Overview
Students will investigate the positive contributions of Christianity, by looking at both key figures and significant societal developments. They will also examine how interpretations of Jesus’ teaching have contributed to conflict, division and oppression.
Each lesson uses clips from the documentary to examine common critiques of Christianity’s darkest eras in a humble and generous way – while also offering a defence of the truth, beauty and goodness of the Christian Faith.
This unit offers a suggested outline for 10 possible topics. However, there are a range of other lessons we’ve developed using clips from the documentary. You may wish to build your own unit of preferred topics from both these lessons and the supplementary material. The ideal lesson to conclude the unit is ‘Lesson 10 – How to Judge the Church’.
Learning Activities
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Students will be able to identify and explain the positive contribution made by Christianity to society throughout history.
- Students will assess the ways in which various interpretations of Christian doctrine have influenced social movements and cultural developments throughout history.
- Students will be able to reflect on the mixed legacy of Christianity, considering how the historical failures and abuses of the Church impact on contemporary issues and their own personal faith journey.
SUCCESS CRITERIA
- Students can identify important events, movements and people in the history of the Christian Church and explain their impact, both positive and negative.
- Students can describe how the Church has shaped history both in promoting social justice (e.g. abolition, charity work, hospitals) and in perpetuating harm (e.g. sectarianism, the Crusades, the Inquisition).
- Students can explain how different people or groups have seen the legacy of the Christian Church, including both positive and negative perspectives.
For the Love of God (10 Lesson Unit)
For the Love of God +
For the Love of God +
Assessment Task
Create a Visual Representation of Christian History – students create a timeline or infographic highlighting influential aspects or moments in the history of the Christian Church, noting their positive and negative effects on society. They choose 10 or more significant events, movements or people and include a brief outline of their impact on the society in which they lived. Students should include both positive and negative examples.
Class Debate – students participate in a structured discussion about the mixed legacy of the Church. In teams, the class identifies and explains the impact of various aspects of Christian history arguing for or against the proposition that ‘The impact of Christianity on history has been largely positive.’
Extended Response – students write an essay discussing the positive and negative influence of a key historical event, movement or person associated with the history of the Christian Church. They are required to explain the significance of their chosen focus, identifying the immediate and ongoing impacts on society. Students will be marked on the quality of their analysis of both the original historical context and the lasting legacy.
Curriculum Integration
We’ll add more here over time, feel free to let us know which classes these lessons have been helpful for.