17 Early church models

Dura Europas — Baptistry Wall Painting from the Christian building at Dura-Europos, the earliest known house church (third century Syria), Yale University Art Gallery (Image in the Public Domain: CC0 1.0 Universal)

Up to this point in the semester we have focused on contemporary liturgy of the hours. Today we will begin to look at the fourth-century context to think about how different (and similar) modes of prayer have been used in different periods of church history. We'll also be considering how liturgical theology, which you'll be doing in your final project, responds to differences in practice over time and space.

Read This

Blake Leyerle, “The Rhythm of Prayer,” in Christians at Home (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2024), 9–31, https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271097893-005.

Music Assignment

You should be working on your group composition project.

Today's Class Activities

Mini-lecture: fourth-century Christianity
Small group work on Leyerle reading
Workshopping final projects: round 2