John McMath Research Ministries Church History

The last element of the Reformation era is the English Reformation. Henry VIII and his great matter led to Anglicanism and it's great offshoot, Puritanism. Conflict over the degree of Catholic tradition led to wars and martyrdom on both sides. The Scots with their Presbyterianism were almost as bad. The conclusion of the era was written by the Council of Trent, which carved Medieval Catholicism in stone.

The Anabaptist reformation was radical, in the sense that the anabaptists believed the original reformers did not go far enough in their changes. They wanted more! Now!

Following Luther's revolt, the reformation generated followers, mostly in urban areas; Zwingli, Bucer, Erasmus, and eventually Calvin.

Renaissance Popes and the surrounding backlash

Medieval Church on the edge of the Reformation

Intro to Renaissance and Reformation

The Golden Age of the Church: Monasticism, the Papacy, Scholasticism and Gothic Architecture.

Monastic Reform and papal decay.

Monastic schools became the foundation of Medieval society, teaching and innovating in thousands of small ways.

The Middle Ages are hard to define, but for our purposes will run from the mid 600's to the 1300's; from the Moslem invasions to the Black Death. We begin with the truly random politics of the era.

From Gregory the Great to the Moslem Conquest. How the Middle Ages began.

The Church and the Barbarians. As the germanic tribal peoples overran Rome, they took on the language and culture of Rome and set up the minor states that would become Western Europe.

In the fifth and sixth centuries, the church lost it's innocence and became medieval. Here we see the development of transubstantiation, Mary veneration and the cult of the saints.

In the years after Chalcedon, the church "matured" into the medieval institution we all know and love.

Chalcedon and its repercussions in the East

Intro to the life and works of Augustine

From Julian the Apostate to Jerome, with a stop at Damasus, the first pope.

Julian the Apostate and more

Constantine and Nicaea set the new direction for the church

A the of persecution leading up to Constantine

With heresy and persecution rampant, apologetics was invented

Persecution happened sporadically, but had a huge impact on the church

Finishing up the lecture on the concept of apostolic succession - the idea that the authority of the apostles was passed down through the discipling process.

How Canon, Creed and Apostolic Succession provided a needed unity for the young church.

Survey of the greco-Roman environment and the jewish diaspora world of the early church.