Church History for Chumps

Is our nation more divided than ever? Are we losing the ability to respectfully disagree with each other? Welcome to our first ever bonus episode: Chump Talk. In these episodes, we'll tackle larger ideas and themes in the culture and talk to even cooler guests. (Don't worry though, we'll be right back with your church history fix next week) This week, John and Tom are joined by Jaco...

Have you ever heard someone say that Christianity is anti-intellectual?  Well, you should send them this episode. And have them 'like' and 'subscribe' too, that would help us a lot.  But anyways. Justin Martyr was a 2nd-century Greek man with a love for philosophy, who found the fullness of all love of wisdom in Christ. We think he's a pretty cool guy.  And today we'r...

As you guys know, we love presenting church history as a beautiful anthology of the story of God's people. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the vastness of that story when we don't venture out of our own contexts. So today, we're going to peer to the far outside branches of our Christian family tree, and discuss the origin of one of the most longstanding Christian tradition...

"Why are you booing me? I'm right!" - the early church, probably  The first century was a funky time to be a Christian, but persecution as we know it was pretty scattered and sporadic. In the second century though, things are starting to ramp up.  Join us for another episode from our "The Early Church Gets the Worm" series, and listen to us forget to edit out some fun mic...

In our newest piece in our series of Early Church lore, we discuss another tale of martyrdom, that of Perpetua and Felicity.  The early third Century was not an easy time for Christians in Northern Africa. But as so many tales of martyrs go, their story was one of both tragedy and triumph, as they took up the cross of Christ in the truest way.  Thanks for tuning in!  Support the show

"It's hard out here for a pimp."  -the early church, probably  As we continue our aptly named series, "The Early Church Gets the Worm," we discuss one of the most pressing topics for early Christians: persecution in the Roman Empire.  Happy New Year, friends.  Support the show

GUESS WHO'S BACK Man, it's been a minute you guys. I don't know if you missed us, but we definitely missed you.  This kicks off our new season, "The Early Church Gets the Worm." We'll be focusing on, you guessed it, stories from the early church era.  The story of Sergius and Bacchus is a tale of brotherhood, friendship, and the lasting legacy of their 5th century mar...

In many parts of the world, the question of whether you're a Catholic or Protestant means a lot more than if you submit to the Pope, or how you feel about Martin Luther.  One such place is Northern Ireland. For generations, the people of Ireland and the United Kingdom have been steeped in a conflict about religious freedom, civil rights, and discrimination. Tragically, this period of tension...

Have you ever wondered why some churches use grape juice for communion, while others insist on using wine instead? The answer is more complicated than you think. Or it might be less complicated, I don't know, I feel like you're probably pretty smart.  Either way, join us as we discuss Thomas Welch, the Prohibition Era, and the impact still felt by churches today.  IG: @churchhistory4chum...

Church history isn't always as, well, historically reliable as we wish it was. Sometimes the stories of saints and heroes tend to blur the lines between fact and fiction.  That would be the case of Saint Dymphna, an Irish-Catholic runaway who sought refuge from her violent father in a small town in Belgium. What's interesting though, is that whether or not her story is more than folklore...

It's 1550. A generation has passed since the Reformation swept across Europe like a wildfire.  The Catholic Church has launched the Counter-Reformation, a multi-layered initiative to restore the continent to its former Roman glory. One step of this plan in Germany is to recognize the cities that have fallen into the clutches of Lutheranism and coerce their return to the Church.  Suddenly the...

In the 5th Century, the Western Roman Empire is on its last leg.  Riddled with internal conflict, external threats, and even theological disputes tearing at the fabric of the Church, Rome has seen better days. And the great shadow of the Huns looms larger and larger as days go by.  This leads to one of the most engaging (and unexpected) encounters in church history: the frail and elderly Bishop of...

If you're not a Baptist (and we still love you even if you are), you're probably no stranger to the idea of infant baptism.  The doctrine of paedobaptism is saturated with the idea that the children of believers are heirs of the covenant of grace, and through baptism are welcomed into God's family.  But did you know that for several centuries of church history, the youngest believer...

