Weekly Presentations
Meet every Tuesday beginning Jan 18 for eight weeks
Our Christian Heritage, Bible as History
Suggested readings:
Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, vol. 1, Our Oriental Heritage, Chapter XII, “Judea”
The Judaic Background to Christianity
Suggested readings:
Chapter 2, “The Immediate Background of Christianity: Judaism,” in Kenneth Latourette, A History of Christianity. See FAQ page for links to this book on sale at amazon.com.
Chapter 1, “Backgrounds to Christianity,” in Bradley P. Nystrom and David P. Nystrom, The History of Christianity: An Introduction. See FAQ page for links to this book on sale at amazon.com.
The Life and Times of Jesus Christ
Life and Times of Jesus Christ, 2 Oct 2017
Suggested readings:
Chapter 2, “The Birth of Christianity,” in Bradley P. Nystrom and David P. Nystrom, The History of Christianity: An Introduction.
Chapters 3, “The Immediate Background of Christianity: The Graeco-Roman World,” in Latourette, A History of Christianity.
From Jesus to Paul
From Jesus to Paul
Suggested readings:
Chapter 4, “Jesus and the Gospel: The Foundation of Christianity,” in Latourette, A History of Christianity.
You may wish to view an entertaining video, Is Jesus Real? Non-Biblical Evidence of His Existence which provides some of the mechanisms and ways that historians evaluate historical evidence. Simply toggle on the title of the video above. Towards the end of this class, we may approach another historical conumdrum, the Apostle Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey, this time to Spain. It is the subject of a book I’m working on, off and on. More later!
The Early Christian Church
The Early Christian Church
Suggested readings:
Chapter 5, “The Sweep of Christianity Across the Graeco-Roman World,” in Latourette, A History of Christianity.
Continue with the Early Christian Church
The Early Christian Church
Suggested readings:
Chapter 5, “The Sweep of Christianity Across the Graeco-Roman World,” in Latourette, A History of Christianity.
Clayton, Introduction to M Luther Treatise on Good Works
2017 was the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s postings of his Ninety Five Theses on the church doors of Wittenberg, Germany, an act which essentially kicked off the Protestant Reformation. So, we devote today, the next to last day of our OLLI class this semester, to a micro study of Martin Luther, who left a macro impact on the history of the Christian church!
Catch up and Review session.
Historical Foundations of Christianity 