When Power Hijacks Institutions: Christianity and the Empire
The medieval church's corruption is real, but it began when Rome took up Christianity for its own ends under Constantine.
Church historyTeaching on this subject
Search within this subjectWhere Did Non-denominational Churches Come From?
Non-denominational churches are now among the largest groupings of Protestants in America. Where they came from and what they trade away.
Church historyWhere Did the Pentecostal Church Come From?
Pentecostalism did not exist in 1900. Within a century it counted hundreds of millions. Where it began and how it spread.
Church historyWhere Did the Seventh-day Adventist Church Come From?
This tradition began with a date that passed, and the question of what to do afterward. Its origins, beliefs, and the cult charge.
Church historyWhere Did the Church of Christ Come From?
The Churches of Christ arose from a movement that set out to abolish denominations, and which produced three of them.
Church historyWhere Did the Methodist Church Come From?
Methodism did not begin as a church. It began as a nickname, and an unkind one. How it became a separate tradition.
Church historyWhere Did the Quakers Come From?
The proper name is the Religious Society of Friends. Quaker was an insult. Where the movement began and what it actually holds.
Church historyWhere Did the Congregational Church Come From?
The Pilgrims were Congregationalists, as were the founders of Harvard and Yale. How the tradition began and what became of it.
Church historyWhere Did the Presbyterian Church Come From?
Presbyterian is not a doctrine but a form of government, and the name says so. Where it began and what it was reacting against.
Church historyWhere Did the Anglican Church Come From?
Henry VIII wanting a divorce is right about the occasion and wrong about the cause. What the 1530s actually changed in England.
Church historyWhere Did the Mennonites and Amish Come From?
The Amish are not a separate religion from the Mennonites. Both descend from one act in a Zurich house in 1525, and divided in 1693.
Church historyWhere Did the Lutheran Church Come From?
Martin Luther asked his followers not to use his name. How a dispute over indulgences in 1517 became a separate church.
Church historyWhere Did the Eastern Orthodox Church Come From?
Orthodoxy claims no founder and no founding date. How the Christian world came to be divided between East and West, and why 1054 misleads.
Church historyWhere Did the Catholic Church Come From?
The church began as local congregations with no legal standing. This traces how it became the religion of the empire and then claimed authority over every ruler in Christendom.
Church historyWhat Are the Seven Deadly Sins?
The list is not in Scripture. It runs from Evagrius in the Egyptian desert through John Cassian to Gregory the Great, who reduced eight vices to seven.
Church historyWhy Easter Moves: The Computus Controversy and the Synod of Whitby
Easter moves because a Nicene rule ties it to the moon, and rival tables for predicting that moon divided the church until Whitby in 664.
Church historyThe Renaissance Made the Reformation Inevitable
The Reformation is often narrated as a sudden theological rupture, as though Martin Luther's protest in 1517 sprang from doctrine alone. The narrower truth is more interesting and more...
Church historyThe Renaissance Made the Reformation Inevitable
The Renaissance was not just about paintings and sculptures. It was a rebirth of knowledge.
Church historyWho Gets to Select? The Problem of Selective Patristic Citation
Selective citation of the Church Fathers borrows the prestige of antiquity without accepting the accountability that antiquity demands.
ApologeticsThe Discipline of Studying Church History Honestly
Most people study church history to prove what they already believe. That approach guarantees self-deception. The real goal of studying church history is to discover when doctrines and...
Biblical studiesHow to Study Church History Without Deceiving Yourself
Many Christians approach church history with a predetermined theological conclusion and then read the historical record only to confirm what they already believe. That approach does not...
Church historyThe Black Death and the Fracturing of Feudal Authority
The mortality that swept across Europe between 1347 and 1351 is remembered first as a demographic catastrophe, and rightly so. Within four years the pestilence that later generations named...
Church historyBlack Death's Unexpected Impact on Feudalism & Rebellion
The Black Death indirectly paved the way for the European Reformation. Increased mobility and a questioning mindset empowered nobles and a burgeoning middle class to challenge authority,...
