An Introduction to Church History

This course explores the Catholic Church’s development from its birth as a sect of Judaism to the present day. It begins with a focus on the Ancient Roman world and the historical contexts around the rise of Christianity as a major world religion. The course presents the historical events and persons who have played a vital role in the two-thousand-year history of the Catholic Church’s development. Students will study: the early church’s foundational members; the church councils; the Great Schism; the Middle Ages; the Crusades; the Protestant Reformation; The Global Catholic Church; and the Church in the Americas.