Discipleship Freely Keith P. Adams

Time Period: 1600-1700
Topics: the Thirty Years' War, Arminianism vs. Calvinism, the Church of England, Puritans & Separatists

In this session, we look at the clashes that continued in the fallout of the Reformation. There were violent clashes between Protestants and Catholics. There were theological clashes within Protestantism. And there were political and ecclesiastical clashes, especially in England.

Time Period: 1500-1600
Topics: the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Felix Manz, the Catholic Counter-Reformation

In this session, we explore the century that changed the landscape of the church (and all of Europe). We begin by looking at the life of Martin Luther whose understanding of grace, faith, and righteousness was transformed by reading Paul's letter to the Romans. And Luther's protest against the church's practice of selling "indulgences" sparked further debate and eventually a break with the Roman Catholic Church. Swiss theologians John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and even Felix Manz also play critical roles in the diverse expressions of the Reformation in Europe.

Time Period: 1300-1500
Topics: The Avignon Papacy, the Great Schism of the Papacy, Pre-Reformers (John Wycliffe and Jan Hus)

In this session we look at the close of the Middle Ages when the papacy reached a breaking point and the long held traditions of the church began to be challenged. Though they didn't know it at the time, these heterodox thinkers were forerunners to what would come a century or two later with the Protestant Reformation.

Time Period: 700-1300
Topics: Cluny and Cistercian Monks, Waldensians, Albigenses, Mendicant Orders (Dominicans & Franciscans), Scholasticism

In this session, we take a second pass through the "middle" of the Middle Ages, looking at the various ways that people tried to purify the church from the rampant corruption and moral laxity that crept its way in over the centuries. There were "reforming" movements among the monks and among the laity through traveling poor preachers. Meanwhile, Medieval scholarship reached its peak among the theologians.

Time Period: 700-1300
Topics: the Holy Roman Empire, the Great Schism between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, the Crusades

As we go deeper into the Middle Ages (8th-13th c.), the (partially) converted barbarian tribes and their loyalty to the Pope created a semblance of order. Pope Leo III helped revive the Western Roman Empire (to an extent) by anointing King Charles of the Franks (Charlemagne) to be emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. But while the west was attempting a revival, the divide between east and west was widening, leading to the Great Schism between the Latin west (Roman Catholic) and the Greek east (Eastern Orthodox).

Time Period: 300-800
Topics: the emergence of the papacy, missionaries to pagan tribes, the emergence of Islam

The early middle ages (roughly 5th-10th c.) were a critical transition period for all of Europe, Asia, and North Africa largely due to the collapse of the Roman Empire. And that meant it was also a transition period for the church. This time period saw the emergence of the papacy as a dominating force in the western church, the conversion of Germanic barbarian tribes, and the growing dominance of Islam in the Middle East with plans to expand farther west.