Church historyPre-Reformers, Reformers, and the Social Transformation of Late Medieval Europe
The Reformation was not born in a vacuum. It emerged in a Europe already shaken, thinned, and structurally unsettled by plague. This article traces how the Black Death, labor mobility,...
Church historyThe Examined Life: Socrates, Classical Education, and the Birth of the Western Mind
Why do we instinctively believe that every claim should be examined, reasoned through, and defended? That instinct was cultivated, sharpened, and defended. Trace the path from Socratic...
Biblical studiesWhen the Church Banned Thinking
A provocative look at moments in church history when intellectual inquiry was suppressed in the name of orthodoxy. What happens when the church fears questions more than it loves...
Church historyTwo-Track Diffusion of Christian Doctrine
Christianity spread along two intellectual tracks: a Jewish textual/covenantal stream and a Greco-Roman philosophical stream. Their collision in early councils shaped doctrine for centuries.
Church historyWhy Christianity Has So Many Doctrinal Divisions
Christianity's thousands of denominations are not evidence of biblical confusion but of an unfinished Reformation. Understand the historical process that produced today's doctrinal...
Church historyWhy Christian Doctrine Produces Internal Conflict
The doctrinal tensions within Christianity trace back to a foundational divergence: the collision of Hebraic, Greek, Eastern, and Roman intellectual frameworks in the early Church.
Church historySola Scriptura: The Final Court of Appeal
Every Christian operates from a final authority: church tradition, personal feelings, or Scripture. Only one is the ultimate court of appeal. A strongly Reformed defense of Sola Scriptura.
Church historyThe Real Roots of Gnosticism (And Why It Hated the Physical World)
Gnosticism was not a Christian movement that slowly went astray. It was a pre-Christian, Eastern mystical worldview that co-opted Christian language while redefining Christian meaning.
Church historyGnosticism: The Ancient Heresy That Co-Opted Christianity
Gnosticism was a pre-Christian mystical worldview that co-opted Christian language. Explore its emanation theology, the Demiurge, and how the apostle John confronted it.
Church historyWhy Vatican II Still Matters
Vatican II reshaped Catholicism and launched the ecumenical movement. A Protestant historical analysis of the Council's strategic shift, internal divide, and lasting impact.
Church historyThe Reformation and the Five Solas: What the Reformers Recovered
Discover the five solas of the Protestant Reformation: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria. Learn what they mean and why they still matter.
Church historyThe Council of Nicaea: When the Church Defined the Faith
Explore the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the Arian controversy, the Nicene Creed, and why this pivotal moment in church history still matters for every Christian today.
Church historyProtestant vs. Catholic Theology: The Structural Divide
The Reformation divide is structural: justification as finished forensic declaration vs. ongoing sacramental process. Understanding why this difference changes everything.
Church historyHow East and West Shaped Christian Theology
Eastern mysticism and Western legal clarity shaped two distinct theological traditions. Understand how these mindsets influenced Scripture, governance, and the East-West split.
Church historyNero and Paul: Power Fades, Character Remains
Nero sat in judgment over Paul. Today men name dogs after Nero and sons after Paul. A study in how power fades while character endures across the centuries.
Church historyThe Early Church Councils: How Orthodoxy Was Defined
From Nicaea to Chalcedon, the early church councils defined the core doctrines of the Christian faith. Their decisions still shape orthodoxy today.
Church historyHow Higher Criticism Sparked Liberalism and Fundamentalism
Higher criticism of the late 1800s questioned the Bible's authorship and reliability, fueling liberal theology and provoking the fundamentalist response through Spurgeon's Downgrade...
Church historyWhat Happened to Jewish Christianity?
The first Christians were overwhelmingly Jewish, yet within two centuries Jewish Christianity had virtually disappeared. Explore how the Jewish revolts of AD 70, 115, and 132-135 shattered...
Church historyWhy You Cannot Understand Christianity without the Intertestamental World
The four hundred years between the Testaments shaped the language, theology, and world into which Jesus was born. Persian mystery, Greek philosophy, and Roman law still shape Christian...
Biblical studiesWhy Scotland Embraced the Reformation So Quickly
Scotland's rapid embrace of the Reformation was no accident. Celtic Christianity had planted deep instincts for local governance and scriptural authority that made John Knox's Reformed...
