Unit rationale, description and aim

Christianity is a movement that has helped shape world history, influencing the way that humans understand themselves, relate with each other, and act. This unit considers ways in which Christian thought and practice influenced the ethical, political and cultural aspects of human societies through the centuries, including community life, healthcare, education, human rights, politics and science. The unit also explores the Christian history of contemporary ideals and movements, as well as the ways in which Christian ideas have been distorted and betrayed by Christians through violence, prejudice, and conquest. The unit aims to provide students with a broad understanding of the significance of the movement of Christianity within history, especially in relation to key historical case studies, and to appreciate the areas of Christian thought, practice and ethics that have had a major influence, including such fields as healthcare, law and education. This unit is available within ACU's Core Curriculum.

2026 10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

PHCC102 Being Human , PHCC104 Ethics and the Good Life , PHIL102 Theories of Human Nature , UNCC100 Self and Community: Exploring the Anatomy of Modern Society , PHCC106 Making Sense: Practical Reasoning for Life and Career , THCC101 People Matter: Catholic Social Thought , TPCC100 Life and Meaning: Imagining Ourselves through Art and Cinema

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Explain key Christian ideas, including their theol...

Learning Outcome 01

Explain key Christian ideas, including their theological basis and their historical impact.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC9

Analyse the influence of selected key Christian id...

Learning Outcome 02

Analyse the influence of selected key Christian ideas, both historically and in contemporary contexts.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC9

Reflect on the relationship between key ideas and ...

Learning Outcome 03

Reflect on the relationship between key ideas and what they reveal about the course of the Christian movement historically and with reference to contemporary contexts.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC3, GC6, GC7, GC9

Content

Topics may include:

  • Foundational understanding and skills in critical analysis and argumentation
  • The ethical values of the early Christian movement
  • Historical moments of corruption and betrayal of Christian ideas
  • The Church in history and society
  • Faith and reason
  • Justice and human dignity
  • Love and virtue
  • Freedom and non-violence/peace
  • Salvation and evil
  • Hope and suffering
  • Beauty and the arts
  • Creation and the transcendent
  • Historical case studies

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to achieve an overall minimum grade of pass (50%).

The assessment strategy is designed to enable students to display achievement of all learning outcomes. 

To enhance assessment authenticity, assessment is integrated with class activities. This involves written and oral activities that assess understanding of key concepts and debates, as well as discussion with peers and the production of individual work.

Task 1 asks students to explain the theological basis and historical impact of key themes. It is a written or oral assessment task undertaken in class that enables achievement of Learning Outcome 1. The task fosters core skills which will be further developed in Tasks 2 and 3.

Task 2 invites students to develop a project which analyses key themes both historically and with reference to contemporary contexts. This task enables students to display achievement of Learning Outcomes 2 and 3.

Task 3 asks students to integrate their range of learning across the unit by reflecting on the relationship between key themes investigated in the unit and what they reveal about Christianity as a movement, both historically and with reference to contemporary context. The task will be a written or oral defense that enables students to display achievement of all learning outcomes.

Overview of assessments

Task 1: Foundational Task Requires students to e...

Task 1: Foundational Task

Requires students to explain key terms and concepts of the unit.  

Weighting

20%

Learning Outcomes LO1
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC9

Task 2: Critical Analysis Project  Requires ...

Task 2: Critical Analysis Project 

Requires students to analyse key themes as presented historically and theologically.


Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO2, LO3
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC3, GC6, GC7, GC9

Task 3: Reflection and Application Task:  Re...

Task 3: Reflection and Application Task: 

Requires students to reflect critically on the relationship between key themes of the unit, both historically and with reference to contemporary contexts.

Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC3, GC6, GC7, GC9

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit will be offered as a flipped classroom, drawing on the standard 150 hours of focused learning. Students are required to complete online modules as well as attend on-campus seminars, where some assessment will be conducted. 

Students are asked to define key terms and approaches, analyse and integrate new information with existing knowledge, draw meaningful new connections, and then apply what they have learned to contemporary contexts. Collaborative and peer learning is also emphasised. Active participation in this unit is an essential element of student learning, reflected in the assessment strategy.

Learning is aimed to be engaging and supportive, helping students to develop critical thinking and reflection skills by engaging with a wide range of approaches and perspectives. In this unit, students will investigate key themes in Christianity through historical case studies. 

Because of the humanities-based nature of the unit, the learning strategy aims to help students develop skills in analysis, critical thinking, reflection, and the interpretation of complex and nuanced themes, and then to relate these themes back to their own contexts. In this way, the student is placed at the centre of learning, and learning is an active and relevant process.

Representative texts and references

Girard, René. See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Translated by James G. Williams. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2001.

Holland, Tom. Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. New York: Basic Books, 2019.

Johnson, Elizabeth A. Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology. New York: Crossroad. 2017

McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. 25th anniversary edition. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2017.

McGrath, Alister E. ed. The Christian Theology Reader. 25th anniversary edition. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2017

Miles, Margaret. The Word Made Flesh: A History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.

Noll, Mark A. et al. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022.

Stark, Rodney. For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.   

Wilken, Robert Louis. The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.

Williams, Rowan. Why Study the Past? The Quest for the Historical Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.

 

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