A Journey through Church History

Explore 6th-century Byzantium under Justinian, where eastern empire persists, canon and civil law merge, Hagia Sophia rises, and Gregory the Great and Benedict shape monasticism amid the rise of Islam.

Trace the seventh century rise of Islam, Bede's account of England, the Synod of Whitby, and monastic reforms shaping early Britain.

Charles Martel halts the invasion of Islam at Tours and forges Frankish power. Boniface the Apostle confronts pagan-Christian syncretism in Germany, and John of Damascus defends icons amid Byzantine iconoclasm.

Trace Charlemagne's rise and the Carolingian renaissance in the west, and examine east–west tensions—filioque, language, bread at communion, and church authority—shaping the Holy Roman Empire.

Trace the emergence of the Cluniacs, the development of scholasticism, and the decline of the Carolingians, as monasteries expand education and religious practice.

Explore how the 11th century reshaped church and empire relations, from Cluny and Cistercian dynamics, to papal and imperial power struggles, crusades, universities, and the 1054 great schism.

Explore the 12th century crusades through Bernard of Clairvaux's penitential preaching and Innocent III's reforms. See the third crusade around Acre and Jerusalem and Bernard's four degrees of love.

Explore the rise of mendicant orders like the Franciscans and Dominicans amid 13th-century scholasticism, poverty vows, and university learning guided by Aquinas and Aristotelian thought.

Explore Unam Sanctam's claim of papal supremacy over temporal authority amid the Avignon papacy, famine, and the Black Death, tracing early reform currents led by John Wickliffe and the Lollards.

Explore the 15th century clash of Jan Hus, the Council of Constance, and Renaissance humanism, tracing sacraments, transubstantiation, and ecclesiastical authority in the rise of humanist and print culture.

Explore the 16th century reformation, where the printing press spreads vernacular scripture, Luther's justification by faith reshapes worship, and new autonomous churches emerge alongside enduring church traditions.

Explore 17th century calvinism, arminianism, pietism and puritanism across europe and britain, including predestination debates, the arminian remonstrance and the rise of dissenting churches.

Trace the 18th century rise of Methodism with the Wesleys, Whitfield, and Moravians, from holy clubs at Oxford to outdoor preaching, hymn writing, and lay leadership.

Explore how 19th-century liberty, industry, and globalization reshaped the church, from abolition and African Methodist Episcopal Church to revivalism, the Salvation Army, and global missions.

Examine the 20th century move of the spirit, new technologies, and global shifts that shaped Pentecostalism, liberalism and fundamentalism, evangelism models, and the rise of the global south.