This homework assignment concerns the branches of Christianity. Look at the figure on p. 449 of your text called “Branches of Christianity.” On it are Oriental Orthodox Churches, Nestorian Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestantism and Anglican Communion. Your task for this assignment is to write a three paragraph essay concerning one of these branches. Specifically, you are to do the following:

(1) Pick a branch that goes beyond the Early Christian Church.

(2) Write three paragraphs about the church you picked that meet the following conditions:

(a) First paragraph should be a summary of the church which includes relevant information about its size, geographic location (place where it has largest numbers, perhaps), etc. How would a novice identify it, in other words, and distinguish it from the others?

(b) Second and third paragraphs should be a summary of that church’s origin. What led to its formation? Were there central figures? Who and what did they believe? Did it split off because of a disagreement? Over what? Etc.

The idea of this assignment is to work on understanding traditions at a broad level. There is no need to get specific by looking at specific churches within a specific branch. The general branch level will be enough. Use your textbook as source. Outside resources can be used only if they are cited with a standardly formatted bibliography (APA, MLA, Chicago style, etc.).

This assignment contributes to the following learning outcomes:

(1) identify basic ideas, practices and institutions of five or more different religions (Christianity, for this assignment).

(2) investigate major themes and events in the history and contemporary life of these religions.

(3) Analyze similarities and differences between religions and within the varieties within each religion studied.

(4) Identify the major presuppositions of religious doctrines.

(5) Read, write and speak critically and effectively about religious issues.

(6) Develop a critical and apreciative awareness of religious ideas and practices.

Among others.

Grading: 50% instruction following (did your essay do all of the assigned tasks? Was it written in grammatical, clear standard written English? Was it free of typos and spelling errors?) and 50% accuracy (did your essay accurately address the assigned topic? Was it free from factual errors?)

Submissions will be scanned with “SafeAssign.” Your submissions remain your property and will not enter a national database. Please, do your own work.

Your submission should be typed. You may either attach a file of the appropriate format OR copy-and-paste your submission into the “Write Submission” portion of the assignment. Do not write in “Comments” field toward the bottom. Submissions in “Comments” field will be treated as late submissions.