Church History

Rev. Victor M. Ford

• The Apostolic Church. AD 30 to 100. From the ascension of Jesus to the death of St. John, we see the early church at Jerusalem, Antioch, Samaria, and Philippi.
• The Persecuted Church. AD 100 to 313. From the death of St. John to the Edict of Constantine, the Roman Empire invoked all it's power to destroy Christians.
• The Imperial Church. AD 313 to 476. From the Edict of Constantine to the fall of Rome, Christianity was made the Empire's religion.
• The Medieval Church. AD 476 to 1453. From the fall of Rome to the fall of Constantinople, there is 1000 years of the Middle Ages.
• Crusades and Monasteries. During the Medieval Church the Romantic Movement to free the Holy Land from the Moslems began.
• The Prelude to the Reformation. There were attempts by early reformers to change the Church, but they were ignored and persecuted.
• The Reformation. AD 1453 to 1648. From the fall of Constantinople to the end of the Thirty Years' War, Martin Luther's boldness had finally created change.
• Reform and Puritanism in England. Who were John Calvin and William Farel, the Episcopalians, Puritans, and Separatists?
• The Modern Church. AD 1648 to today. From the end of the Thirty Years' War to today, there have been great movements in the church in England, Europe and America.
• Religion and Reform in Europe. There came enemies of the faith in Communism, Marxism, evolution, and Biblical criticism.
• The 18th and 19th Century Church. What was "The Second Awakening?" How did two world wars effect the church?
• The 20th Century Church. 20th century theology has been marked by words like turmoil, radical, evangelical and hope.