History of Christianity

In this special Christmas episode, we look at the figure who would be the inspiration for the popular Santa Claus. While some […]

One of the most important events in Christian history is the First Council of Nicaea that took place in 325 AD. Christianity […]

The Christian church was emerging out of a time of persecution but their troubles were not over. Shifting from threats from without […]

One of the most influential people in the history of the early church was someone of unknown religious conviction. Constantine came to […]

Emperor Constantine was Great, but was he good? If you were talk to many Christians today, they might suggest that much of […]

There had been numerous persecutions on a small scale for the first three centuries but the church experienced a much more significant […]

The third century was a time of great upheaval for the Roman Empire and it was equally so for the church in […]

One of the religious movements that emerged in the third century was that of Manichaeism. This religion, founded by the Iranian prophet […]

The family of Herod the Great weaved in and out of the story of the early church, including the lives of Jesus […]

The Christian Church existed within and was growing inside the Roman Empire. What was happening in the Roman Empire during the third […]

By the third century, the church had been growing rapidly. They were facing threats both internal and external. In this episode, we […]

Two of the brightest, most influential, and most prolific church fathers were Origen of Alexandria and Tertullian of Carthage. They were both […]

Pope Pius XII was the pope during the Second World War. There is controversy over how he responded to the crisis. Should […]

As we conclude our look at the second century, we revisit some of the people we have already talked about. These are […]

Since the time before Jesus, the Jews were a part of the Roman Empire. Not a willing part, but a part nonetheless. […]

It is impossible to say exactly how many people in the early church were considered apostles. We can say with certainty that […]

Back in episode 27, we looked at the Roman Emperors of the first century (or most of them). Now we take a […]

One of the most important leaders in the Church today is that of the Pope. But where did the popes come from? […]

I have loved history for as long as I can remember. When my friends were reading superhero comic books, I was reading […]

Clement of Alexandria may not be the most well known of the Church Fathers but he was influential. Clement helped to develop […]

In this episode, we look at one of the most influential of the early church fathers: Irenaeus of Lyons. He is especially […]

Justin Martyr was an important church father and pioneering Christian apologist. He had the courage to not just write a defence of […]

One of the most important movements to understand the history of Christianity, especially for the second and third centuries, is that of […]

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Gordon Heath of McMaster Divinity College. We have an interesting chat on the nature of […]

How do we study Christian history? One way is to look at the sermons of the past. Sermons are more than expositions […]

What do we do with the Secret Gospel of Mark? Some scholars accept it as an early Gospel, earlier even than our […]

In this episode, we finish up the collection of writings known as the Apostolic Fathers. While not as well known as some […]

The Gospel of Thomas is probably the extra-canonical gospel that most people have heard of but do not know anything about. In […]

I had the opportunity to write a chapter for A Noble Company: The Canadians. I wrote about a Baptist who came from […]

We continue to look at documents of the early church with a look at the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of […]

There are two ancient Christian writings that are attributed to the Twelve Apostles, even though they unlikely wrote them. One, the Apostle’s […]

Papias is the most important church father that you have never heard of. Even though none of his writings survive in anything […]

One of the most inspiring of the Apostolic Fathers is Polycarp. At the age of 86, he became a martyr, even though […]

It has been a while since the last episode but I have not given up on the podcast. I am busy with […]

We continue our look at the Apostolic Fathers with a brief look at Ignatius of Antioch. Although we don’t have much information […]

Once we get out of the New Testament era, we move into the period of the Apostolic Fathers. These are some early […]

One of the most important events in the first century for both Jews and Christians was the Jewish War (66-73 AD). This […]

The book of Acts describes a church in which the members held all things in common. But how seriously should we take […]

As important as the Jewish background is to the rise of Christianity, so is the Roman background. All of the events of […]

Christianity emerged out of Judaism. We have already looked at the Jewish background of Christianity. While there are many ways for us […]

This is the final episode of the series on the Synoptic Gospels based on my lectures from Tyndale University College. Although there […]

We take a short break from our regular scheduled episodes to bring you a special announcement. I have decided to start a […]

We take a break from our series on the Synoptic Gospels for a short Christmas episode. In this episode we look at […]

In this lecture from the course Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels taught at Tyndale University College, we look at the Gospel of […]

One of the most popular Gospels is that of Matthew. It is in Matthew that we get the Sermon on the Mount […]

In this lecture on the Synoptic Gospels from Tyndale University College, we look at the Gospel of Mark. Mark is generally considered […]

This is a continuation of my lectures on Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels as taught at Tyndale University College. In this episode, […]

This is a continuation of the course on Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels that I taught at Tyndale University College. In this […]

This the second part of a lecture on Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels taught at Tyndale University College. In this section, I […]

This episode is the first part of a series of lectures I gave for a course on Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels […]

Introduction Many children are looking forward to October 31. They enjoy dressing up as their favourite superhero or some other character, and […]

Christianity didn’t emerge out of a vacuum. Although considered a separate religion now, it was originally a sect of Judaism. The culture […]

In this episode of the podcast, we have an interview with Dr. Mark Steinacher. Mark is an assistant professor of history at […]

One of the interesting things about the Apostle Paul was his insistence on working with other Christian leaders. At one point Barnabas […]

Much of our New Testament is made up of letters by the Apostle Paul. We are fortunate to have both an account […]

In this episode, we look at the life of the Apostle Paul. We examine his beginnings in Tarsus as a faithful Jew […]

This episode of the History of Christianity asks the questions: 1) Was Jesus really the brother of Jesus and 2) Did he […]

In this eighth episode of the History of Christianity, we take a look at the three men that the Apostle Paul describes as the […]

In this seventh episode of the History of Christianity, we take a look at the beginnings of the church, starting with the day […]

In this sixth episode of the History of Christianity, we take a look at Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, is arrested and crucified. We […]

In this fifth episode of the History of Christianity, we look at Jesus’s ministry before his entry into Jerusalem. Rather than recounting every […]

In this fourth episode of the History of Christianity, we look at Jesus from his birth to his baptism. We also look […]

In this third episode of the History of Christianity, we take a look at Jesus before he was born in Bethlehem. The New Testament […]

In this second episode of the History of Christianity, we take a look at the sources we have for Jesus. How can […]

In this first episode of the History of Christianity, we take John the Baptist as our starting point. In many ways, John […]