Church History

August 1, 2024 How People See Us When I first entered full-time pastoral ministry many years ago, there was someone in the congregation who, I’m sorry to say, I did… Read More

How early Christians viewed the ancient city  Robert Edwards,  August 14, 2024 John Chrysostom on a gold medallion inlayed with enamel (10th–11th century). Photo in public domain, via Metropolitan Museum… Read More

By Bobby Conway MAY 03, 2024 Unfortunately, there are overly zealous people out there who oppress others in the name of Christianity—though thankfully it’s not the norm. Sadly, people like… Read More

Christianity and the So-Called “Dark Ages” By Melissa Cain Travis MAR 9 READ IN APP In his famous essay, “The Age of Reason,” American Founding Father and deist, Thomas Paine,… Read More

I wrote the following piece in the mid-1980s. The audio talk (14 mins) is based on the original paper. The Man Who Came in from the Cold I remember the… Read More

Unity in the Sub-Apostolic Church WAS THERE UNITY IN THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH? AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TUNNEL PERIOD (~A.D. 62-150) Stephen Francis Staten Wheaton College, 1997 In this masters thesis… Read More

Article appearing in the newsletter of Common Grounds Unity, 19 Aug 2023, used by permission Origin stories deeply shape our identity, theology, and practice. The stories we tell ourselves about… Read More

RESURRECTED LIVING “What are you going to do with your new resurrected life? This is the heroic question.” Richard Rohr Continue reading.

Note: The following was constructed from an 8-part series in our 2022 newsletter. Catholicism’s Seven Sacraments The Council of Trent (1545-1563) affirmed: “If anyone says that the sacraments… are not… Read More

Here is my self-published thesis, available on Amazon at the following link: History, Hermeneutics & Church Polity in the International Churches of Christ in Jamaica amazon.com And at Barnes and… Read More

Hi everyone, Just in case you hadn’t heard, the next AIM UK & Ireland module is round the corner – this Saturday in fact. The sessions will be both in-person… Read More

This message (32 mins) covers the various ways in which Christians of the first few centuries were persecuted (slander, exile, confiscation, etc). Following is a study of persecution and martyrdom… Read More

  From Five Fingers to Five Steps Written by Jack Reese – Excerpt from “At the Blue Hole,” Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 2021. Reprinted with permission. Scott (Walter… Read More

Listen to an interview with Common Grounds, a terrific ministry focused on unity within the Stone Campbell Movement. The theme: CHRISTIAN UNITY. Enjoy this important conversation by clicking here.

Do you think the remains of James the Just are in the church of St. James of Compostela (Santiago de Compostela) in Spain?  Reply from Joseph Harris (Augusta, GA):  No,… Read More

Introduction C.S. Lewis used the term ‘a great cataract of nonsense’ to describe how people use a modern idea to construe Bible theology. One such example, perhaps the best example,… Read More

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on… Read More

The Nature of Christian Unity: Historical Understandings of Churches of Christ Written by Douglas A. Foster, The below are excerpts from a paper presented at the Stone-Campbell Dialogue in June… Read More

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only… Read More

I. FOUNDING In the wake of the Second Great Awakening, many sects emerged in 19th century America. A combination of religious liberty and a strong spirit of individualism fostered numerous… Read More

Join us for a conversation. Common Grounds Unity presents this conversation with Dr. Nick Zola & Dr. Douglas Jacoby on Saturday, March 20. Details on the flyer. Zoom meeting link… Read More

On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland. Today he is honored with the annual holiday of St. Patrick’s Day. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saint-patrick-dies

Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Stepping into the Jordan Patrons, Prophets, and Preachers by Rob Kranz One of the advantages of teaching is that I always… Read More

Our DNA: An Interview With Douglas A. Foster I grew in Michigan, in a county with roughly 500 lakes. I spent a good portion of my childhood, barefoot with friends,… Read More

Daryl Reed is the Lead Minister of DC Regional Christian Church in the Washington DC area. We had an enlightening conversation about Church History and Race. Daryl is a third… Read More

Critical biography examines the ‘gifted but flawed’ leader of the American Restoration Movement. By John Mark Hicks When Alexander Campbell died in 1866, he left his legacy in a divided… Read More

  Recently, my wife and I took the “Emotionally Healthy Relationships” course developed by Peter and Geri Scazzero. During one session we did a genogram. A genogram maps out a… Read More

