1.  Describe the evolution of Christianity in the fourth century.  Discuss Constantine, the constitutional structure of the church, the building of churches, monasticism, missionaries, and councils in this period.  How do you think the Christian church would have developed if Constantine and his successors had not made it the religion of the Roman state?

2.  Discuss differences between the Greek and Roman Christian churches.

3.  Discuss the development of the papacy from 300 A.D. to 800 A.D.  Analyze the relationship between the pope and secular rulers in this period.

4.  How did the rise of Islam affect the Church and Christianity?

Write an essay covering each of these points. It should be typed, double-spaced, and proofread. The font should be 12 point, the margins 1" left and right, top and bottom. Please number pages (in case of an accident!).  Insert the number of each question in your essay when you being to discuss that part (so I am clear where you are).

I will evaluate your essay on how well you integrate the material on the web and the class lectures with the textbook (and any supplementary readings that you may want to throw in). The main point to remember when writing this essay is that none of the questions has any "hidden" or "trick" elements to them.  I want you to write an analytic, thoughtful essay on the material presented in the course.  For that reason, if you have any questions about exactly what I want you to write about in the essay, please ask.  I'll tell you!

You can submit your paper by email (I would prefer that you do).  It should be a DOS document in Word or WordPerfect.  If you are a Mac person and if you know that I cannot read your files, please submit a paper copy of your essay to me.  I shall be reading my email from October 2 to October 14th while I'm in Italy.  If you have questions, send me an email to my pennington@cua.edu address.