The Apostolic Church.  AD 30 to 100.  From the ascension of Jesus to the death of St. John, we see the early church at Jerusalem, Antioch, Samaria, and Philippi.  The Persecuted Church.  AD 100 to 313.  From the death of St. John to the Edict of Constantine, the Roman Empire invoked all it's power to destroy Christians.  The Imperial Church.  AD 313 to 476.  From the Edict of Constantine to the fall of Rome, Christianity was made the Empire's religion.  The Medieval Church.  AD 476 to 1453.  From the fall of Rome to the fall of Constantinople, there is 1000 years of the Middle Ages.  Crusades and Monasteries.  During the Medieval Church the Romantic Movement to free the Holy Land from the Moslems began.  The Prelude to the Reformation.  There were attempts by early reformers to change the Church, but they were ignored and persecuted.  The Reformation.  AD 1453 to 1648.  From the fall of Constantinople to the end of the Thirty Years' War, Martin Luther's boldness had finally created change.  Reform and Puritanism in England.  Who were John Calvin and William Farel, the Episcopalians, Puritans, and Separatists?  The Modern Church.  AD 1648 to today.  From the end of the Thirty Years' War to today, there have been great movements in the church in England, Europe and America.  Religion and Reform in Europe.  There came enemies of the faith in Communism, Marxism, evolutionism, and Biblical criticism.  The 18th and 19th Century Church.  What was “The Second Awakening?”  How did two world wars effect the church?  The 20th Century Church.  20th century theology has been marked by words like turmoil, radical, evangelical and hope.

Rev. Victor M. Ford

Rev. Ford prepared this course while teaching this subject to students enrolled in the Brawley Bible Institute, sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church where he serves as pastor.  Rev. Ford was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, son of a Presbyterian pastor.  He received his B.A. from Sir George Williams University and the B.D. degree from McGill University.  At the time he prepared this course, Ford was enrolled in the doctoral program at McCormick Seminary.