Course Overview

This course will help you gain insight into the past, so that you can defend our Catholic history from attack and teach it to others. Learning Catholic history is not only important for apologetics, but also for evangelization because some people believe the myths perpetuated against the Church and end up losing their Faith.
Course Overview

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Introduction to Church History I contains more than fifty short, easy-to-watch videos, so you can study at your own pace.

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Course Topics Include:

Before you can start helping others, you need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to share the truth with gentleness and reverence. Here's some of what Steve Weidenkopf covers in this course:

  • Birthday of the Church

  • The Council of Jerusalem

  • The Burning of Rome

  • The Antipope Who Became a Saint

  • The Rise of Islam

  • Papal Reform

  • The Disaster of the Fourth Crusade

Watch a Free Sample Lesson

What is the Church? Explore the definition of the Church, its mission, and its visible and invisible elements with instructor Steve Weidenkopf.



Meet Your Instructor

  • Steve Weidenkopf

    Instructor

    Steve Weidenkopf

    Steve Weidenkopf is a lecturer of Church History at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology and the author of The Glory of the Crusades and The Real Story of Catholic History, from Catholic Answers Press. He is also the creator and author of Epic: A Journey through Church History, an adult faith-formation program on the 2,000-year history of the Church.

Course Curriculum

  • 1
    Introduction to Church History I
    • Course Introduction Video
    • Introduction to Church History I Lesson Guide
    • Lesson 1: What Is the Church? FREE PREVIEW
    • Quiz: What Is the Church?
    • Lesson 2: What Is History?
    • Quiz: What Is History?
    • Lesson 3: The Importance of Learning Church History
    • Quiz: The Importance of Learning Church History
  • 2
    I. The Early Church
    • Lesson 4: Birthday of the Church
    • Quiz: Birthday of the Church
    • Lesson 5: The Spread of the Gospel
    • Quiz: The Spread of the Gospel
    • Lesson 6: The Council of Jerusalem
    • Quiz: The Council of Jerusalem
    • Lesson 7: What Was the Roman Empire?
    • Quiz: What Was the Roman Empire?
    • Lesson 8: The Burning of Rome
    • Quiz: The Burning of Rome
    • Lesson 9: The Faith Spreads
    • Quiz: The Faith Spreads
    • Lesson 10: The Epistle of St. Clement
    • Quiz: The Epistle of St. Clement
    • Lesson 11: What Was the Church in the Roman Empire?
    • Quiz: What Was the Church in the Roman Empire?
    • Lesson 12: Early Persecution - Trajan
    • Quiz: Early Persecution—Trajan
    • Lesson 13: Pagan Attacks
    • Quiz: Pagan Attacks
    • Lesson 14: The Apologists
    • Quiz: The Apologists
    • Lesson 15: The Antipope Who Became a Saint
    • Quiz: The Antipope Who Became a Saint
    • Lesson 16: Major Persecutions
    • Quiz: Major Persecutions
  • 3
    II: Conversion of the Empire
    • Lesson 17: Victory at Milvian Bridge
    • Quiz: Victory at Milvian Bridge
    • Lesson 18: Constantine and the Church
    • Quiz: Constantine and the Church
    • Lesson 19: Arius the Heretic
    • Quiz: Arius the Heretic
    • Lesson 20: The Council of Nicaea
    • Quiz: The Council of Nicaea
    • Lesson 21: St. Martin of Tours
    • Quiz: St. Martin of Tours
    • Lesson 22: St. Ambrose
    • Quiz: St. Ambrose
    • Lesson 23: St. John Chrysostom
    • Quiz: St. John Chrysostom
    • Lesson 24: St. Jerome
    • Quiz: St. Jerome
    • Lesson 25: Alaric and the Sack of Rome
    • Quiz: Alaric and the Sack of Rome
    • Lesson 26: St. Augustine
    • Quiz: St. Augustine
    • Lesson 27: The Council of Ephesus
    • Quiz: The Council of Ephesus
    • Lesson 28: Pope St. Leo I, the Great
    • Quiz: Pope St. Leo I, the Great
  • 4
    III: The Franks and the Church
    • Lesson 29: The Empire Collapses
    • Quiz: The Empire Collapses
    • Lesson 30: St. Clotilda & Clovis
    • Quiz: St. Clotilda & Clovis
    • Lesson 31: “Dark” Ages
    • Quiz: “Dark” Ages
    • Lesson 32: St. Patrick and the Irish
    • Quiz: St. Patrick and the Irish
    • Lesson 33: St. Benedict
    • Quiz: St. Benedict
    • Lesson 34: Pope St. Gregory I, the Great
    • Quiz: Pope St. Gregory I, the Great
    • Lesson 35: Apostle to the Germans: St. Boniface
    • Quiz: Apostle to the Germans: St. Boniface
    • Lesson 36: The Rise of Islam
    • Quiz: The Rise of Islam
    • Lesson 37: Charlemagne
    • Quiz: Charlemagne
    • Lesson 38: Troubled Papacy
    • Quiz: Troubled Papacy
    • Lesson 39: Cluny
    • Quiz: Cluny
  • 5
    IV: Cathedrals & Crusades
    • Lesson 40: Abbot Suger and Cathedrals
    • Quiz: Abbot Suger and Cathedrals
    • Lesson 41: Papal Reform
    • Quiz: Papal Reform
    • Lesson 42: East-West Relations and the Great Schism
    • Quiz: East-West Relations and the Great Schism
    • Lesson 43: Pope St. Gregory VII and the Investiture Controversy
    • Quiz: Pope St. Gregory VII and the Investiture Controversy
    • Lesson 44: The Crusading Movement
    • Quiz: The Crusading Movement
    • Lesson 45: The First Crusade
    • Quiz: The First Crusade
    • Lesson 46: The Crusade of the Three Kings
    • Quiz: The Crusade of the Three Kings
    • Lesson 47: The Disaster of the Fourth Crusade
    • Quiz: The Disaster of the Fourth Crusade
    • Lesson 48: King St. Louis IX
    • Quiz: King St. Louis IX
    • Lesson 49: Albigensian Heresy and Crusade
    • Quiz: Albigensian Heresy and Crusade
    • Lesson 50: Death of the Archbishop—St. Thomas Becket
    • Quiz: Death of the Archbishop—St. Thomas Becket
    • Lesson 51: Beggar Monks
    • Quiz: Beggar Monks