Christianity Through the Centuries

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** This course is also offered on cassette tape and CD and can be played simultaneously while viewing the outlines. To get a copy please contact Pastor Brian.

This is an interactive study and you will need to be on the internet to fully utilize it.

If you would like to take this class please contact Pastor Brian.

Other sources on Church History

Gospelcom

Catholic

Timeline

To view other On-line courses click here Courses

Why should we study Church History? It’s been said that if we fail to learn from the past we will end up repeating it. Winston Churchill said that “the further back you look the further ahead you can see”. How do we view History? The age old question is; is history strictly linear (straight), or cyclical? Some say that it changes according to a repetition of certain patterns. A Crisis gives rise to a time of stability, resulting in a revolution, then unraveling and then crisis again.

Is Christian history any different? What can we learn from the past? Are we just learning a bunch of useless names and dates? It’s our history that defines who we are and where we are going. If we don’t know where we came from we won’t be able to know where we are going, or what we will look like when we get there. It has been said that to study Church History is to become Catholic. Up until the 1500's the Church was mainly Roman Catholic, so we must be familiar with Catholicism in order to know why we believe what we believe. To this end click on the following: Catholic Faith Apologetics Catholic Answers Radio Mariology JH

This class is divided into 10 Sessions

Session 1: (30 -100) the early Church and the first Martyrs.
Doctrine and Worship: 70A.D., Spreading of Christianity, Didache.
Church Leaders: Stephen, James, Peter, Paul, John, Ignatius and Polycarp (disciples of John), Justin Martyr.

Session 2: (100 – 300) the first heresies and apologists.
Doctrine and Worship: Heresies, Trinity, Sunday worship, catholic Church.
Church Leaders: Clement of Rome (disciple of Paul), Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian.

Session 3: (300 – 500) Various Councils, Nicea, Rome, Hippo, Carthage, Ephesus.
Doctrine and Worship: Canon of Scripture, Easter, Marian dogmas. Beginning of Church Councils.
Church Leaders: Athanasius, Jerome, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Emperor Constantine

Session 4: (500-1000) fall of Rome to the Holy Roman Empire (410-800).
Doctrine and Worship: Iconoclastic movement, Papacy, the Mass.
Church Leaders: Charlemagne.

Session 5: (1000-1300) the split of West and East, the Crusades, Inquisitions begin.
Doctrine and Worship: Priesthood.
Church Leaders: Anselm, Aquinas, Francis of Assisi.

Session 6: (1300-1500) Spanish Inquisitions, fall of Constantinople.
Doctrine and Worship: Scholasticism vs. Mysticism, Papal Schism.
Church Leaders: Wyclif, Hus.

Session 7: (1500-1700) The Reformation and the 30 years’ war.
Doctrine and Worship: Purgatory, 95 Thesis, Council of Trent, 7 sacraments. What is a Protestant?
Church Leaders: Martin Luther, John Calvin, James Arminius.

Session 8: (1700-1900) The American Church and the 2 Great Awakenings.
Doctrine and Worship: Pietism, Evangelicalism, Methodism, Cults.
Church Leaders: Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, D.L. Moody.

Session 9: (1900-2000) Pentecostals, Fundamentalists, Evangelicals to present.

Session 10:

What is the Future of the Church?
Examine various Eschatological theories.

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