Strange Church History

In this episode of Strange Church History , we share a conference talk from C. R. Wiley on re-enchanting the cosmos. With his characteristic clarity and good sense, Wiley turns our attention to the architecture of creation itself—its hierarchy, order, purpose, and harmony. He reminds us that before the modern world thinned reality to particles and probabilities, Christians understood the cosmos as...

In this episode of Strange Church History , we share a conference talk from S. D. Smith on the renewal of the Christian imagination. Drawing from story, Scripture, and the deep patterns woven into creation, Smith challenges us to consider what truly forms the inner life of God’s people. Imagination, he argues, is never empty. It is always being shaped, always being filled, always bending toward wo...

In this episode of Strange Church History , we share a conference talk from Josh delivered in Logan, West Virginia, on the theme of re-enchanting the Church. This session explores how the Church can recover a deeper imagination, a sacramental vision of the world, and the ancient patterns that shaped Christian worship and life long before modernity stripped them of their wonder. Drawing from Script...

In the winter of 897, the city of Rome gathered in silence to witness the unthinkable. Inside the Basilica of St. John Lateran, a corpse sat propped on a throne — the body of Pope Formosus, dead for nine months, dressed again in papal robes. And before him, another pope pronounced judgment. This was the Cadaver Synod — one of the strangest and darkest moments in Church history. A trial of the dead...

It's the Hallowtide Season. The air is cold, the wind whispers through the trees, and the line between the living and the dead grows thin. Candles burn inside hollowed pumpkins. Children walk beneath the moon wearing masks of saints and spirits. But behind the costumes and candy lies one of the strangest stories in all of Christian history. In this episode of Strange Church History , we uncove...

It’s the last night of October. A cold wind moves through the valley, whispering through the bones of the trees. Outside an old stone church, candles flicker, tombstones lean, and somewhere in the darkness children laugh. They wear masks of saints and spirits, angels and monsters, walking a line that feels older than memory. In this episode of Strange Church History , we explore the true story of...

In the summer of 1518, the city of Strasbourg was seized by madness. It began with one woman, Frau Troffea, who stepped into the street and began to dance. Days passed, and she did not stop. Soon her daughter joined her. Then dozens. Then hundreds. They danced until their feet bled, until their bodies convulsed, until some collapsed dead. Was it mass hysteria? Ergot poisoning from tainted rye? Or...

Enjoy this preview of Episode Two from Season One of Strange Church History . In this episode, we uncover one of the most haunting events ever recorded in Christian Europe. Episode Two releases Thursday, October 9th. Stay tuned — the past is stranger than you think.

In 3rd-century Paris, then a small Roman frontier town called Lutetia, a bishop named Denis was condemned for preaching Christ as King. The sword fell. His head rolled upon the earth. But that was not the end. According to ancient tradition, Denis rose to his feet, lifted his severed head in his own hands, and walked. Step by step, mile after mile, he carried his head while still proclaiming Chris...