Romans and Christians AD 64

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 Dragon's 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.