As I prepare to teach Christian history at our church, one of the best online resources that I’ve discovered is a playlist of 55 lectures on Early & Medieval History by Ryan Reeves (PhD, University of Cambridge) from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. These lectures are short (around 30 minutes each), accessible, and more careful and nuanced than some other introductory resources that I’ve explored.
- The Ancient Greek World
- The Ancient Roman World
- Roman Pagan Life and Worship
- Plato, Aristotle and Stoicism
- Early Christian Persecution
- Apostolic Fathers
- Christian Apologists and Early Heresies
- Gnosticism and the Early Church
- Monasticism in Early Church
- Rome and the Third Century Crisis
- Diocletian and the Tetrarchy
- Constantine the Great
- The Byzantine Christian Empire (Part 1)
- The Byzantine Christian Empire (Part 2)
- Creeds and Councils: What Are They?
- Early Church and the Trinity: Father and Son
- Arius and Nicea
- After Nicea
- Council of Constantinople
- Disputes on Christ: Nestorius and Cyril
- Council of Chalcedon
- Ambrose and Jerome
- Augustine (Part 1)
- Augustine (Part 2)
- The Story of Pope Leo the Great
- Medieval Overview
- The Merovingians
- Charlemagne
- The Vikings
- Alfred the Great & the Anglo‑Saxons
- Al‑Andalus Spain
- Knights and Chivalry
- The First Crusades (Part I)
- Crusades (Part II)
- Medieval Life, Death, and Marriage
- Medieval Society
- Magna Carta
- Black Death
- Great Schism (1054)
- Avignon Papacy
- 100 Years War
- Papal Schism
- Boethius and Christian Philosophy
- Aristotle and Scholasticism
- Anselm on God: the Ontological Argument
- Abelard on the Trinity
- Abelard on the Cross
- Bernard of Clairvaux
- Duns Scotus
- Thomas Aquinas (Part I)
- Thomas Aquinas (Part II)
- William of Ockham
- John Wycliffe
- Jan Hus
- Humanism
