Topic: Birth of Christianity

Author of the script: Katarzyna Kuczyńska

Target group

5th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

I. Ancient civilizations. Student:

2) localizes civilizations of the Ancient East (Israel) in time and space;

3) characterizes the structure of society and (...) the religion of ancient Israel; explains the difference between polytheism and monotheism;

5) characterizes the most important achievements of material and spiritual culture of the ancient world in various fields: philosophy, science, law, architecture, art, literature;

The general aim of education

Student gets to know the history of the beginnings of christianity.

Key competences

• communicating in a foreign language;

• communicating in the mother tongue;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• talks about the religious (Judaic origin) and historical (connected with the conquest of Palestine by the Roman Empire) context of the birth of Christianity;

• explains that the first Christians were persecuted, but less than four centuries later Christianity became the Roman state religion;

• identifies common elements and differences between Judaism and Christianity;

• distinguishes historical knowledge about Jesus from religious beliefs about him;

• recognizes the universal (timeless) problem of the birth of new, revolutionary ideas that face social resistance and sometimes great hostility of the contemporary people.

• understands the universality of the moral system recorded in the Decalogue.

Methods / techniques

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text;

• exposing methods: explanations and comments from the teacher.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• collective activity;

• activity in groups.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Before the lesson

The teacher before the lesson asks students to remember information from various sources about the life of Jesus and the first Christians.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. Before the classes, the teacher asks the students to recall information from various sources about the life of Jesus and the first Christians.

2. The teacher determines the purpose of the classes, which is to learn the history of the beginnings of christianity. He/she gives the students the criteria for success.

3. The teacher starts the classes with recalling the information gathered by the students - together with the class, he/she divides it into the one that can be considered historical information and the one that is the expression of religious beliefs. Asks questions about the criteria that distinguish historical knowledge from religious beliefs.

Realization

1. Students fulfill Instruction 1 - read the text that describes the Jewish religion (“Jehovah’s followers”) and answer questions. Perform Exercise 1, look at an interactive illustration and perform Exercise 2 with the help of the teacher. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

2. Referring to the students’ knowledge, the teacher begins a discussion about the times when Jesus of Nazareth and the first Christians lived. The teacher asks the students: “Was it as easy and as safe to be a Christian as it is today?” The students fulfill Instruction 2 and also think about the universality of the principles written in the Decalogue. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

3. Then the teacher displays the poem of K.C. Norwid entitled “What did you do to Athens, Socrates” and the voluntary students read individual verses. The teacher briefly explains the story of the individual characters of the poem, as well as of Norwid himself, indicates where Jesus is mentioned in the poem. The teacher starts a short discussion - why could Pilate (the people he represented) fear Jesus, what did Jesus “do” to his contemporaries through his teachings?

Summary

1. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare an evaluation questionnaire for self‑assessment and assessment of the teacher's work and other students.

2. As a homework, students read the extract “State Religion” and fulfill Instruction 3.

Summary of the most important contents of the lesson

1. Learning about the historical context of the birth of 1hristianity, including the history of persecution and nationalization of Christianity. Points 2,3 and 5 of the lesson plan.

2. Learning about the religious context of the birth of Christianity, including drawing attention to the similarities and differences between Judaism and Christianity. Point 2 of the lesson plan.

3. Distinguishing of historical knowledge about Jesus from religious beliefs about him; indication of distinguishing criteria. Point 1 of the lesson plan.

4. Paying attention to the universality (timelessness) of the problem of birth of new, revolutionary ideas and resistance, which may be encountered on the side of the contemporary people. Point 4 of the lesson plan.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Birth of Christianity

While the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome worshipped many gods, the Israelites living in Palestine (called Jews) worshipped a single God called Yahweh. Their sacred book was the Bible. The Israelites believed that God will send his Son to redeem all human sins. Jesus was born in Palestine under the reign of Augustus. This event was later recognised as the beginning of a new era. Jesus preached that all people are equal. In his teachings, he said one should love his or her neighbour. He promised that those who observe God’s commandments recorded in the Bible will enjoy eternal life. Some Jews recognised Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (in Greek: Christ). Jesus ran afoul of the Jewish priests, was sentenced to death and crucified by the Romans. The Gospels describe the life and death of Jesus Christ. His followers – Christians – spread across the entire Roman Empire. Initially, they were persecuted by the Roman authorities, but in 313 Emperor Constantine the Great permitted the free practice of this religion, and then converted to Christianity himself. This paved the way for Christianity’s development. In the late 4th century, Emperor Theodosius the Great proclaimed Christianity the national religion and banned the traditional one.