Purity and Truth

Session 1: The Atonement Topics: Why did Jesus have to die? What did his death accomplish? How could God’s justice be satisfied by the worst crime in human history? Did Jesus save us from our sins, or the penalty of our sins, or both? Covers different views on the atonement that have been held throughout church history. (This series of talks was given at Ecola Bible School in Nov, 2010)

Session 7: “New Awakenings”   The explosion of the church in Asia and Africa. The church in China. Persecution. The Evangelical Awakening. Truth and transformation. The power of the gospel to overcome the darkest times. Lessons for application from 2000 years of Church History.

Session 6: “Social Upheaval and the Cold War”  The demise of the family. The pill, the sexual revolution, global tensions. Social change, the influence of movies, radio, the car, and television. The baby boom, the counter-culture revolution, the civil rights movement, the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Session 5: “The World at War”   World War 1, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and World War 2.

Session 4 “Holiness and Reform”   DL Moody, Billy Sunday. The Holiness movement and the birth of Penecostalism: Phoebe Palmer, Asuza, Darwinism, higher criticism, and the rise of fundamentalism ( J Gresham Machen, changing eschatologies).The dark side of industrialization and the Christian response: progressives, the social gospel, Tommy Douglas. Capitalism, Socialism, communism, prohibition

Session 3 “Revival and Strife”  Revival to revivalism, Charles Finney, abolitionism and the Civil War, communes, Millerites, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventism.

Session 2 “Imperialism and the explosion of missions.”  Technological revolutions, the train, the telegraph, industrialization, the telephone. Colonialism, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor.

 Session 1 “Freedom’s Turmoil” Historical background to 1800s: Decline of religion, common sense, French Revolution, the Great Awakenings, War of 1812, the birth of Canada, rise of nationalism and political freedom. Please note, the syllabus for this third series can be downloaded at http://www.purityandtruth.com/events/

 Session 7: “Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening”

 Session 6: “Revivalists: Whitefield and the Wesleys”

Session 5: “Puritans and the Kingdom of God on Earth”

 Session 4: “The Age of Exploration and Exploitation”

Session 3: “The English Bible and the Reformation in England”

Session 2: “John Calvin and the Reformation in Europe”

Session 1: “The Life and Times of Martin Luther” At the end of the 15th century, the Church was in shambles, superstition and ignorance was rampant, the clergy were better known for their immorality than their knowledge of the Bible. Several attempts at reform had failed miserably. But just when things looked most bleak, lightning struck. In a few short decades, the landscape of Christianity chang...

Session 6: The High point and Boniface. The Collapse. Popes in Avignon. Black Plague and Flagellants. The Hundred years war. Joan of Arc, Thomas a Kempis, and  Catherine of Sienna. The Papal Schism. John Wycliffe and John Huss

Session 5:  Crusades and the Changing times. The Scolastic Universities. Anselm, Peter Abelard, and Thomas Aquinas. The high point of papal power, Innocent III. Excommunication and the interdict. The Mendicant Friars. Failures of the golden age. Heresies and the Inquisition. The Rise of Nationalism and wealth of the middle class.

Session 4: Chalecedon in the East. Justinian I and Theodora I. East Vs West. The barbaric Nations. Leo and the Rise of the popes. Benedict and western Monastiscm. Gregory the Great . Conversion of the barabaric tribes. Columba and Scotland/Britain. Clovis and the Merovingian line. Muslim Expansion.

Session 3: Donatism. Great apostasy in N. Africa. Council of Nicea. Emperor succession after Constantine and pagan Julian. Cappodocian Fathers, Basil, Gregory, and Gregory and the Final Victory.  Ambrose, John Chrysostom, and Jerome. Augustine, Donatists, and Pelagius. The fall of Rome the Arian Goths.

Session 2: Gnostism and Marcion. Montanists and Celsus. Creed, Canon, and Apostolic succession. Persecution of Diocletian. Impact Constantine had on official theology, great apostasy, monasticism, and worship in ways that are still felt today.

Session 1: Last Days, Tumultuous times. Persecution from the Jews. Persecution from Nero. Justin Martyr and the Apologists. What was early Christianity like? Why did the Gospel spread so rapidly? Ignatius, Polycarp, and Perpetua. There seems to be an epidemic of historical amnesia in today’s church. To some, it’s as if true Christianity disappeared for 1900 years and suddenly resurfaced with their...