This course examines in detail the background and development of Christian thought and life in the period spanning the Apostolic Fathers through to the Council of Nicaea (325). Particular attention is paid to how the early Christians understood themselves, how they interpreted their religious tradition and related it to their religious experience, and how they defined their own purposes. This course seeks to contextualize pre-Christianity in its diverse expressions. Thus, the course analyzes the complex formulation of Pre-Nicene Christianity through the writings of some of its most influential thinkers, leaders, and movements (both orthodox and heretical) with an eye toward identifying major developments in early Christian theology and practice.