Course Description
On a schedule of 35 weeks, we will explore world history interwoven with Church history, from the fall of Rome and rise of the Church through the American and French revolutions, including:
- Early Christian missions taking the gospel far afield;
- Transition of Europe from Roman to “barbarian” rule;
- Growth of Eastern Orthodoxy and the Byzantine Empire;
- How Islam changed the balance of power in the Middle Ages;
- Charlemagne’s uniting of Europe and the Vikings’ assault on it;
- Implications of the Crusades and the end results of the Mongols;
- Beauty of the Renaissance and the freedom of the Reformation;
- Hunger to explore the world and the quest to conquer its people;
- Revivals that changed hearts and revolutions that redesigned government.
This course approaches history through the twin threads of human suffering/destruction and God’s redemption/love. We will study this period of history with the expectation that, from time to time and place to place, there will be visible evidence of God’s redeeming power and love at work in people and nations. Therefore, we will stop at various “vistas” along the way to view these examples of God’s heart, particularly as seen during important events in Church history. Rather than a “memorize names/dates/places” approach, students will experience an enriched “storytelling of history” approach, making it something far deeper—a redemptive view of history.