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The Ancient Church

The course covers the history of the ancient church and the main figures and doctrine in the Patristic Age, following a chronological progression.

Course
Objectives
Reviews

We are indebted to the Church Fathers for the lasting influence of their lives and their works. This course covers the history of the ancient church (Pentecost to AD 500) and the men and writings of that era. Following a historical progression, the course covers the development of doctrine and the main figures in the Patristic Age. Lectures focus on the influential men like Irenaeus, Origen, Chrysostom, Athanasius,and Ausgustine. Significant creeds are also analyzed for their intentions, influence, and correctness. Throughout the course, students are prompted to evaluate their own beliefs as compared to historical orthodoxy.

Legacy Collection
Discover the vintage value and relevance of these classic courses. Our instructors provide new insights into your faith through a variety of subjects. We acquired many of these courses from the Institute of Theological Studies (ITS). From ITS’s world-class professors, you'll gain seminary-level instruction.

Materials

Study Guide
  1. Understand the historical development of doctrine and how we came to believe what we do today.
  2. Know the creeds of the church and how they came to exist.
  3. Understand the theological mistakes of the past so as to prevent those errors from happening today.
  4. Understand the history of interpretation of the Scriptures.
  5. Appreciate the roots of today’s church.
  6. Appreciate the relation between church and state.
  7. Understand church government and its different shapes.
  • This course is well worth the time it will take to go through it. Something I appreciate about the instructor is he makes a couple applications that people in modern times can benefit from based on what happened in this portion of the history of the church.

    — Matthias, United States (US)
  • Church history is fascinating, chaotic, and spiritually enlightening. I love the presentation for this course. And the breakdown as well. The teacher did a great job explaining in detailing the importance of early church history!

    — Kenneth, United States (US)
  • An excellent course!

    — Russell, Canada
  • Excellent material--great communicator. Great job!  

    — John, United States (US)
  • Course was amazing. I could see that some of the problems and challenges facing church today, have been dealt with before.

    — Farai, South Africa
  • I learned a great deal from this course, the lectures, and the text. I have enjoyed listening to Dr. Gambles lectures, he makes it real. Thank you so much for this course. I have already enrolled in my next learning experience.

    — Sidney, United States (US)
  • I have studied Scripture and been in church my entire life and I have to say I really enjoyed and learned from this course. I really like the lecture style of Dr. Gamble, he is knowledgeable and very easy to listen to and understand. I learned more than I ever thought possible from this course even though I have had and taught many Bible study courses myself. Thank you so much Dr. Gamble and Our Daily Bread University for giving me this opportunity to delve back into the history of the Ancient Church.

    — Sidney, United States (US)
  • These are very concise and focus courses with minimum and almost no rambling.

    — Rodolfo, United States (US)
  • What an excellent course of study, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it gave me new insight into the ancient church. The website is easy to navigate and I look forward to continuing my study with Our Daily Bread University.

    — John alan william, United Kingdom (UK)
  • — Dennis, United States (US)
  • This course is absolutely awesome, it has brought me to a deeper understanding of the Church and How God has moved through history. I will study this topic in-depth as much as I can now. I have been inspired to grow in learning church history.

    — Paul, United States (US)
  • Great details. A lot to take in, over more than one reading of the transcripts. Lessons on the papacy were very interesting coming from a Catholic upbringing.

    — Aileen, United States (US)
  • I have really been blessed by this course.

    — Stephen, United States (US)
  • Great course. Eye opening and very informative. Often, we are faced with issues or debates where people get lost. Church fathers spent time discussing the same topics arising in the 21st century church, but if you are not informed about the work that the Holy Spirit had already done in these fields, you try to re-invent the wheel. I have been spending hours and hours listening to these teachings, and once I started, I was hooked. As a Pastor, this knowledge is very important and useful to lead people that the Lord has entrusted to me.

    — Kabasele, United States (US)
  • Great course. Very educational.

    — Roberto, United States (US)
  • Very well presented in a concise manner. I would like to have time, some time, to go into detail over some areas in which I had questions. An example of that would be your use of the word "mode" which brought to mind modalism (I know that's not what you were addressing). This was a very good look at the first 600 years of the Christian Church.

    — Harold, United States (US)
  • This course was very interesting and deep for me. This is the first time I have ever did any kind study concerning the early church father. I'd like to learn more. Thank you so much for offering this course.

    — , United States (US)
  • I enjoyed this course and a great deal of new information concerning the history of the doctrines of the Church and its practices. The recommended text book is very good and a great read and covers what I have had great interest and many questions concerning. Thank you for the opportunity to have studied this topic.

    — , United States (US)

Course Content

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Lesson One
Lesson Two
Lesson Three
Lesson Four
Lesson Five
Lesson Six
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Lesson Seven
Lesson Eight
Lesson Nine
Lesson Ten
Lesson Eleven
Lesson Twelve
Lesson Thirteen
Lesson Fourteen
Lesson Fifteen
Lesson Sixteen
Lesson Seventeen
Lesson Eighteen
Lesson Nineteen
Lesson Twenty
Lesson Twenty-One
Lesson Twenty-Two
Lesson Twenty-Three
Lesson Twenty-Four
Course Wrap-Up
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Advanced Level
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Course Details

  • 24 Lessons
  • 47 Activities
  • 1 Assessment
  • 44 Min Average
  • 35 Hrs Minimum
  • Course Award

Course Resources

Audios Transcripts Outlines
Lecturer

Richard C. Gamble, ThD