Sundays at 9:40 am in Commons I
Christianity: the First Three Thousand Years, Part I
Last spring we focused on the history of the Reformed Church of America and the history of Hope Church. This spring we will go back further in time to learn about the early history of Christianity. We will watch and discuss the first half of a DVD series produced by the British Broadcasting Company and directed by Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of History of the Church and Fellow at St. Cross College Oxford. In the first six sessions of a series that will be continued in 2013-14, we will learn about the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Asia, Africa, and Europe and about the pros and cons of the relationship of the church with imperial powers. MacCulloch combines church history with travelogue—enriched by music, architecture, and visual arts—in presenting his tour of the early history of Christianity. Each of the discussion leaders is a member of the greater Consistory of Hope Church.
May 5 Catholicism: The Unpredictable Rise of Rome, Part II with Ed Anderson
The Holy Roman Empire fostered the growth of Christianity through most of Europe and sponsored the Crusades against Islam.
May 12 Orthodoxy: From Empire to Empire, Part I with Milt Nieuwsma
Did the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father or from the Father and Son? Efforts to resolve this question about the nature of the Trinity led to the split of the Christian church into an Eastern Greek Orthodox Church and a Western Latin Catholic Church.
May 19 Orthodoxy: From Empire to Empire, Part II with Milt Nieuwsma
From Northern Europe arose a “third Rome.” As the Eastern Christian Church was weakened by the rise of Islam and the Ottoman conquest, the Russian Orthodox Church became a new center of Orthodoxy.