Product Details

• Actors: Timothy George
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Vision Video
• DVD Release Date: March 23, 2005
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00091QSU6
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,502 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This is a survey course designed to further stimulate your curiosity by providing glimpses of some of the pivotal events in the spread Christianity and sketches of great Christian figures who have significantly affected Christian history thereby shaping the history of the world. Kit includes six half-hour programs, leader's guide, program scripts, and reproducible student workbook.

PART I: The Early Church -- From the executions of Peter and Paul in Rome to the death of Augustine in North Africa, we follow the Early Church as she emerges from the womb of Judaism to survive horrendous persecution and become established in the Roman world. Explore what took place at the early Ecumenical Councils and how the great doctrines of the Church were formulated.

PART II: The Church in the Middle Ages -- During this period in history, universities, monasteries, and museums were established. The Church, with her majestic Cathedrals, joined these institutions in influencing society. But this interaction with culture was not without difficulties: barbarian invasion, crusades, the Muslim challenge. Also, during this period, Christendom was divided into the Eastern Church and the Western Church.

PART III: The Reformation -- It was an age of exploration and discovery, of art and literature. The Medieval Church, however, had placed too much emphasis on the church as an institution. As a result, the papacy enjoyed unusual power often coupled with unusual corruption. Cries of reform were heard all over Europe. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century was a tremendous movement of spiritual and ecclesial renewal.

PART IV: The Age of Reason and Piety -- During the two centuries between the death of Martin Luther in 1546 and the conversion of John Wesley in 1738, the Christian world experienced a major paradigm shift from an "age of faith" to an "age of reason." On the heels of Copernicus' discovery that the earth is not the center of the universe, rose "the Enlightenment" -- a movement that shifted the focus away from God and to human creativity.

PART V: Christianity in the New World -- America was the land of new beginnings. Europe represented for Americans a corrupt past, whose contamination they wished to escape. This period includes the study of great traditions such as the Puritans and Quakers, and great movements such as the First Great Awakening.

PART VI: Christian Movement in an Age of Uncertainty -- From the fall of Bastille in 1789 (marking the beginning of the French Revolution) to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 (marking the end of communism), study the Christian movement in an age of uncertainty. William Carey, the "father of modern missions" carries the Gospel to India; others followed to remote regions -- people like David Livingstone, Lottie Moon, Henry Martyn, and Hudson Taylor. Explore the Christian Church as it moves into all the world.

Presenter-host Dr. Timothy George is an Historian and Dean of Samford University's Beeson Divinity School. Trained in theology and church history at Harvard University, he has written numerous articles and books including Theology of the Reformers, John Calvin and the Church, and Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey. George also serves as senior editor of Christianity Today.

PDFs included on the DVD:
-48-page leader's guide with background information and discussion questions
-48-page student workbook
-Scripts for each of the six programs

The 48 page leader's guide, reproducible student workbook and program scripts can be downloaded as PDF files by clicking the respective link below.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Quick Survey of Christianity , February 22, 2006

By	Edward J Vasicek (Kokomo, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This series flies through the centuries hitting highlights of great events and personages in church history. Although it is probably slanted more toward evangelicals than other groups, it seeks to accomodate other branches of Christianity and treats all groups with respect.

Most Christians are completely clueless when it comes to church history. Although this is a greatly simplfied survey (covering 2,000 years in 3 hours), the average layman can understand and enjoy such a presentation without it seeming long or boring.

We used the series on Sunday nights, and I would sub-divide each 30 minute subject into two and, after 15 minutes of viewing, I would use the workbook material for another 15 to 25 minutes of discussion and additional information. I believe that the workbook material/teacher's guide now comes as a PDF file (I had the older video tape version).

This series could be expanded greatly if the leader has some background in church history and students were eager to learn, or it could be viewed straight through without comment (or you could use my more modest approach). Either way, I highly recommend it for individuals, home study groups, Sunday School classes, or evening service presentations.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much needed resource ... a great start, but needs improvement , January 15, 2007

By	Gabriel E. Borlean (San Jose - Capital of Silicon Valley, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

RATE: 3.75 STARS

Review not finished. Please do not vote.

Timothy George, a Protestant believer and Ph.D. in Church History (from Harvard University) does an excellent job at presenting Church History in a concise yet meaningful manner. The presentation is broken up into six period, each of 30 minutes. Because of the rich and detailed history of the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church," Dr. George can only do an overview of each period and cover at least one person as a highlight representative of each. The DVD includes a PDF guide for students and one for instructor, in case this DVD will be used in a Christian school curriculum or church classroom setting.

Section I

Section II

Section III

Section IV

Section V

Section VI

In CONCLUSION, since so many Protestants and Catholics (and some Orthodox) American believers are so clueless as to how and when our New Testament was compiled (and formed into a canon), how the Church has always existed as "one holy catholic [universal] and apostolic Church", how politics, economics, sciences and arts have been influenced by Christian thought and doctrine, and how we ended up to be so diverse this DVD is a unique source in the marketplace. Besides the format improvements, a wider subject-breath, and more info on the history of the Orthodox Church, this is an excellent source for both student and teacher, Christian and non-Christian, viewer and reader.