Church History
(Fall 2024 - Spring 2025)
This Sunday (09/22), we start a new series for our equipping hour focusing on Church History. We want to encourage all to learn about this important topic which deeply affects every believer in Jesus Christ. The history of the Christian faith affects how we read the Bible. It affects how we view our government. It affects how we worship. Someone has said that the history of the church is our family history. Past Christians are our mothers and fathers in the faith, our aunts and uncles, our in-laws and—in a few cases—our outlaws!
Have you ever been asked “Why are there so many different churches?” The answer is found somewhere within two millennia of political struggles and personal skirmishes, and we want to invite you to join us in this journey.
The main textbook for this class is "Forerunners of the Faith" by Nathan Busenitz, and supplemental reading is "Christian History Made Easy" by Paul Timothy Jones. You can see the schedule for the school year on our church website.
[1] Nathan Busenitz and John MacArthur Jr, Forerunners of the Faith: 13 Lessons to Understand and Appreciate the Basics of Church History (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2020). Amazon price: $10.99 https://a.co/d/aoWKlrJ
[1] Timothy Paul Jones, Christian History Made Easy, Rev., Bible Basics (Torrance, CA: Rose Publishing, 2009). Amazon price: $9.94 https://a.co/d/1NOa7KY
|
Lesson |
Time Period |
Date |
Suggested Reading |
|
Why Study Church History? |
- |
09/22/2024 |
Forerunners: pp. 8-10 Made Easy: pp. 6-8 |
|
Biblical Framework for Church History |
- |
09/29/2024 10/06/2024 |
Forerunners: pp. 13-19
|
|
From Pentecost to Patmos
|
1st century |
10/13/2024 10/20/2024 |
Forerunners: pp. 21-27 Made Easy: pp. 10-16 |
|
Early Church Fathers - Disciples of the Apostles |
2nd century |
10/27/2024 11/03/2024 |
Forerunners: pp. 29-34 Made Easy: pp. 16-20 |
|
Pre-Nicene Church - Contenders for the Faith |
2nd -3rd centuries |
11/10/2024 11/17/2024 |
Forerunners: pp. 35-40 Made Easy: pp. 21-32 |
|
Rome’s Persecution and Constantine |
2nd -3rd centuries |
12/01/2024 |
Made Easy: pp. 33-38 |
|
Council of Nicaea - Defending the Deity of Christ |
4th century |
12/08/2024 12/15/2024 |
Forerunners: pp. 41-48 Made Easy: pp. 39-46 |
|
Augustine, Chrysostom and the Post-Nicene Fathers |
4th -5th centuries |
01/05/2025 01/12/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 49-58 Made Easy: pp. 48-62 |
|
Controversies and Councils – Late Patristic Period and Early Middle Ages |
5th- 8th centuries |
01/19/2025 01/26/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 59-64
|
|
Schisms, Scholars, and the Crusades |
6th-12th centuries |
02/02/2025 02/09/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 65-70 Made Easy: pp. 64-90 |
|
Forerunners to the Reformation |
13th-15th centuries |
02/16/2025 02/23/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 71-78 Made Easy: pp. 92-104 |
|
Protestant Reformation
|
16th century |
03/02/2025 03/09/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 79-84 Made Easy: pp. 106-20 |
|
The Puritans and the Great Awakening |
17th-18th centuries |
03/16/2025 03/23/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 85-88 Made Easy: pp. 122-48 |
|
The Modern Missions Movement |
18th-19th centuries |
03/30/2025 04/06/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 89-94 Made Easy: pp. 150-64 |
|
The Battle for the Bible – Modernism x Fundamentalism |
19th-20th centuries |
04/13/2025 04/20/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 95-100
|
|
The Birth of Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism |
20th century – Modern Day |
04/27/2025 05/04/2025 |
Forerunners: pp. 9-14 Made Easy: pp. 166-88 |