Romans and Christians Ad 64: An Intergenerational Catechetical Experience of Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church

Description: Romans and Christians AD 64 is an experiential learning module for use by youth ministers campus ministers and teachers of church history. It is designed to be used to present the subjects of martyrdom and persecution in the early church. It has been extensively play-tested and has proven very effective with junior-high and high-school students and even with college-age students and older adults. This play-testing has determined that Romans and Christians AD 64 works best as an intergenerational learning experience or as intergenerational catechesis. Romans and Christians AD 64 has three components. First it provides a general introduction to the subjects of martyrdom and persecution in the early church complete with specific analyses of several important ancient documents and lists of primary sources such as apologies martyrologies and exhortations to martyrdom. Second after laying this historical groundwork the module explains how to play a role-playing game that offers a chance to reenact the famous Neronic Persecution of AD 64. Third a DVD (an audiovisual rulebook) accompanies the game. The DVD explains the game using words and real game footage. This experiment in experiential learning allows participants to work through in an entertaining and memorable format the historical dynamics that the early church faced. About the Contributor(s): ANDREA LORENZO MOLINARI is the President of Blessed Edmund Rice School for Pastoral Ministry a satellite location for theological studies in connection with Barry University in Miami Florida. He is author of three books: The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles (NHC 6.1) (Scholars Press 2000);I never knew the man: The Coptic Act of Peter (Papyrus Berolinensis 8502.4) (Éditions Peeters 2000); and most recently Climbing the Dragons Ladder: The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas (Wipf and Stock 2006). In addition he has published a number of scholarly articles on various topics related to apocryphal acts of the apostles and the Nag Hammadi Library as well as a variety of popular theological pieces.