Unit 11 Christianity I

Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, with more than 2 billion followers. The Christian faith centres on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While it started with a small group of adherents, Christianity grew to massive proportions in a short amount of time.

In this unit, students will explore reasons for the Great Schism and explore the distinctive nature of Orthodox Christianity. The nature of conflict in human relationships is paralleled with the difficulties at the time of the Great Schism. Students will study the Medieval Church by examining the events and challenges of the time as seen through the eyes of significant people of the time period.

SCV.01 - demonstrate knowledge of the key narratives and events in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and identify their importance for the life decisions of Jewish and Christian people;

SCV.02 - demonstrate an understanding of divine revelation and its connection with the sacred writings of Judaism and Christianity;

CMV.07 - demonstrate an understanding of the role of Covenant and commandment in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam;

RBV.01 - summarize the major historical influences on and events in the development of Christianity;

RBV.03 - analyse and describe the connection between the human experience and sacred writings and oral teachings.

CMV.08 - recognize the role of Sacred Scriptures in the development of moral codes for the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam;

RBV.04 - demonstrate how practice, ritual, and symbolism are external representations of the beliefs and principles of religion

CM2.05 - respect the moral teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as guidelines for daily living

RB3.01 - categorize the practices and rituals of various religions (e.g., almsgiving, asceticism, atonement, anointing, Covenant, sacrifice, holy days, dietary laws);

SS1.05 - identify ways in which religion is reflected in specific works of art, architecture, music, literature, dance, and in dress and cuisine, and interpret their religious significance.

Be sure to watch the pre-recorded seminar on Christianity. You can follow along with the slide show presentation. Pleas attach the completed exit card below for assessment purposes and attach it to your unit guide.

Click here watch the pre-recorded seminar on Christianity

Christianity started about 2000 years ago in Judea (present-day Israel and Palestine) with Jesus and His faithful group of disciples. During this period, Judea was a cross-cultural centre of bustling cities and farms. The emperor of Rome was the ruler. The Jews at that time hated Roman rule as it was but another reminder of the historical oppression they faced as a people. The polytheistic cultural beliefs of Rome were also pagan and intrusive to Jewish life. Some Jews saw that their only hope was to conform to this change. Others became religious zealots who formed pockets of guerilla resistance against Rome. Still others withdrew themselves into the Judean wilderness to study the Jewish law and wait for the eventual coming of their promised Messiah. After the death and resurrection of Christ, the beliefs of Christianity were spread around the empire by the apostle Paul who offered this new religion to people who were not Jewish. It appealed to slaves, the poor, and women, which made up a vast majority of the population. Christianity was ultimately legalized and sponsored by the Roman empire in an attempt to preserve the longevity of the empire, which did in fact work for another 100 years. Despite the fall of the Roman empire, Christianity survived in Europe up until the present day.

You are required to answer all questions found throughout this unit using the Answer Recording Sheet found below. Download and save it to your Google Docs and work on your answers as you go through this page. You will need to print the questions and your answers as part of your unit submission.

Questions:

1. Name three new things that you learned while watching the above video "Christianity from Judaism to Constantine." What was interesting or surprising to you and explain why?

2. How did the conditions during the Roman Empire both help and hinder the spread of Christianity?

3. Why was Paul significant to the rapid growth of Christianity?

Please input all of your answers for this unit on the answer recording sheet provided below.

Despite being a monotheistic belief, Christianity believes in the Holy Trinity, which is three distinct beings who are also God. The primary beliefs of Christianity are stated in the Nicene Creed, which was developed by the Roman Catholic church at the first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.

Question:

4. How does the idea of the Trinity create a deeper connection or greater gap between humanity and the divine?

5. Identify 3 important beliefs that are stated in the Nicene Creed, and explain why you feel they are important.

Questions:

6. The Catholic Mass, like most religious services, begins and ends with music. Why is music important to begin a religious service with a large group of people? What purpose does music serve (if any) and what would a service be like if there were no music?

7. The Rosary, like many other religious practices, is a series of beads with specific prayers associated with each bead. Why would most major world religious use prayer beads as a prayer tool?

8. Of all the symbols presented in this section, choose three that you think are the most interesting and explain why.

History and Symbols Kahoot!

The New Testament emerged as Jesus' apostles developed a new body of writing s to tell the story of Jesus. The New Testament is comprised of four main components: The Gospels, The Acts of the Apostles, The Epistles, and the book of Revelation. This unit will primarily look at the four Gospels.

Despite the gospel of Matthew being the first book in the new testament the majority view today, is that Mark was actually the first gospel followed by Matthew and then Luke. It is believed that Matthew and Luke borrowed passages from Mark's gospel and one other source lost to history. This view is known as the two-source hypothesis.

Due to Matthew and Luke borrowing passages from Mark these three gospels are known as the synoptic gospels. Synoptic means having the same view, and if you read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke you will understand why they are considered the synoptic gospels. John was one of two authors (along with Matthew) who actually knew Jesus personally, and his gospel takes a different view than the first three. John's gospel follows a very different time line and does not share much content with the other gospels in general. The gospel of John uses different language, and style of writing and was actually rejected by the orthodox Christians for a long time.

Download the page "Four Gospels Summary" to submit with your unit package, and use the information to answer the questions in the unit guide.

Questions:

9. Describe how the Gospel of John is different than the other three synoptic gospels.

10. There were over 80 written accounts of the life of Christ, but only 4 were placed into the New Testament. Why do you think these four gospels were considered to be more reliable?

11. What is the major difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament?

12. Choose any passage of your preference from the New Testament, and discuss why you believe it is important. If you are really stuck for ideas, you may look at one of the following passages and share your thoughts: Matthew 5:3-11, Luke 10:25-37, Luke 15:11-32, John 8:1-11

Choose one of the following task ideas below to demonstrate your learning and complete this unit. It is always advisable to consult with your teacher while you work on this task to ensure you are meeting the expectations and getting the best possible mark. Be sure that all of your work is properly cited with appropriate analysis. As Mary Ward is a Self-Directed Learning system, you may also create and develop your own task in consultation with your teacher.

1. SELF DIRECT! Always recommended! Choose one topic in this unit that you were particularly interested in (i.e. Symbols, Rituals, History, Beliefs, etc . . . or a topic related to this unit that was not covered but worthy of exploring), then choose one style of presentation that you are confident with or would like to develop (i.e. written paragraph, website, documentary, video, slide presentation, art installation, podcast, etc . . . ) and consult/discuss with your teacher what the product will look like. You also have the option to make the task interdisciplinary with another course(s), and/or do a group project.

OR

4. As a Christian, your initial perception of Christianity has been very whitewashed to think it has been a faith that has benefitted the world, but after looking at the darker moments of history, you have learned that there are many sins that have been committed in the past. What atrocities has the Church committed in the past, what have they apologized for and taken steps towards reconciliation? What past issues still need to be resolved and how can they work to atone with its former victims?

OR

5. Just like any other religion, Christianity marks certain life moments as Milestones. What Milestones do you find interesting and compare them with one other religion that we have studied in the course.

NOTE: All of your work must be properly cited. Work that is not cited properly will be returned to you to be redone with a stronger sense of academic integrity.

Please see evaluation rubrics below for your task. Consult with your teacher for any clarification regarding your evaluation.

Be sure you have answered the following questions and completed the following tasks before submitting your unit to your teacher. This checklist needs to be signed by the religion counter for your unit submission to be accepted.