A Podcast All About Christianity
My training is in New Testament studies and not history. However, I see a very close relationship between the two. I come at New Testament studies from the perspective of history. How does one go about history in any other area? People who study Alexander the Great, the Han dynasty in China or the Napoleonic … Read More “The Relationship of History and New Testament Studies” »
I am a firm believer that understanding the New Testament requires some understanding of its Jewish context. I don’t mean that Judaism is only Christian context, it has great value as a major faith. But the New Testament was written in a Jewish context by (mostly) Jewish authors. I’m always looking for good resources in … Read More “Judaism Before Jesus – Review” »
I am especially interested in the development of new religions in the 19th century, including the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. I taught a course on this for Tyndale University College. As a part of the background, I put together a bit of timeline of the major religious figures from the 19th century (and early 20th … Read More “Historical Timeline of Religion in the 19th Century” »
My intention is not to make a theological critique of Peter as pope but rather a historical one. Having said that, I am a protestant Christian and so I do have some theological opinions on the matter. I am just putting my bias on the table. Roman Catholics and protestants debate the meaning of Matthew … Read More “Was Peter the First Pope?” »
The city of Constantinople is extremely important in the history of Christianity, arguably as important as Rome. It was the centre of Christianity in the East and it was here that Christians resisted the Muslim advance. Constantinople had held out against incredible odds for a long time. But it could not last forever. This interesting … Read More “Fall Of Constantinople 1453” »
In the previous volume of The Story of Christianity, Justo González took us to the dawn of the Reformation. In this second volume, he brings us from the Reformation to the present day. Although more centuries were covered in the first volume, the sheer amount of change in the Christian church over these few centuries … Read More “The Story of Christianity: Volume 2 – Review” »
I just finished teaching a course on Contemporary Religious Movements at Tyndale University College. One of the things that I enjoyed about the course was seeing the connections between the different groups. We focused on groups that developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. What was interesting was that there were two basic types of … Read More “Prophets and Bible Teachers in New Religions” »
One of the most significant events post-Reformation for the history of theology was the teaching of Jacob Arminius. Arminius considered himself to be a true Calvinist, in the sense of being faithful to the teachings of John Calvin. However, Arminius developed a theology the reinterpreted the idea of predestination. Predestination was more about God having … Read More “Dutch Revolt and Arminianism” »
When people think about the Great Awakening, they often think of the First Great Awakening and the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. But after the First Great Awakening was a Second Great Awakening. This took place mostly in the early nineteenth century. The Second Great Awakening had an immense affect, not just on … Read More “The Second Great Awakening” »
When I studied church history in seminary, the text that was assigned was The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo L. González. I just recently reread this book as a part of my ongoing research. I am reminded of what a tremendous resource this is. González … Read More “The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 – Review” »
