam. It focuses on the topics covered during the course as well as on the texts listed in the recommended bibliography.
The exam consists of 5 open questions. Each answer must be 3000 characters long, including spaces.
The exam paper must be uploaded onto the dedicated area on the eLearning platform, during the one-week long exam session.

Dates can be consulted in the academic calendar.