Description
Was early Christianity deliberately informal, simplistic and unadorned in how it established spaces for Church gatherings? Or can we uncover the foundations of sacred architecture, ritualized space, and iconographic arrangement in the first 300 years of Christianity?
In the “Stones Cry Out” course, students will explore the written and archeological evidence that early Christians had sacred spaces for liturgical gathering and prayer. This includes a survey of the iconography, architecture, and important material traces particularly at Dura Europas and Megiddo, with some examination of Capernaum, Lod, and the Roman Catacombs as well. The evidence that material objects such as chalices, altars, images, and buildings were holy will lead to an examination of which gestures of veneration which would be done towards them.
Students will consider objections that the New Testament and early Christian authors reject sacred spatial categories, and discover first century signs of Christians recognizing and using sacred space. The course will include a preview of the upcoming book, House of God Jesus Christ: The Megiddo Mosaic in Early Christian Context. The “Stones Cry Out” course bolsters the arguments already considered in the groundbreaking book Early Icons and its companion course, “Veneration of Images in the Early Church”.
Instructor
Michael Garten is an Orthodox educator, husband, and father. He graduated from Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute (2009, B.A. Philosophy) and did a year of graduate studies at Northern Illinois University. He has taught and designed curriculum for high school Sunday School and helped found and run several Orthodox schools. Michael is the author of Early Icons: Christian Image Veneration Before 325 AD, the first of a multi-part series of books vindicating the very early origin of this Orthodox practice.
Course Details
Dates/Times: Sundays at 4:00 PM PST, beginning June 14. Recordings will be provided to all students.
Length of Course: 5 weeks
Class Format: 60 minutes of lecture, followed by 60 minutes of discussion
Prerequisite: Open to all; no prerequisites required