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SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED UNIT STANDARD THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Investigate Christian Foundations in the Early Centuries

SAQA US ID	UNIT STANDARD TITLE
116016	Investigate Christian Foundations in the Early Centuries
ORIGINATOR
SGB Christian Theology and Ministry
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY
-
FIELD			SUBFIELD
Field 07 - Human and Social Studies			Religious and Ethical Foundations of Society
ABET BAND	UNIT STANDARD TYPE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	CREDITS
Undefined	Regular	Level 5	Level TBA: Pre-2009 was L5	6
REGISTRATION STATUS		REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE	SAQA DECISION NUMBER
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		2007-08-07	2010-08-07	SAQA 0160/05
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2011-08-07		2014-08-07

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This unit standard does not replace any other unit standard and is not replaced by any other unit standard.

PURPOSE OF THE UNIT STANDARD

This unit standard will be useful to learners who wish to understand the origins and development of Christianity during the first four (3AD-400AD) centuries and present and analyse the main stages and theological formulations of the Christian movement that became its foundations.

People credited with this unit standard are able to:

Give an overview of key socio-political aspects during the first four centuries.

Outline chronologically and analyse key stages of this period.

Present and analyse apologetic and doctrinal aspects that became the foundations for Christianity.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

N/A

UNIT STANDARD RANGE

The following scope and context applies to the whole unit standard:

The early Christian centuries refer to the first four hundred years (3AD-400 AD) of the history of Christianity

Christian foundations refers to the emergence and development of events and characters during these early centuries.

Specific range statements are provided in the body of the unit standard where they apply to particular specific outcomes or assessment criteria.

Specific Outcomes and Assessment Criteria:

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 1

Give an overview of key socio-political aspects of the life of the Chrisitan Church.

OUTCOME NOTES

Give an overview of key socio-political aspects of the life of the Chrisitan Church during the first four centuries CE.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

The overview includes knowledge of the Roman context within which Christianity emerged.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Roman context includes geographical areas under the Roman Empire.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

An overview includes the role of persecution as a key socio-political phenomenon in the advancement of Christianity.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Emperor worship, state/ civic religion, martyrdom, conversion and Christian initiation.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 2

Outline chronologically and analyse key stages of this period.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

The chronological outline shows knowledge of the historical phases.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Pre-and-post Nero, pre-and-post Decius and pre-and-post Constantine.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

The outline includes the emergence and persecution of Christianity, Christianity under relative peace and the recognition of Christianity by the Roman state.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 3

Present and analyse apologetic and doctrinal aspects that became the foundations for Christianity.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

Apologetic aspects include arguments and statements of faith by Christians in defence of Christianity against paganism and other religions.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Criticisms of the Christian faith and, the role of pagan intellectuals.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

Doctrinal aspects include collective statements of faith by the orthodox church.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Heresy and orthodoxy.

UNIT STANDARD ACCREDITATION AND MODERATION OPTIONS

Providers of learning towards this unit standard will need to meet the accreditation requirements of the relevant ETQA.

Moderation Option:

The moderation requirements of the relevant ETQA must be met in order to award credit to learners for this unit standard.

UNIT STANDARD ESSENTIAL EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE

The following essential embedded knowledge will be assessed through assessment of the specific outcomes in terms of the stipulated assessment criteria. Candidates are unlikely to achieve all the specific outcomes, to the standards described in the assessment criteria, without knowledge of the listed embedded knowledge. This means that for the most part, the possession or lack of the knowledge can be directly inferred from the quality of the candidate's performance. Where direct assessment of knowledge is required, assessment criteria have been included in the body of the unit standard.

Knowledge of the key factors in the history of Christianity during the first four centuries of the Christian Era.

UNIT STANDARD DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME

N/A

UNIT STANDARD LINKAGES

N/A

Critical Cross-field Outcomes (CCFO):

UNIT STANDARD CCFO IDENTIFYING

Identify and solve problems.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO ORGANISING

Organise and manage oneself and one's activities responsibly and effectively.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO COLLECTING

Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO DEMONSTRATING

Understand the world as a set of inter-related parts of a system.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO CONTRIBUTING

Contribute to the full development of oneself.

UNIT STANDARD ASSESSOR CRITERIA

Assessors should keep the following general principles in mind when designing and conducting assessments against this unit standard:

Focus the assessment activities on gathering evidence in terms of the main outcome expressed in the title to ensure assessment is integrated rather than fragmented. Remember we want to declare the person competent in terms of the title. Where assessment at title level is unmanageable, then focus assessment around each specific outcome, or groups of specific outcomes.

Make sure evidence is gathered across the entire range, wherever it applies. Assessment activities should be as close to the real performance as possible, and where simulations or role-plays are used, there should be supporting evidence to show the candidate is able to perform in the real situation.

Do not focus the assessment activities on each assessment criterion. Rather make sure the assessment activities focus on outcomes and are sufficient to enable evidence to be gathered around all the assessment criteria.

The assessment criteria provide the specifications against which assessment judgements should be made. In most cases, knowledge can be inferred from the quality of the performances, but in other cases, knowledge and understanding will have to be tested through questioning techniques. Where this is required, there will be assessment criteria to specify the standard required.

The task of the assessor is to gather sufficient evidence, of the prescribed type and quality, as specified in this unit standard, that the candidate can achieve the outcomes again and again and again. This means assessors will have to judge how many repeat performances are required before they believe the performance is reproducible.

All assessments should be conducted in line with the following well documented principles of assessment: appropriateness, fairness, manageability, integration into work or learning, validity, direct, authentic, sufficient, systematic, open and consistent.

UNIT STANDARD NOTES

Definition of Terms:

Terms have been clarified as far as possible through the use of range statements. This terminology is consistent with the international standards for Theology and Christian Ministry.

QUALIFICATIONS UTILISING THIS UNIT STANDARD:

	ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	STATUS	END DATE	PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QA FUNCTIONARY
Elective	48917	National Diploma: Theology and Ministry	Level 5	NQF Level 05	Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"	2023-06-30	As per Learning Programmes recorded against this Qual
Elective	62609	National Diploma: Theology and Ministry	Level 6	NQF Level 06	Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"	2023-06-30	As per Learning Programmes recorded against this Qual

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS UNIT STANDARD:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

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