Beginning as a fringe interpretation of the creation story in Genesis, the Serpent Seed Doctrine asks a question that no one really seems to be asking: what if Satan and Eve had a little...fling? It's a wild doctrine with even more of a wild history. So let's talk about it! Also, we're not gonna be too crude this episode, but given the nature of this episode's topic, it may not...

The 16th Century was a rollercoaster for Japanese Christians. The first half was amazing-- the first Portuguese missionaries broke ground and people were getting saved by the thousands. Churches were built, clergy established, things were looking great.  The second half was...well, pretty bad. A combination of suspicious Japanese leaders and the shaky reputation of the European powers started to t...

The discovery (well, sort of discovery) of the New World was one of the most groundbreaking events in world history. The decades that followed however, would be marked by widespread violence and abuse of power as the colonizing Europeans came to settle in a foreign new land.  In the midst of this broken system, there were several voices who were critical of these injustices. They believed that the...

Well folks, we've danced around this topic for long enough. It's time to unpack the grand-daddy of all heresies (most heresies), the second-century slammer, the demiurge devastator...Gnosticism. Unlike many of the heresies we've discussed so far this season, Gnosticism is a tricky one to pin down. There is no singular, authoritative Gnostic worldview, so it takes a little nuance to...

In the second century, it's safe to say that Christians were still kind of figuring things out.  One of those things for example, was the celebration of Easter. There was a heated disagreement in the church about whether Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday (the Lord's Day) or whether it should stay on the day of the Jewish Passover.  What came of this agreement is one of the oldest a...

Well gang-- our Instagram followers supplied the questions, and here we are with the answers. What heresy do we find most dangerous to the church? How do we feel about nondenominational churches? How has our study of church history affected our work as pastors? WILL WE EVER DO AN EPISODE ON THE CRUSADES??? All of these questions (and a lot more) will be answered.  IG: @churchhistory4chumps  Suppor...

Manifest Destiny is a heck of a drug.  In the 1800's, American and Canadian settlers were faced with a problem: what should be done about all these Native/Indigenous people? The result was a pretty gross blemish on the face of North American Christianity: the adoption of Indigenous Boarding Schools.  The story behind this episode isn't a fun one, but we believe it's important as bel...

Okay fine, "original doomsday cult" is a little on the dramatic side. But come on, Montanism is like the perfect Frankenstein's monster of heresies. You've got a dash of modalism, a sprinkle of hyper-pentacostalism, and a healthy splash of end times panic. And all before the 3rd Century! Montanism was a strange movement in the early days of Christianity. It demonstrated a growi...

The Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century wasn't just a movement. It was a million dominoes falling to trigger a BUNCH of movements all across Europe. One of the most unique of these movements was that of the Anabaptists. While Lutherans and Calvinists fought about whether justification or predestination were cooler sounding words, Anabaptists were marching to the beat of a very differen...

Have you ever read through the Old Testament and thought, "Geez, God seems a little harsh compared to that Jesus guy"?  Well, Marcion of Sinope had that thought as well. In fact, he would have argued that they were completely different gods.  Join Thomas and John as they explore Marcionism, a 2nd century heresy with lots and lots of fun heretical ideas. Oh and John will consistently call...

David Brainerd was an 18th century colonial man for the people. We also have it on good authority that his pals called him 'Davey the Brain.'  After running into obstacles on his path into pastoral leadership, David opted for a different calling: mission work to the Native Americans. Although his life would be cut short by illness, Brainerd's legacy would survive him through his jou...

Historically, Christians have believed that when the first humans sinned, it introduced corruption into everything. Human hearts turned away from God, nature began to decay, and all creation groaned for its Redeemer.  But what if that wasn't the case? What if humans weren't born bad at all? In fact, what if humans could be perfect? Join John and Tommy as they discuss Pelagianism, as Tomm...