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.
8 min readChurch history
Study the people, councils, movements, and disputes that shaped the Christian church. These selected articles cover early Christianity, church councils, the Reformation, and Baptist history. They do not form a complete chronology.
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Study by subject
Each period and theme link searches the published library. Reviewed entries are linked; periods without published articles are planned and not shown.
Periods
Themes
Follow a reading path
Follow selected studies across several periods. The gaps between them are not covered by this route.
Start here
Begin with the early church and its Jewish setting, then read about the fourth-century Council of Nicaea.
Go further
Read a wider account of four early church councils, then turn to the sixteenth-century Reformation.
Read in depth
Trace one later Protestant tradition through the English Reformation, separatist congregations, and Baptist development.
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Early church and the ancient world
Who 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.
8 min readWhy 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.
6 min readGnosticism: 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.
7 min readThe 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.
8 min readMovements and later history
Where 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.
4 min readWhere Did the Pentecostal Church Come From?
The Holiness roots of modern Pentecostalism, Topeka and Azusa Street, the denominations that formed, and the later charismatic movements.
6 min readWhere 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.
5 min readWhere 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.
5 min readWhere 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.
5 min readLatest articles in church history
Recent published articles in this field, from the maintained catalogue.
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.
8 min readWhere 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.
4 min readWhere Did the Pentecostal Church Come From?
The Holiness roots of modern Pentecostalism, Topeka and Azusa Street, the denominations that formed, and the later charismatic movements.
6 min readWhere 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.
5 min readWhere 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.
5 min readWhere 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.
5 min read