History of the Romanian Orthodox Church (I)

Course Code: TP107 • Study year: I • Academic Year: 2024-2025
Domain: Theology • Field of study: Pastoral Orthodox Theology
Type of course: Compulsory
Language of instruction: Romanian
Erasmus Language of instruction: English
Name of lecturer: Viorel Alin Albu
Seminar tutor: Razvan Brudiu
Form of education Full-time
Form of instruction: Lecture
Number of teaching hours per semester: 42
Number of teaching hours per week: 3
Semester: Autumn
Form of receiving a credit for a course: Grade
Number of ECTS credits allocated 4

Course aims:

- to define, describe, and explain the key concepts, theories, methods specific to the historical discourse and to develop in students some specific skills about the quantitative and qualitative historical research;
- to identify and use the specific bibliographic and archival resources;
- to develop skills of analysis and interpretation of historical data;
- to identify the most important events and personalities which have marked the historical evolution of the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Romanian culture, and to notice the dynamics of events;
- to apply the principle of right interpretation of the historical phenomenon by the just reporting to its influence on the present

Course Entry Requirements:

N/A

Course contents:

1. Introduction to the History of the Romanian Orthodox Church; 2. The beginnings of Christian life in Dacia; 3. Linguistic arguments regarding the origin and age of the Romanians’ Christianity; 4. Christian martyrs in the Danube lands at the beginning of the 4th century; 5. Archaeological proofs on the spread of Christianity in the north of the Danube in the 3rd-6th centuries; 6. Dacian-Roman Christianity in the Danubian northen provinces in the 4th century; 7. Bishopric of Tomis; 8. Dacian-Roman Theology; 9. The Romanian Church in the 7th-11th centuries; 10. The religious life of the Romanians from Transylvania and Banat in the 9th-13th centuries; 11. The religious life of the Romanians from the extra-Carpathian territories - 12th-13th centuries; 12. The beginnings of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Wallachia (Valahia/Țara Românească); 13. The beginnings of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Moldavia (Moldova); 14. The religious life of the Romanians from Transylvania - 14th-16th centuries; 15. Editorial activity in Wallachia and Transylvania in the 16th century.

Teaching methods:

Lecture, exemplification, conversation, debate

Learning outcomes:

- critical, selective and systematic attitude towards historical information; - ability of applying the principles for understanding a historical document in an appropriate manner, respectively, to take into account all elements involved (linguistic, socio-cultural, political, religious, etc.), and interpret both in a synchronous and diachronic mode; - critical reading skills on bibliographic sources and ability to initiate own research; - interpretation and critical evaluation of the history of the Romanian Church in different contexts.

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Written paper-interpretative essay – 20%.Frontal evaluation/ Oral exam: 80%

Recommended reading:

Mircea Păcurariu, Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, Trinitas, Iași, 2004, x.
Alexandru Moraru, Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române. Note de curs, ”1 Decembrie 1918”, Alba Iulia, 2002-2003, x.
Alin Albu, Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române. Evenimente, personalități, instituții, Reintregirea, Alba Iulia, 2013, 388.
I. G. Coman, Scriitori bisericeşti din epoca străromână, EIBMBOR, Bucureşti, 1979, x.
Mihail Diaconescu, Istoria literaturii dacoromane, Alcor Edimpex, Bucureşti, 1999, 830.