Church History and Theology

c. 750 AD This episode will find us in the recesses of the Medieval Era, learning something about a church so desperate for power that it told one of history's greatest lies to get it. The Roman church's forgery known as "The Donation of Constantine" was used for 700 years to legitimize the temporal powers of the church in Rome. Once proven to be a lie, it was quickly put to the side. But the damage had been done and Rome had stolen its corrupting power. With such power, no internal mechanism for reform or balance could ever be introduced. The text we are using is found at the following link: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/donatconst.asp

203 AD. This episode will find us in Carthage in the early 3rd century alongside some of our most laudable sisters in the faith. Two young mothers and catechumens face the ultimate test for a Christian. And is not their testimony one of deep challenge to those of us in our day? The text in which their story is told is found at the following link: https://earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian24.html Livestreamed most Wednesdays 6:30pm EST at youtube.com/@churchhistoryandtheology

100s AD. The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus is one of my favorite artifacts from the early church. Its author is unknown to us but thankfully, due to a single manuscript, we have the full text of this marvelous letter. In it we get a glimpse of a Christian's defense of Christian theology, description of their lifestyle, and a snapshot of issues of their day. Join in! We won't be reading it in its entirety but will be covering most of it. We are using Roberts-Donaldson's translation, and it can be found at this link: https://earlychristianwritings.com/text/diognetus-roberts.html

1302 AD. Pope Boniface VIII continues to develop and clarify the sweeping reforms (largely promulgated by his great-uncle, Pope Gregory IX) of the temporal power of the Roman church by issuing his papal bull: Unam Sanctam. "The One Holy [Church]" Tonight we will go through the text and discuss its situation in the late 13th/early 14th century. A translation can be found at this link: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

Grab your Bibles. Let's get into this.

After last week's infamous silent stream of this lesson, we are back again. This time with audio! We are paying attention today to Jan (John) Huss' most influential treatise on the church. If you want a copy of this book, it was translated to English in 1915 and is available here: https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/schaff-the-church

In this episode, we delve into the question of baptism in the earliest church. Specifically, we aim to understand the practice of baptism as broadly as possible in the first two centuries of the church. If you want to follow along, I am using Roberts Donaldson's translation of the Didache: http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html And for Justin Martyr's 1 Apology I am using Roberts Donaldson as well: http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-firstapology.html

In this episode, we go back to the earliest part of the 2nd century (100s) to listen to the Bishop of Antioch writing to a church in Smyrna as well as his letter to that church's bishop, a man named Polycarp. These are only two of the seven letters Ignatius wrote on his trip to Rome to be martyred. They are worthy of our attention, as are the other five (another episode). If you want to follow along, here are the links to the translations (Roberts Donaldson) I am using: Epistle to the Smyrnaeans: http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-smyrnaeans-roberts.html Epistle to Polycarp: http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-polycarp-roberts.html

In this episode, we join Luther during the first years of the Reformation in order to grasp his developing arguments and thoughts on a variety of topics that go far beyond his first arguments against indulgences. Let's be a fly on the wall in Heidelberg (1518) and Leipzig (1519) and see what wisdom we can glean from all that went on in those early days of the Protestant Reformation.

Many have a view of the nature of the church that rests on the person of Peter. What can we know of his role in the early church from their own writings?