HISTORY

The Church — Its History

Where did the church come from, and where has it been?

Drawing from his Christ's Church series, Dr. Greg Bahnsen offers a sweeping overview of the history of Christ's church, tracing its roots from the earliest biblical history through the centuries and into the modern era. Beginning with the importance of knowing our roots, Bahnsen reminds Christians that the church did not appear in a vacuum. Its history is part of the story of God's work among His people.

In this wide-ranging lecture, Bahnsen moves across the major eras and developments of church history, bringing the story forward to figures such as J. Gresham Machen. Rather than treating history as a collection of disconnected names and dates, he gives listeners a framework for understanding where the Christian church has come from and how its past continues to shape its life and calling.

This is a valuable introduction to the broad historical story of Christ's church and a fitting companion to the other lectures in the Christ's Church series.

TIMELINE:

Biblical Foundations

04:52 — Adam (covenant established; the Fall creates the church as a distinct redemptive community)

07:40 — Abraham (Abrahamic covenant; father of many nations by faith)

09:37 — Moses (Acts 7:38 — "the church in the wilderness"; Sinai)

11:15 — Matthew 16:18 — "I will build my church"

12:24 — Pentecost (founding of the New Testament church)

13:09 — The Book of Acts begins

Early Church: Persecution & Heresy (2nd–3rd c.)

21:16 — AD 70 (traditional close of the New Testament)

22:40 — Ignatius

23:41 — Polycarp (martyrdom)

24:06 — Justin Martyr (dies under Marcus Aurelius)

24:54 — Gnosticism

24:58 — Early Christological heresies (Ebionites, adoptionism)

25:10 — The Montanists

25:31 — Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement, Origen

26:24 — Persecution under Decius (250 AD)

26:34 — Persecution under Diocletian (begins 303 AD)

Toleration & the Great Councils (4th–5th c.)

26:56 — Constantine's conversion / Edict of Toleration (313)

27:43 — Council of Nicaea (325) — vs. Arianism

27:55 — Council of Constantinople — vs. Macedonius

28:07 — Council of Ephesus (431) — vs. Nestorius

28:23 — Council of Chalcedon (451) — vs. the Monophysites

28:50 — Augustine (d. 430) — The City of God, vs. Pelagius

29:18 — Jerome — the Latin Vulgate

29:41 — Leo I claims the title of Pope (451)

30:09 — The Fall of Rome (410–476)

The Dark/Middle Ages (500–1500)

30:46 — Gregory the Great (590) — purgatory, images, papal supremacy

31:14 — Patrick, Augustine of Canterbury, Columba — Christianizing Britain/Ireland

32:27 — Rise of Islam / The Crusades (1095–1270)

32:48 — Charlemagne — Holy Roman Empire (800)

32:58 — Gregory VII (Hildebrand) vs. Henry IV

33:30 — Innocent III & Boniface VIII — height of papal power

33:49 — Bogomils, Beghards, Albigensians, Waldensians — early dissent

34:10 — Marsilius of Padua & William of Ockham

34:20 — John Wycliffe & John Huss

34:46 — The "reforming councils" (1409–1449) — condemn Huss

35:10 — Savonarola & Erasmus

The Reformation (16th c.)

35:39 — 1517 — Luther's 95 Theses

35:55 — Tetzel — indulgences

36:02 — 1519 — Luther's Leipzig Debate

36:19 — 1521 — Diet of Worms ("Here I stand")

36:57 — 1529 — Marburg Colloquy (Luther vs. Zwingli)

37:24 — The Anabaptists

38:32 — Zwingli (Zurich, d. 1531)

38:59 — Bucer — Strasbourg

39:04 — John Calvin (b. 1509 – d. 1564; Geneva, 1536; the Institutes)

The English Reformation

40:25 — Henry VIII

40:38 — Cranmer (Archbishop, 1532)

40:58 — Edward VI

41:05 — Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary")

41:17 — Queen Elizabeth I (1558)

41:33 — John Knox — Scotland

41:53 — James I/VI (1603)

Puritans, Westminster & America

42:10 — 1620 — Puritans/Pilgrims to America

42:25 — Synod of Dort (1618) — vs. the five points of Arminianism

42:45 — Charles I & Archbishop Laud

42:58 — Scottish National Covenant (1638)

43:07 — English Civil War begins (1642)

43:09 — Solemn League and Covenant (1643)

43:19 — Westminster Assembly (1643)

43:47 — First American Presbytery (1706)

American Presbyterianism to the OPC

44:07 — Old Side / New Side split (early 1700s)

44:14 — Old School / New School split (early 1800s)

44:19 — Civil War–era split into Northern/Southern churches

44:29 — Reunion of Old School/New School in the North (1869)

44:41 — Rise of modernism in the church (late 1800s)

44:58 — J. Gresham Machen defends Princeton orthodoxy

45:07 — The Auburn Affirmation

45:18 — Machen founds Westminster Theological Seminary

45:39 — Machen tried and expelled (1936)

45:49 — Machen founds the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1936)