Church development in the 20^th century — war, conscientous objectors, ecumenicalism, Vatican II, pentacostalism, women

Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

The church in Britain in the nineteenth century.

Methodism and the evangelical revival.

The English Reformation and its precursors.

Zwingli and the early Reformation in Zurich.

The Catholic Reformation and its response to Protestantism.

Martin Luther and the start of the Reformation. Handout from Paul Roberts as part of his 'Introduction to Church History' at Trinity College, Bristol, Easter Term, 2022

Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

The Medieval Church in the West. Handout from Paul Roberts as part of his 'Introduction to Church History' at Trinity College, Bristol, Easter Term, 2022

The Great Councils. Handout from Paul Roberts as part of his 'Introduction to Church History' at Trinity College, Bristol, Easter Term, 2022

We will attempt to cover nearly 1000 years in one session - obviously we have to be selective, so we’ll look at how Christianity survived the collapse of Roman rule in the West. We’ll look at how Ireland, Scotland and England were evangelized and also how Britain went on to help re-established Christianity in Europe through the work of missionary monks. We’ll look at the fortunes of the papacy, some key figures and some important developments in theology and culture.

The importance of the Confessions (Confessiones), written in 397-8, is as a personal document and statement of faith. This translation is in modern English found at the Stanford website. However it is incomplete and does not make clear its copyright.

Extract from "Introduction to Church History" by George Herring.

Handout from Paul Roberts as part of his 'Introduction to Church History' at Trinity College, Bristol, Easter Term, 2022

History and writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil the Great, his younger brother Gregory of Nyssa, and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus.

Today we’ll look at the major times of widespread persecutions of Christians by the Roman State, together with some of the long-term effects it had upon the Church. Then we will move forward to look at the process whereby the Empire itself became Christian.

This reading topic gives you a chance to look at how the Early Church worked, in terms of its core activities of worship, prayer and ministry. Patterns familiar in our day were in their earliest stages of development.

The purpose of this session is to give you a taste as to how the first generation of Christian 'theologians' tackled the issues of their day, arising from the existence and mission of the Church. You will be reading these writers in other modules, but this session is to introduce them and give you an idea of their overall context and thought.