Church historyWhy the Council of Nicaea Changed Everything
The Council of Nicaea affirmed the deity of Christ but also inaugurated the union of church and state. Explore how Constantine's presence reshaped the church and set the stage for the...
Church historyWhy You Cannot Understand Christianity Without the Intertestamental World
To make sense of Christianity as it exists today, you must understand the world that formed it. The Intertestamental Period was not a silent gap but a crucible in which successive empires...
Church historyHow Celtic Christianity Preserved the Faith
When the Roman Empire fell and learning collapsed across Europe, Irish and Scottish monks preserved Scripture, copied classical literature, and re-evangelized the Continent.
Church historyThe Pre-Reformers: Forgotten Voices before Luther
Before Martin Luther, men like Peter Waldo, Peter de Bruys, John Wycliffe, and Jan Hus challenged the medieval church and called for biblical authority -- and paid dearly for it.
Church historyWhere Did the Baptist Church Come From?
Trace the Baptist tradition from its roots in the English Reformation through Puritan Separatism, John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and the rise of believer's baptism and congregational...
Church historyCatholics vs. Anglicans: The Real Difference
The Anglican break from Rome began as a political act, not a theological one. Discover how Henry VIII's power struggle produced a church caught between Catholic heritage and Protestant...
Church historyThe Law’s True Purpose To Find the Worthy Sacrifice
The Law of Moses was never designed to make sinners righteous. Scripture is unequivocal: the Law exposes sin but cannot erase it. Its purpose was diagnostic, not transformative. It...
Church historyUnderstanding the Ancient World: Why Biblical Context Matters
The Bible was written in a specific historical and cultural context. Understanding the ancient Near Eastern world transforms how we read Scripture.
Biblical studiesWas Jesus a Pharisee? A Textual and Historical Assessment
A claim has been circulating in popular discussion and across social platforms that Jesus of Nazareth was himself a Pharisee, or at least a trained member of the Pharisaic movement whose...
Church historyWas Jesus a Pharisee? A Textual and Historical Assessment
Was Jesus a Pharisee? From the internal evidence of Scripture, we cannot positively conclude that He belonged to the Pharisaic party. The Gospels depict sustained dialogue and sharp...
Church historyWhy Jesus Fulfilled the Law So You Don’t Have To
After reading a passage like Deuteronomy 6:25, should Christians keep the Mosaic Law today, or are we missing the context that explains why the Law was added in the first place?
Church historyA New Temple or a New Religion? The Exile and the Reshaping of Israelite Worship
When the exiles returned from Babylon and set about rebuilding the house of God, a question hung over the work that the timber and stone could not answer. Did the return from exile produce...
Church historyWhy eastern and western Christianity looks so different
Why does Eastern Orthodox Christianity look and feel so different from Western Protestantism and Catholicism? In this lecture, Dr. Peter J. Carter traces the historical, theological, and...
Church historyPre- vs. Post-Exilic Judaism: A New Temple or a New Religion
Did the return from exile produce a rebuilt Temple or a rebuilt religion? In this lecture, I argue that post-exilic Judaism reframed the Torah through the lens of the exile itself. Before...
Church historyHillel and Shammai
Before Jesus spoke on divorce, oaths, and Sabbath, two schools set the terms. A quick primer on Hillel and Shammai and why their disputes clarify Matthew 5–7, 12, 19 and Acts 15.
Church historyFive Things the Early Church Can Teach Us Today
The early church faced challenges remarkably similar to our own. Their faithfulness offers timeless lessons for believers seeking to live out their faith today.
Biblical studiesWhere Is the Church Headed Now? A Reflection on Legacy, Decline, and Hope
“God buries His workers, but not His work.” This past week, the Church lost one of its most faithful voices. John MacArthurpastor-teacher of Grace Community Church for over fifty-six years,...
Church historyA Tribute to R.C. Sproul: A Giant of the Faith Has Gone Home
On Thursday evening, December 14, 2017, Dr. Robert Charles Sproul entered the presence of the Lord he had spent his entire life proclaiming. He was 78 years old. After battling chronic...
Church history