This course is the first part of a two part series on the history of the Christian religion. The second part will be in the spring 2025 session. The courses will cover the entire history of Christianity from the time of Jesus Christ into the 21st century. All time periods and all the varieties and denominations (at least the major ones!) will be covered. Both the glorious and not so glorious aspects of Christian history will be gone over.

The course this winter session will cover, among many other topics: The early centuries of Roman persecution, growth leading to becoming the main faith in much of the ancient world, doctrinal struggles and doctrinal development, the monastic movement, the medieval Church - both East and West, the disagreements leading to the Great Schism in 1054 A.D. resulting in separate Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches and the later years of the Middle Ages. In the spring session we will begin with the Protestant Reformation in 1517 and move on to look at the 3 main parts of Christianity -- Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy – in the 500 years since then.