  A Dream Worth Resurrecting: by Ben Brewster Ben Brewster wrote the below for Common Grounds in 2018. His book “Torn Asunder” is a must-read! The below is a re-post…. Read More

  Yesterday, I received an email from a friend who shared a copy of “The Stone-Campbell Reformation: Its Roots and Ideals” from July 1994 with an article by Leroy Garrett…. Read More

Many congregations canceled services, and some Christians focused on feeding and nursing the poor. By John Mark Hicks NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville saw its first case of the “Spanish flu” in… Read More

Delving into the history of black churches | The Christian Chronicle Edward J. Robinson’s newest book, “Hard-Fighting Soldiers: A History of African American Churches of Christ,” takes its title from… Read More

The article I wrote back in 1986 about the origins of the Churches of Christ in the U.K. May be of some interest to some readers.  

Douglas Jacoby,  Washington DC (1993) (recommended by Russ Ewell, San Francisco) Prejudice is ugly and widespread, knowing no borders. Yet even more detestable is the use of biblical authority to justify… Read More

  We are excited to introduce you to  TheHistoricFaith.com . The Historic Faith is the result of a partnership between Sattler College and Scroll Publishing. This project seeks to promote the precepts… Read More

Two classes given by Douglas Jacoby & Nick Zola at “The Harbor” Pepperdine Bible Lectures, on May 3, 2019. The two audio lessons are followed by the Powerpoint presentation with… Read More

Martin Luther shattered Christendom and transformed the West, making the modern world possible and inevitable. This is the consensus among historians, whether they see this sixteenth-century monk as an epochal… Read More

At my church this morning it was preached that the apostle John survived being boiled in oil before he was exiled on Patmos. Is this true? It is certainly true… Read More

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY WITH DAVID BERCOT Saturday, December 1, 2018 Download the PowerPoint from https://www.athensinstitute.org This will be available to all paying students until midnight 2 Dec ET only.

Jesus spoke out often about the very things which lead to a misguided understanding of God’s revealed truth in the Scriptures. Those influences are ignorance, apathy, religion, tradition and open… Read More

Some Key Dates in Church History

The earliest images of Jesus on the cross How and when did Christians start to depict images of Jesus on the cross? Some believe the early church avoided images of… Read More

How the cross became Christianity’s most popular symbol Throughout the world, images of the cross adorn the walls and steeples of churches. For some Christians, the cross is part of their daily… Read More

The archaeological exhibit on the tomb of Christ is on display at the National Geographic Museum through August, 2018. Click here. Articles: click here.

When I was a teenager, I remember how my heart was moved by Billy Graham’s Peace with God. The simple way in which Graham is able to express profound truths has enabled him to connect with… Read More

An extraordinary collection of 68 New Testament and other Biblical manuscripts dating from the fourth to the twentieth centuries has been digitized and made available for study online. Continue reading… Read More

What exactly was the Inquisition? (If you prefer to listen to my reply, click on the arrow for the podcast, The Inquisition (20 min). If you want to save and… Read More

Our church is initiating a “Crusade” to take our city for Christ. This makes we wonder, what about the Crusades in the Middle Ages. What were they? As a Christian… Read More

To listen to the third podcast in the series on Christian identity, Why I Am Not an Evangelical—or Am I? (32 min), click on the arrow. To download and listen… Read More

To hear the podcast (44 mins), Why I Am Not a Fundamentalist, click on the play arrow. To download and listen to it later, right click here and then on ‘save link as’… Read More

To hear the podcast (54 mins) titled Why I Am Not a Protestant, click on the arrow. To download and listen to it later, right click here and then on ‘save… Read More

Listen to David Bercot’s lessons (Scroll Publishing) through its YouTube channel. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6qGDn7Nnd84-UgURpw8Dw Description Welcome to the Scroll Publishing YouTube channel. We are a small publisher of Christian books… Read More

Click here to read this article. See also Steve Staten’s article on the Sinner’s Prayer here.

Famous Christians 1: Nicholas of Myra This is the story (16 minutes) of Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century Christian leader, who became “Saint Nick.” Though Christmas lore is nearly… Read More

This presentation (2:40:00), hosted By David Kenney, covers the life and influence of Alexander Campbell, probably the most influential leader in the Stone-Campbell Movement, better known as the Restoration Movement…. Read More

Here are the links for the major classes given in the 2015 Biblical Study Tour. The theme was “Finding God When the Church is Adrift,” and the teaching took place in… Read More

My next door neighbor, enjoying the recent articles on evolution in which I reference the slowness of the academic world to accept heliocentricity (earth orbiting sun), sent these links. The… Read More

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/

Click for a most illuminating study.

