Church History is the study of how Christianity, over twenty centuries, shaped the culture, thought, art and politics of the West. It's not memorizing dates or collecting the names of popes: it's understanding where we come from, and why the world we live in is the way it is.
Most people only had contact with the school manual version: three or four commonplaces about the Middle Ages, the Inquisition and the Crusades, almost always seen through the keyhole. It's little, and it's distorted. The History of the true Church is something else: the reconstruction, document by document, of how a small community persecuted in the Roman Empire became the matrix of Western civilization.
More than religion
It is usually imagined that this is a matter for the sacristy, interesting only for those who pray. It's a mistake. Universities were born from the Church. Polyphonic music, Renaissance painting, law, hospitals, the very idea of person were born or matured within this history. Studying it is not an act of devotion: it is becoming literate in the culture that still forms us, even when we don't realize it.
That is why it interests both believers and non-believers. It is not a question of accepting a faith, but of understanding a historical fact of enormous proportions, with its lights and shadows: saints and scandals, councils and wars, holiness and politics.
Twenty centuries in motion
To avoid getting lost, it's worth having a large map. Church History is usually divided into major eras:
- The early Church, from the catacombs and martyrs until the end of the persecutions.
- The era of the Fathers, when the first councils defined what was believed, and Christian thought encountered Greek philosophy.
- The Middle Ages, in which the Church structures Europe, founds universities and produces Thomas Aquinas and cathedrals.
- The Reformation, the fracture of the 16th century and its consequences.
- The modern era, from the French Revolution to the Second Vatican Council.
Each of these eras is a world. The most common mistake is to judge them all using the ruler of the present, which historians call anachronism. A good story does the opposite: it returns context and shows the real decisions of real men.
We do not study the history of the Church to remember dates, but to understand who we are.
Where to enter
The next question is inevitable: where to start, without drowning? The best path is the chronological one, guided by those who have already organized these twenty centuries with method. The most complete work ever written on the subject is the collection History of the Church of Christ, by Daniel Rops, ten volumes from the Roman Empire to the 20th century. For those who prefer not to go through such an extensive work alone, there is the option of a guided reading, chapter by chapter, with historical, philosophical and theological context.
Estudo aprofundado
Curso História da Igreja, com o Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Bitencourt
Leitura aprofundada da obra de Daniel Rops, a história da Igreja contada com rigor e narrativa, do Império Romano ao Vaticano II.
Conhecer o curso de História da IgrejaFrequently asked questions
Is Church History the same thing as catechesis?
No. Catechesis transmits faith; Church History studies the facts, sources and cultural consequences of twenty centuries of Christianity. It interests believers and non-believers who want to understand the West.
Where is the History of the Church divided?
In large periods: the early Church and the martyrs, the era of the Fathers and the first councils, the Middle Ages, the Reformation and the modern era until the Second Vatican Council.
Do I need to be Catholic to study Church History?
No. It is the serious study of how the Church has shaped history, art and thought. Catholics, Christians of other traditions and curious people find the same rigor, without proselytism.
Continue: Where to start studying Church History · History of the Church of Christ, from Daniel Rops: the 10 volume guide · Who was it Daniel Rops?