Church History

How the Church of the apostles became the Church of the councils. Sources, controversies, and the long argument over what the first Christians actually believed, taught, and practised — read from the primary texts rather than from later summaries of them.

50 resources in this topic.

Interactive guide

Church Fathers Explorer: The Christians who shaped the Church after the apostles, from Clement, Ignatius and Polycarp to Athanasius and Chrysostom, on a map and quoted from their own texts.

Start here

The Early Church

35 resources

• Could the Ancient Church Be Both Holy and Deeply Corrupt?
• How Do We Know Which Early Christian Writings Are Authentic?
• The Quartodeciman Controversy: When Should Christians Celebrate Pascha—and What Does It Tell Us About Church Authority?
• Where Did Christian Monasticism Come From? Antony, Pachomius, Basil, and the Desert Fathers
• Montanism and the New Prophecy: Montanus, Priscilla, Maximilla, Tertullian, and the Limits of Prophecy
• The Donatist Controversy: Does the Holiness of a Priest Determine Whether a Sacrament Is Valid?
• Who Was Marcion? The Old Testament, Paul, Luke, and Christianity's First Great Canon Crisis
• The Destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70: How the Fall of the Temple Changed Judaism and Christianity
• How Did Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism Separate? From a Jewish Jesus Movement to Two Religious Traditions
• The Jerusalem Temple in Jesus’ Day: Priests, Sacrifice, Pilgrimage, and Why the Temple Mattered
• What Did First-Century Jews Expect the Messiah to Be?
• The Maccabean Revolt: Antiochus IV, the Temple, Hanukkah, and the Rise of the Hasmoneans
• Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots: Who Were the Major Jewish Groups of Jesus’ Time?
• What Was Second Temple Judaism? The World Jesus and the Apostles Actually Lived In
• John Chrysostom: Preaching, Wealth, Liturgy, and Conflict With Imperial Power
• Cyprian of Carthage: Bishops, Church Unity, Baptism, and the Novatian Controversy
• Origen: Brilliant Church Father, Dangerous Speculator, or Condemned Heretic?
• Tertullian: The Father of Latin Theology—and Why He Became a Controversial Figure
• Justin Martyr: What the Earliest Christian Apologist Tells Us About Worship and Belief
• Irenaeus of Lyons: The Bishop Who Fought Gnosticism and Defended Apostolic Christianity
• Ignatius of Antioch: What One of the Earliest Church Fathers Actually Taught
• What Did the Early Christians Believe About the Eucharist?
• Did the Early Church Believe in Apostolic Succession?
• Did Constantine Invent Christianity or Choose the Bible?
• What Did the Earliest Christians Actually Believe?
• Prayer for the Departed in Early Christianity
• Nicaea Was Not a One-Vote Cliffhanger
• Infant Baptism Was Not a Medieval Invention
• The Early Church Was Visible and Ordered
• Sunday Worship Before Constantine
• Ordained Ministry in the Early Church
• Confession and Reconciliation in the Early Church
• Apostolic Succession as a Public Test
• The Sign of the Cross in the Early Church
• The Early Church Fathers: A Beginner’s Guide

The Church Fathers

26 resources

• The Quartodeciman Controversy: When Should Christians Celebrate Pascha—and What Does It Tell Us About Church Authority?
• Where Did Christian Monasticism Come From? Antony, Pachomius, Basil, and the Desert Fathers
• How Did Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism Separate? From a Jewish Jesus Movement to Two Religious Traditions
• John Chrysostom: Preaching, Wealth, Liturgy, and Conflict With Imperial Power
• What Did the Council of Chalcedon Actually Define About Jesus Christ?
• Cyprian of Carthage: Bishops, Church Unity, Baptism, and the Novatian Controversy
• The Cappadocian Fathers: How Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa Clarified the Trinity
• Athanasius Against the Arians: Why the Deity of Christ Became a Battle for Christianity
• Origen: Brilliant Church Father, Dangerous Speculator, or Condemned Heretic?
• Tertullian: The Father of Latin Theology—and Why He Became a Controversial Figure
• Justin Martyr: What the Earliest Christian Apologist Tells Us About Worship and Belief
• Irenaeus of Lyons: The Bishop Who Fought Gnosticism and Defended Apostolic Christianity
• Ignatius of Antioch: What One of the Earliest Church Fathers Actually Taught
• What Did the Early Christians Believe About the Eucharist?
• Did the Early Church Believe in Apostolic Succession?
• Did Constantine Invent Christianity or Choose the Bible?
• What Did the Earliest Christians Actually Believe?
• Prayer for the Departed in Early Christianity
• Infant Baptism Was Not a Medieval Invention
• The Early Church Was Visible and Ordered
• Sunday Worship Before Constantine
• Ordained Ministry in the Early Church
• Confession and Reconciliation in the Early Church
• Apostolic Succession as a Public Test
• The Sign of the Cross in the Early Church
• The Early Church Fathers: A Beginner’s Guide

Councils & Heresies

15 resources

• What Was the Council of Nicaea?
• Montanism and the New Prophecy: Montanus, Priscilla, Maximilla, Tertullian, and the Limits of Prophecy
• The Donatist Controversy: Does the Holiness of a Priest Determine Whether a Sacrament Is Valid?
• Who Was Marcion? The Old Testament, Paul, Luke, and Christianity's First Great Canon Crisis
• What Did the Council of Chalcedon Actually Define About Jesus Christ?
• Cyprian of Carthage: Bishops, Church Unity, Baptism, and the Novatian Controversy
• The Cappadocian Fathers: How Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa Clarified the Trinity
• Athanasius Against the Arians: Why the Deity of Christ Became a Battle for Christianity
• Origen: Brilliant Church Father, Dangerous Speculator, or Condemned Heretic?
• Tertullian: The Father of Latin Theology—and Why He Became a Controversial Figure
• Irenaeus of Lyons: The Bishop Who Fought Gnosticism and Defended Apostolic Christianity
• Did Constantine Invent Christianity or Choose the Bible?
• Nicaea Was Not a One-Vote Cliffhanger
• Did the Council of Nicaea Decide the Biblical Canon?
• The 7 Ecumenical Councils: A Quick Intro

The Great Schism

2 resources

• Why Did the Orthodox and Catholic Churches Split?
• The Great Schism

More in this topic

7 resources

• Who Was Pope Gregory the Great? A Saint of East and West
• Who Was Thomas Aquinas? His Thought, His Influence, and an Orthodox Response
• Did Constantine Invent Christianity? What Existed Before AD 325?
• What Did the Apostolic Fathers Actually Teach? A Guide to Christianity AD 70–150
• Did the Early Christians Baptize Infants?
• The Seven Ecumenical Councils: What They Actually Decided
• Apostolic Succession: What the Early Church Actually Says