Your Ex Still Wants You The following podcast, the title of which is inspired by Lipscomb scholar John Mark Hicks’ recent work, examines the evolution of the “supper” from actual… Read More

To download, right click on the link and click “Save Link As” or “Save target As” – Download Podcast In this final lesson in the sub-series on Christ as understood… Read More

When you listen to Christ Through the Ages lesson 26 (19 minutes), you’ll learn how the changes that occurred from the 2nd to 4th centuries (our last podcast) accelerate in… Read More

To download, right click on the link and click “Save Link As” or “Save target As” – Download Podcast The 25th podcast in this series (21 minutes) is entitled Christ… Read More

Beginning with this podcast, we turn our attention to perceptions of Christ as he was preached throughout the course of church history. Lesson 24, Christ in Church History: The Apostolic… Read More

Click here to download the .pdf file. Ron Petter is a respected Canadian evangelist and teacher in Hamilton, Ontario. Ron is working on his PhD at McMaster Divinity College, (www.macdiv.ca)… Read More

The Origin of the word Christmas The modern word Christmas comes from the Old English Cristes mæsse, or Christ’s mass. In Medieval Catholicism, this was the Mass. The word mass… Read More

Did you know that there are two dates for Easter? One follows the Jewish Passover and is lunar, the other determined by solar calculation. This disagreement dates back to at… Read More

You may be interested in this website, which seeks to promote common ground among Restoration Movement churches.http://www.restorationunity.com/   

Here is a study of the popular evangelical doctrine of Receiving Christ (22 minutes). To download the podcast, right click on “download” and select “save link as” or “save target… Read More

The tomb of Paul was discovered just outside the old city walls of Rome, in the area of the Church of St Paul Outside the Walls. Excavation of the grave… Read More

There’s a great resource on the Stone-Campbell Movement. Visit the website of the Stone-Campbell Journal.

Link to Restoration Quarterly Article:  LINK

In 1588, a Catholic priest, William Weston, a critic of the Puritans and their movement described for his readers a large gathering of them which he observed at Ely, England:… Read More

To read his views, download AlexanderCampbellonWar.pdf (59 KB).

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/

381 AD. This is the date that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Earlier in the same (fourth) century, it had become legal, but from this date… Read More

Here’s a useful volume on the Stone-Campbell Movement — from which sprang the Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, and Disciples of Christ.  Click here

Check out this website: Christian Classics.

This is the “handout” to accompany the church history powerpoint presentation made in Lagos, Nigeria (2005). In addition, the 7 lessons of church history are: 1. No clergy/laity distinction! 2…. Read More

Check out this story if you haven’t seen it already. Link

22-27 August 2005 we conducted AIM Session VII, with units on Church History (10 hours), World Religions (10 hours), and Campus Ministry (5 hours). Students converged from Georgia, California, Colorado,… Read More

The Roman catacombs are intricate labyrinths of burial chambers that were built roughly between the third and fifth century A.D. They are considered among the most important relics of early… Read More

An extremely thought provoking book, one that students of church history will be sure to want to read, is Leonard Verduin’s THE ANATOMY OF A HYBRID: A STUDY IN CHURCH-STATE… Read More

“Instrumental Music: A Live Issue’ was written by Douglas Jacoby in 1993. It discusses what the Bible says about the use of instrumental music — an issue for the Restoration… Read More

Here is a paper on the life and ministry of Martin Luther. It is written by James Greig: pdf file.

The following are excerpts from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (published Ambassador, complete), first published Basle 1559. John Foxe studied at Oxford and was ordained by Nicholas Ridley in 1550. He… Read More

The word “gnosticism” comes from gnosis, Greek for “knowledge.” Esoteric or secret knowledge is meant. The Gnostics believed that only an elite few enjoyed special enlightenment. The Gnostic view of… Read More

Campbell Study MILLENNIAL HARBINGER, NEW SERIES. VOLUME III.—–NUMBER I. ================================================================= B E T H A N Y, VA. JANUARY, 1839. ================================================================= BIBLE READING NOTHING is more talked about amongst professors, and nothing… Read More

Introduction In the twelve years I have been a Christian I have had the privilege of studying the Bible with five men who were active Freemasons. I know that throughout… Read More