In this course, you’ll learn about the first 1,500 years of Christian history, focusing especially on the development of Christian doctrine. Instructor Roger Olson expands on doctrines such as the Trinity and Christ’s hypostatic union—doctrines that most Christians are aware of, but may never have studied at length. The Middle Ages are covered, particularly highlighting the way that medieval theologians understood the knowledge of God and the relationship between faith and reason. The course ends with the Renaissance—a period during which there were initial calls for reform within the church—and early church reformers who came before the theology of Martin Luther.
“‘orthodoxy,’ which really simply means correct belief, right belief.” (source)
“We’ll talk more about Gnosticism later because much early Christian theology was developed in contradiction to the gnostics, who denied the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ because they thought matter was evil.” (source)
“The word itself simply comes from two words: theos, which is God; and logos, which has to do with wisdom or knowledge or understanding.” (source)
“Historical theology is one branch of Christian theology. Historical theology is the study of the development of Christian beliefs.” (source)
“George Santayana said—many people have heard this—those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.” (source)